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**Udog** · 10-26-2017, 07:31 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

— Astros 7, Dodgers 6 (11)— First game in MLB history with five extra-inning homers.

— If Alabama played Penn State for the national title today, they’d be a 9-point favorite.

— Tom Thibodeau went 255-139 as coach of the Bulls; why did they fire him? Bulls are 83-84 since they let him go.

— Rockets 105, 76ers 104— Eric Gordon hit a 3-pointer at buzzer.

— Warriors 117, Raptors 112— Golden State outscored Toronto 10-0 in last 2:00

— 34-year old Dustin Pedroia had knee surgery this week, is expected to be out seven months, meaning he’ll miss the start of next season.

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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but……

13) Nick Saban is making $11M this season, including $4M for what amounts to “a signing bonus”, making him the highest-paid college coach in America. Wow.

12) Most surprising thing to me on the list is that Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez is 5th-highest paid college football coach in the country, earning $5.6M this year.

Arizona is 41-31 under Rodriguez, 5-2 this year- they were 2-10 last year.

11) Chiefs’ RB Kareem Hunt lost a fumble on his first carry of the season in Foxboro; KC hasn’t turned the ball over since- they’re +7 in turnovers right now.

10) Atlanta Falcons led NFL in scoring LY, were #2 in yards gained- they won the NFC.

This year, Falcons are #16 in scoring, #7 in yards gained- they’re 3-3.

SI.com‘s Robert Klemko points this out: through six games in 2016, Matt Ryan was 14-of-23 on passes traveling more than 20 yards downfield. Through six games this season, he’s 4-of-21.

9) Courtney Lee plays for the Knicks; Tuesday, he said some players on the Knicks don’t know the plays and they need to pay attention more in practice.

This is professional basketball, the second week of a 6-month season. Oy.

8) Game 1 of the World Series took 2:28 to play, the shortest World Series game since 1992. I’d prefer a longer game with more action, but thats just me.

Game 2 was more what I had in mind…….

7) Who made USC’s football schedule? They don’t have any bye weeks- they have a week off after their last regular season game and before the Pac-12 championship game, but they have to get there for that to be relevant.

Trojans are in a 3-way tie with Arizona/ASU in the Pac-12 South- their game at Arizona State this weekend is a big one. USC looked like a tired team last week at Notre Dame.

6) Wake Forest no longer allows guests into their football practices, because LY one of their own radio announcers was found out to be giving Wake’s plays out to future opponents, after the radio guy wasn’t retained as an assistant coach the year before.

Problem with that is this: often times, some of the guests at practices are people who donate a lot of money to the athletic department. Ticking them off isn’t good for the bottom line, but if an opponents gets part of your playbook, thats an even worse problem.

5) Mentioned yesterday how North Carolina’s senior PG Joel Berry broke his hand this week and will miss the start of the season. Turns out Berry punched a door after losing a video game he was playing with teammate Theo Pinson and a student manager. Not good.

4) Steelers’ WR JuJu Smith-Schuster had his bike stolen recently; I’m just amazed that an NFL player doesn’t have his driver’s license yet— he is taking the driver’s test soon.

If I ran the Steelers, wouldn’t want one of my players driving his bike on city streets— I’d take Smith-Schuster to DMV myself to get him his license, then get him an endorsement deal with a local car dealer, to get hm a safe ride to work every day.

3) MVP of the World Series gets the “Willie Mays Award” as MLB honors Mays, one of the best baseball players ever. Pretty cool award to win.

Some jackass wrote an article this week questioning if MLB did the right thing naming the award after Mays, who played in four World Series but didn’t hit that well in any of them, though his catch in CF in the ’54 Series is one of the best in WS history.

Mays hit 660 major league home runs, had a career on-base % of .384, led the NL in stolen bases four times. He was a great freakin’ player; he deserves to have an award named after him.

2) Former NBA commissioner David Stern spoke up for the NBA allowing “medical marijuana”, which means that marijuana basically will be legalized in the NBA, since every player has a sore knee or a sore back or SOMETHING that would allow him to smoke weed for medical reasons.

Stern was commissioner of the NBA for 30 years; his voice carries a lot of weight.

1) This is a somewhat small sample, but thru four games, Lonzo Ball’s plus/minus is -24; the Lakers are +6 when Lonzo is on the bench.

Plus/minus is the score of the game when that player is on the floor, so over long term, it is a telling stat. It can be misleading in small samples, so we’ll follow this as the year goes on.

**Udog** · 10-26-2017, 07:34 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Thursday, October 26

Dallas @ Memphis

Game 701-702
October 26, 2017 @ 8:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Dallas
111.710
Memphis
123.435
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Memphis
by 11 1/2
188
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Memphis
by 8
196 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Memphis
(-8); Under

Boston @ Milwaukee

Game 703-704
October 26, 2017 @ 8:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Boston
114.124
Milwaukee
127.559
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Milwaukee
by 13 1/2
200
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Milwaukee
by 4
206 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Milwaukee
(-4); Under

Atlanta @ Chicago

Game 705-706
October 26, 2017 @ 8:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Atlanta
116.580
Chicago
113.691
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Atlanta
by 3
203
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Chicago
by 2 1/2
200 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Atlanta
(+2 1/2); Over

