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**Udog** · 05-14-2018, 08:05 AM

Armadillo: Monday'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 1: Falcons @ Philadelphia (-4)

Week 2: Chiefs @ Pittsburgh (-7)

Week 3: Jets @ Browns (-2.5)

Week 4: Vikings (-2) @ LA Rams (-3)

Week 5: Raiders @ LA Chargers (-5)

Week 6: Jaguars @ Dallas (-1)

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Armadillo: Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports weekend…..

We start today with two examples of why baseball is a fascinating game:
13) Baseball strategy, Exhibit A: Twins-Angels are tied in late innings; Angels have game-winning run on 3rd with two out. Minnesota walks Pujols/Simmons intentionally, to bring up Marte, putting lot of pressure on their pitcher to throw strikes. I’ve never seen a team walk two hitters intentionally to load the bases with two outs, especially with the batter coming up not being a pitcher.

Twins escape the jam, win the game 5-3 in 12 innings.

12) Baseball strategy, Exhibit B: San Diego was tied with the Cardinals in late innings; Padres had men on first and second, no one out, and pinch-hit Spangenberg for Villanueva so he could bunt the runners over.

Spangenberg fouls off two bunts, count is 2-2, and then he fouls off another bunt and strikes out. What are you telling a position player when you have him bunt with two strikes? Especially on the day you brought him back from AAA.

Padres wound up with a walk-off win in the 13th inning, despite all that.

Two teams use unusual strategy, and both win their game.

11) Charlotte Knights, AAA farm team of the White Sox, drew 10,512 fans Saturday, their 8th sellout this season. Would Charlotte be a good city for a major league team?

10) Nick Markakis is hitting .346 this year, having a terrific year; he is 34 years old, has 2,105 career hits, but has never played in an All-Star Game. Hopefully that’ll change this year, and if it does, it’ll be the best moment at the All-Star Game, when he is introduced before the game.

9) Bad news for the Seattle Mariners; Robinson Cano was hit by a pitch Sunday, broke a bone in his right hand.

8) Odubel Herrera has reached base in 41 straight games; the all-time record is 84, held by Ted Williams.

7) Phillies 4, Mets 2— Jacob deGrom threw 45 pitches in the first inning; Phillies fouled off 20 of the 45 pitches- they didn’t get a hit or score a run. A very unusual inning, and then deGrom was lifted from the game.

Mets said that deGrom wasn’t hurt; they just were cautious because of the rain delay before the game and the 45 pitches he threw in the first inning. Plus, it was his first start in 11 days.

6) By way of reference, Angels’ Jaime Barria threw 49 pitches in a scoreless first inning against the Giants April 22; that was the night of the 21-pitch AB to Brandon Belt. Those two starts are the most pitches this season thrown in a scoreless inning.

5) Atlanta Braves’ 3B prospect Austin Riley was 4-for-5 Sunday with three HR’s, 8 RBIs for AAA Gwinnett; he’ll be in Atlanta pretty soon.

4) Richmond-Albany college lacrosse game drew 4,800 fans Saturday here in the capital city of New York State. Albany doesn’t draw crowds like that for football, but they’re ranked #2 in the country in lacrosse, so the bandwagon is pretty crowded these days. Good for the Great Danes.

3) Texas Rangers brought up lefty reliever Brandon Mann from AAA Sunday; the 34-year old Mann was originally drafted in 2002, and has played both in Japan and in independent leagues. What a journey he must’ve had; congrats on making the big leagues.

2) Major Leagues need to identify who the replay umpires are for each game; they make calls that change games, but they’re hunkered down in Manhattan and are fairly anonymous. It’d be interesting to know who is making a particular call, for better or worse.

1) RIP Coach Chuck Knox, the man who won five straight division title for the Rams in the 70’s, and went to coach the Seahawks/Bills. Coach Knox was 186-147-1 in his NFL career; he won Coach of the Year for all three teams that he coached. RIP, sir.

**Udog** · 05-14-2018, 08:19 AM

NBA Western Conference final Game 1 betting preview and odds: Warriors at Rockets

Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets (-1.5, 224)

Series tied 0-0.

The Houston Rockets have had the look all season of a team ready to dethrone the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference. They now get their chance to try to turn that vision into a reality when the star-studded squads tangle in the best-of-seven conference finals, beginning with Game 1 on Monday night in Houston.

The Rockets won the West by seven games over the second-place Warriors and took two of three regular-season meetings while averaging 117.3 points, and they've cruised to their second conference finals in four seasons - the last in 2015 resulting in a lopsided series loss at the hands of Golden State - with back-to-back 4-1 series wins over Minnesota and Utah. The defending NBA champion Warriors also needed just five games to get by each of their first two opponents and are seeking their fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. "We know they are a great team," Golden State coach Steve Kerr recently told the media of the Rockets. "We know they are ready, and we'll be ready for them." The teams last met in the playoffs in 2016, when the Warriors rolled in five games in a first-round matchup.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, TNT

SERIES PRICE (PER PINNACLE):

LINE HISTORY: The Rockets opened the betting for Game 1 as 2-point home favorites and that numbers has been pushed down slightly to 1.5 as of Sunday night. The total hit betting boards at 225 and has been dropped to 225.

