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**Udog** · 05-13-2018, 08:02 AM

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

CG Technology released spreads for every Week 1-16 game for 2018-19 NFL season. Here are a few of the more interesting spreads:

Week 11: Buccaneers @ NJ Giants (-3)

Week 12: Jaguars (-4.5) @ Buffalo

Week 13: Chargers @ Pittsburgh (-4.5)

Week 14: Vikings (-2) @ Seattle

Week 15: Raiders @ Cincinnati (-1.5)

Week 16: Packers (-6) @ NJ Jets

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

13) Just who was Wally Pipp? You hear his name invoked even today, anytime a guy takes a day off due to injury and his replacement has a big day.

Back in 1925, 32-year old Pipp was the regular 1B in New York; he missed a game one day and a guy named Lou Gehrig took his place and never gave the job back. That winter, Cincinnati paid $7,500 for Pipp’s contract; he played three years for the Reds, then retired.

12) In a 15-year career, Pipp hit .281 with a .341 OB%; he never made an All-Star team, but led the AL in home runs twice, in 1916-17, with 12 and 9 homers. Seriously.

11) There was a kerfuffle on Twitter this week when FOX cancelled a TV show called Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which I’ve never seen. Show had been on FOX for five years. So much fuss was made that Brooklyn Nine-Nine was later picked up by NBC, which made the people who complained very happy.

Happy is good. We need more happy.

10) Then there is Lions’ coach Matt Patricia and his 1996 arrest that never went to trial.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the prosecution had a witness list that included a nurse, a doctor, a police detective, a police officer and a college friend of the alleged victim- there apparently was medical evidence, but the case never went to trial.

The Lions are standing by Patricia for now, but the NFL is still investigating.

9) 262 players made their major league debuts last season.

8) Coming into Saturday’s game, Aaron Judge had a .312 career batting average at home, compared to .239 on the road.

This season, he has 10 HR’s, 30 RBI at home, one homer, four RBI on the road.

7) Pretty good weekend to go to the ballpark if you’re a fan of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in the California League; Logan Forsythe batted 2nd, Justin Turner 3rd for the Quakes as they rehab from injuries. Not often you see major leaguers in the California League.

6) A man in Texas turned 112 years old Saturday; Richard Overton, America’s oldest living WWII combat veteran, celebrated his birthday. Congrats to him.

5) Shohei Ohtani has DH’d in 17 games this season, but when he pitches, he doesn’t bat.

4) Baseball stuff:
— San Diego Padres DFA’d 3B Chase Headley, brought Cory Spangenberg up from AAA.
— Brewers’ ace Chase Anderson (illness) was scratched from his start in Denver.
— Nationals put 1B Ryan Zimmerman on the DL.

By the way, the genius who runs the Padres took on $13M of Chase Headley’s salary to also acquire P Bryan Mitchell, who is 0-3, 6.21 in eight games (7 starts) this year. Brilliant.

3) Webb Simpson leads by seven shots. No player in the history of the PGA Tour has ever lost with a 54-hole lead of seven shots or more.

2) Former NBA player Kwame Brown is suing Merrill Lynch, saying the brokerage stole $17.4 million of his investments.

Brown, who made $63,992,852 in salary as a player in the NBA, claims that his signature was forged on various authorization forms and agreements, allowing his financial adviser to make investments and stock trades without his consent.

1) Dick Vitale’s annual event to fight cancer raised $3.7M Friday night; this event has now raised a total of $25.7M over the years to fight cancer, mostly pediatric cancer. Good for him.

**Udog** · 05-13-2018, 08:02 AM

Updated 2018 NBA Playoffs betting stats heading into conference finals:

Home Teams:
46-18 Straight Up
35-28-1 ATS (55.55%)

Favorites:
49-15 Straight Up
37-26-1 ATS (58.73%)

Over-Under: 32-32

**Udog** · 05-13-2018, 08:09 AM

NBA Eastern Conference final Game 1 betting preview and odds: Cavaliers at Celtics

Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics (+1.5, 204)

The Boston Celtics have thrived as underdogs and they get a chance to relish the role again when they take on the almighty LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final for the second straight season, beginning with Game 1 on Sunday in Boston. The NBA Playoffs betting odds have Cleveland pegged as a 1.5-point road favorite with the total at 204 points.

James steamrolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs while averaging 34.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and nine assists, throwing in a pair of buzzer-beaters along the way. Cleveland went 3-1 ATS in its four-game sweep of Toronto after covering just once in its six games against Indiana.

"I haven't reflected on it," James told reporters when asked about the opportunity to reach the NBA Finals for an eighth straight time. "But I do know that this is my eighth straight conference finals, and I have an opportunity to play for a championship if I'm able to be successful in this conference finals, so I don't take that for granted."

Standing in his way is an inspiring bunch in Boston that took care of the Philadelphia 76ers in five games in the semifinals, riding a much more balanced attack led by rookie Jayson Tatum (23.6 points per game versus the 76ers). Point guard Terry Rozier has become a star since replacing injured All-Star and former Cavalier Kyrie Irving, as "Scary Terry" is averaging 18.2 points in the playoffs while guiding a gritty group.

"We weren't gonna lay down for nobody, no matter who was counting us out," Rozier told reporters of the postseason run. "We weren't going to just let the teams come in and punk us. We were the No. 2 seed for a reason. With injuries, without, we were the No. 2 seed, so obviously we were doing something great all season. ... We'd rather [the media] count us out. We don't want anybody on our side now. We're doing good and we play better when our back is against the wall."