LA Clippers @ Portland

Game 707-708
October 26, 2017 @ 10:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
LA Clippers
128.489
Portland
127.445
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
LA Clippers
by 1
220
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Portland
by 2
211
Dunkel Pick:
LA Clippers
(+2 1/2); Over

New Orleans @ Sacramento

Game 701-702
October 26, 2017 @ 8:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
New Orleans
116.751
Sacramento
117.118
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
New Orleans
Even
208
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Sacramento
by 2
203
Dunkel Pick:
New Orleans
(+2); Under

**Udog** · 10-26-2017, 07:35 AM

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, October 26

Not a lot to go on for the first 7-10 days, until these teams get some games under their belts. I’ll give you what relevant information I have:

Mavericks beat Grizzlies by 9 at home last night; they won six of last eight games with Memphis; over is 7-3 in last ten series games. Dallas is 2-2 vs spread in last four visits to Tennessee. Mavs are 1-4 to start season (1-4 vs spread, over 3-2), losing by 16 at Houston in only road game. Memphis is 3-1 to start season (under 3-1), with home wins over Golden State/New Orleans.

Celtics won six of last nine games with Milwaukee; they lost by 8 at home to Bucks last week. Boston is 3-1 vs spread in last four visits here. Over is 7-2-1 in last ten series games. Celtics won their last two games after an 0-2 start (under 3-1)- they split pair of road games. Bucks won three of first four games (over 3-1); they’re 1-1-1 vs spread at home this month.

Hawks won seven of last eight games with Chicago (7-1 vs spread); over is 3-1 in last four series games. Atlanta is 4-2 vs spread in last six visits to Windy City. Hawks lost their last three games by 18-12-11 points (under 2-0-1); they still haven’t played at home. Chicago lost its first three games, 17-10-7 points (over 2-1). Bulls lost by 10 the Spurs in their only home game.

Clippers won last three games with Portland, covered three of last four; they’re 1-3 in last four visits here (2-2 vs spread). Over is 4-1 in last five series games. Clippers are 3-0 SU/ATS to start season (under 3-0); this is their first true road game (played Lakers in “road” game). Portland won three of first four games (under 3-1); they beat Pelicans by 10 in their home opener.

Pelicans won seven of last nine games with Sacramento; they’re 2-3 vs spread in last five visits here. Last three series games stayed under. New Orleans lost three of first four games (over 2-2); favorites covered all three of their road games (1-2). Kings lost three of first four games (under 3-1); they lost by 5 to Houston in their only home game.

**Udog** · 10-26-2017, 08:49 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Thursday, October 26

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DALLAS (1 - 4) at MEMPHIS (3 - 1) - 10/26/2017, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 380-313 ATS (+35.7 Units) as an underdog since 1996.
DALLAS is 482-406 ATS (+35.4 Units) in road games since 1996.
DALLAS is 157-122 ATS (+22.8 Units) in road games in the first half of the season since 1996.
DALLAS is 128-95 ATS (+23.5 Units) in road games vs. division opponents since 1996.
DALLAS is 265-217 ATS (+26.3 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.
MEMPHIS is 6-17 ATS (-12.7 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
MEMPHIS is 3-12 ATS (-10.2 Units) after 3 or more consecutive unders over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
DALLAS is 6-3 against the spread versus MEMPHIS over the last 3 seasons
DALLAS is 6-3 straight up against MEMPHIS over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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BOSTON (2 - 2) at MILWAUKEE (3 - 1) - 10/26/2017, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 31-18 ATS (+11.2 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 15-5 ATS (+9.5 Units) in road games in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 12-2 ATS (+9.8 Units) in road games against Central division opponents over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 253-207 ATS (+25.3 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.
MILWAUKEE is 426-512 ATS (-137.2 Units) versus good defensive teams - allowing <=98 points/game since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
MILWAUKEE is 4-4 against the spread versus BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 5-3 straight up against MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
5 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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ATLANTA (1 - 3) at CHICAGO (0 - 3) - 10/26/2017, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 152-117 ATS (+23.3 Units) after 3 or more consecutive losses since 1996.
CHICAGO is 258-314 ATS (-87.4 Units) in the first half of the season since 1996.
CHICAGO is 11-25 ATS (-16.5 Units) against Southeast division opponents over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 7-1 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 7-1 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
4 of 8 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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LA CLIPPERS (3 - 0) at PORTLAND (3 - 1) - 10/26/2017, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LA CLIPPERS are 88-119 ATS (-42.9 Units) after 3 or more consecutive unders since 1996.
LA CLIPPERS are 67-43 ATS (+19.7 Units) in road games after allowing 85 points or less since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
LA CLIPPERS is 7-6 against the spread versus PORTLAND over the last 3 seasons
LA CLIPPERS is 8-5 straight up against PORTLAND over the last 3 seasons
8 of 13 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NEW ORLEANS (1 - 3) at SACRAMENTO (1 - 3) - 10/26/2017, 10:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
NEW ORLEANS is 6-17 ATS (-12.7 Units) versus poor offensive teams - scoring <=98 points/game over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
NEW ORLEANS is 5-2 against the spread versus SACRAMENTO over the last 3 seasons
NEW ORLEANS is 5-2 straight up against SACRAMENTO over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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Thursday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 10/26

Thursday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 10/26

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