WHAT SHARPS SAY: "The two best teams in the NBA face off in the Western Conference finals and the winner will be a substantial favorite to win the NBA Finals. Look-ahead odds give the Warriors a 86% chance to defeat the Cavaliers and 91% chance to defeat the Celtics. Meanwhile, the Rockets will have a 78% chance to defeat the Cavaliers and an 88% chance to defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals." - Steve Merril.

INJURY REPORT:

Warriors - SG P. McCaw (Early June, Back), SF C. Boucher (Out Indefinitely, Ankle).

Rockets - No injuries to report.

MATCHUP CHART:

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (66-26 SU, 39-52-1 ATS, 43-48-1 O/U): Golden State returned to full power when Stephen Curry came back from a knee injury in Game 2 of the semifinal series against New Orleans, and the two-time MVP showed little rust as he averaged 24.5 points while making 44.1 percent of his 3-pointers during the series. His presence makes the defending champs a complete team that is supremely confident, even as a rare underdog. "No, I like where we are," Kerr told the media. "Our guys have rings. That's a good position to be in. To me, the hardest championship is the first one, as an individual player and as a team, because you don't know - you don't quite know - if you can do it."

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (73-19 SU, 47-44-1 ATS, 38-53-1 O/U): The big difference between past Houston teams that have faltered against Golden State is the notable addition of point guard Chris Paul, who averaged 21.8 points through the first two rounds. "We've got eight more wins to get," he told reporters when asked if he celebrated his first trip to the conference finals in his 13-year career. "I don't know what it's supposed to feel like, but we've still got a lot of work to do." Backcourt mate James Harden continues to stuff the stat sheet and has joined Michael Jordan (1988-89 and 1990-91) as the second player in NBA history to average at least 28 points, seven assists, five boards and two steals while playing more than five games in a postseason.

TRENDS:

* Warriors are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 Conference Finals games.
* Rockets are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games playing on 3 or more days rest.
* Over is 4-0 in Warriors' last 4 Conference Finals games.
* Under is 10-1 in Rockets' last 11 vs. NBA Pacific.
* Under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

CONSENSUS:

There are 55 percent of pointspread bets on the underdog Warriors while 73 percent of total bets are on the Over.

**Udog** · 05-14-2018, 08:39 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Monday, May 14

Golden State @ Houston

Game 731-732
May 14, 2018 @ 9:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Golden State
126.154
Houston
130.659
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Houston
by 4 1/2
228
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Houston
by 1 1/2
224
Dunkel Pick:
Houston
(-1 1/2); Over

NBA
Long Sheet

Monday, May 14

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GOLDEN STATE (66 - 26) at HOUSTON (73 - 19) - 5/14/2018, 9:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
GOLDEN STATE is 38-51 ATS (-18.1 Units) in all games this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 19-32 ATS (-16.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 9-21 ATS (-14.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
HOUSTON is 23-13 ATS (+8.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 63-38 ATS (+21.2 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
HOUSTON is 40-53 ATS (-18.3 Units) in home games over the last 2 seasons.
HOUSTON is 1-8 ATS (-7.8 Units) in home games against Pacific division opponents this season.
HOUSTON is 16-29 ATS (-15.9 Units) in home games after a win by 10 points or more over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
GOLDEN STATE is 9-5 against the spread versus HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
GOLDEN STATE is 11-4 straight up against HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
9 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

Monday, May 14

Golden State @ Houston
Rockets won two of three games with Golden State this year; road team won two of those three games. Warriors won/covered four of their last six visits to Houston. Under is 7-3 in last ten series games. Golden State is 8-2 in these playoffs, splitting four road games; they’re 2-5 vs spread in last seven games (under 5-2). Houston is also 8-2 in the playoffs; they’re 3-3 vs spread in last six home games. Over is 5-3 in their last eight games.

Conference finals 
Cavaliers-Celtics 
Bos 108-83, +1, U204.5

NBA

Monday, May 14

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Trend Report
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Golden State Warriors
Golden State is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
Golden State is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Golden State's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Golden State's last 5 games on the road
Golden State is 20-5 SU in its last 25 games when playing Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Golden State's last 10 games when playing Houston
Golden State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Houston
Golden State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Golden State's last 6 games when playing on the road against Houston
Houston Rockets
Houston is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
Houston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Houston's last 18 games
Houston is 23-2 SU in its last 25 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Houston's last 20 games at home
Houston is 5-10-1 ATS in its last 16 games when playing Golden State
Houston is 5-20 SU in its last 25 games when playing Golden State
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Houston's last 10 games when playing Golden State
Houston is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Golden State
Houston is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Golden State
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games when playing at home against Golden State

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**Udog** · 05-14-2018, 12:11 PM

Monster win in Game 1 for the Celtics yesterday. LeBron says he's not concerned.

Here are NBA playoffs betting stats thus far:

Home Teams:
47-18 Straight Up
36-28-1 ATS (56.25%)

Favorites:
50-15 Straight Up
38-26-1 ATS (59.37%)

Over-Under: 32-33

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Monday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/14

Monday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/14

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