Boston went 4-1 ATS in the five games versus Philadelphia and is 9-3 ATS in the playoffs heading into the Eastern Conference finals.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

SERIES PRICE (PER BET365): Cleveland -300/Boston +240

LINE HISTORY: Boston opened as at -1.5 at some sportsbooks and money on the road side moved the spread over the fence to Cleveland -1.5. The total opened at 205.5 points and has been bet down to 204 points.

WHAT BOOKS SAY: "We had Cleveland as a 1-point favorite over Boston in our initial line. There has been early action on the Cavaliers with both the sharps and the public backing Cleveland. We think the line will finish closer to a pick 'em though, as sharp money puts their trust in Brad Stevens' coaching skills and the Celtics' big home-court advantage. The total has had some movement too. We opened it at 205 and saw a strong push towards the Under due to a couple of our sharp players. The line has risen a bit since then, but it is still less than what we opened at." -- Jacob Crossman, odds analyst BetDSI.eu.

WHAT SHARPS SAY: "Both teams pulled series upsets in the previous round to set up a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals which Cleveland won 4-1. The Celtics now hold home court advantage and have the better head coach and defense, but Cleveland still has the best player with LeBron James." -- Steve Merril.

INJURY REPORT: Boston - J. Tatum (Probable, Hand), S. Larkin (Doubtful, Shoulder)

MATCHUP CHART:

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (58-35 SU, 36-56-1 ATS, 44-47-2 O/U): Kevin Love averaged 22.6 points and 12.4 rebounds in last season's conference finals against Boston and seems primed to help out James after finishing the second-round sweep of the Toronto Raptors in fine fashion. The 29-year-old scored at least 21 points in each of the final three games of that series after averaging 10.9 points on 31.9 percent shooting in his first eight contests this postseason, a stretch which drew some criticism in Cleveland. "You see it every day, whether it's politics or sports or pop culture," Love told the media of the fan reaction to his slump. "There's this 24-hour news cycle and there has to be some sort of story. Like I said after Game 2 [against the Raptors], 'I didn't forget how to play basketball.' Sometimes it's a bad matchup. I was missing some uncharacteristic shots. But there were other things I was doing out there. It's not I just forgot how to play."

ABOUT THE CELTICS (63-31 SU, 59-33-2 ATS, 51-42-1 O/U): The Celtics struggled to slow down James in the one-sided matchup last spring - won by Cleveland in five games - but they feel they have more men to throw at him this time around. "With this group, we have more depth in [the perimeter] positions, suited more to guard LeBron," big man Al Horford told the media. "We have a lot more bodies to take on that challenge." Horford, who will be one of the many players to mark James at one time or another, is averaging 17 points on 57.8 percent shooting in the playoffs.

TRENDS:

* Cavaliers are 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings in Boston.
* Cavaliers are 6-2 ATS in their last eight road games.
* Celtics are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 home games.
* Under is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings in Boston.
* Road team is 15-5-1 ATS in the last 21 meetings.

CONSENSUS:

There are 57 percent of pointspread bets on the Cavaliers while 71 percent of total bets are siding with the Over.

**Udog** · 05-13-2018, 08:18 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Sunday, May 13

Cleveland @ Boston

Game 733-734
May 13, 2018 @ 3:35 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Cleveland
121.777
Boston
124.358
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Boston
by 2 1/2
202
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Boston
Pick
205
Dunkel Pick:
Boston
Under

NBA
Long Sheet

Sunday, May 13

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CLEVELAND (58 - 35) at BOSTON (63 - 31) - 5/13/2018, 3:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CLEVELAND is 36-55 ATS (-24.5 Units) in all games this season.
CLEVELAND is 21-48 ATS (-31.8 Units) as a favorite this season.
BOSTON is 57-33 ATS (+20.7 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 23-8 ATS (+14.2 Units) as an underdog this season.
BOSTON is 27-17 ATS (+8.3 Units) in home games this season.
BOSTON is 32-20 ATS (+10.0 Units) against Central division opponents over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 14-5 ATS (+8.5 Units) after a division game this season.
BOSTON is 7-0 ATS (+7.0 Units) in home games in all playoff games this season.
BOSTON is 22-5 ATS (+16.5 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent this season.
BOSTON is 33-17 ATS (+14.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
BOSTON is 29-18 ATS (+9.2 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game this season.
BOSTON is 36-18 ATS (+16.2 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game this season.
BOSTON is 22-13 ATS (+7.7 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game - 2nd half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 7-7 against the spread versus CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
CLEVELAND is 11-4 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
8 of 15 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Sunday, May 13

Cleveland @ Boston
Cavaliers won four of last five games with Boston; they’re 5-2 vs spread in last seven visits to Beantown. Under is 6-4 in last ten series games. Cleveland swept Toronto four straight after beating the Pacers in seven games; they’re 3-2 vs spread in their last five road games. Five of their last six games went over. Celtics also needed seven games to win their first round series; they beat Philly in five games last round. Boston won/covered its last eight home games. Over is 8-4 in their playoff games.

NBA

Sunday, May 13

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Trend Report
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Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 games
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 6 games
Cleveland is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Cleveland is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 7 games on the road
Cleveland is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Boston
Cleveland is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Boston
Cleveland is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
Cleveland is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Cleveland's last 11 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston Celtics
Boston is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Boston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Boston's last 16 games
Boston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Boston's last 11 games at home
Boston is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Cleveland
Boston is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Cleveland
Boston is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland
Boston is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Boston's last 11 games when playing at home against Cleveland

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Announcement

Sunday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/13

Sunday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/13

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