Announcement

**Udog** · 08-15-2020, 09:18 AM

Armadillo: Saturday's six-pack

Week 2 NFL spreads:
— Bengals @ Browns (-8.5)
— Giants @ Bears (-5)
— Jaguars @ Titans (-11)
— Panthers @ Buccaneers (-11)
— Broncos @ Steelers (-5)
— Rams @ Eagles (-4.5)

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 167,948
Please wear a mask when you go out.

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Armadillo: Saturday's Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind…….

13) A pitcher named Brady Lail became the first major leaguer since 1921 to play his first three major league games for three different teams; he pitched in one game for Bronx LY, one game for the White Sox last week, and then he threw threw scoreless innings against Houston Friday.

12) Cleveland Indians have internal problems; they brought P’s Clevinger/Plesac to Detroit to have a meeting about their antics in Chicago last week, then Plesac’s social media posts after he was sat down by the ballclub, for violating COVID protocols.

Now both of them have been sent back to Cleveland, basically been sent down to the minors; Indians don’t need a 5th starter again until August 24- will we see one of them then?

11) A’s 8, Giants 7 (10)— Oakland was down 7-2 in 9th inning; this was first game they won when they trailed by 5+ runs in the 9th inning since 1952, when they were the Philadelphia A’s.

In the major leagues this season, there have been three grand slams hit in the 9th inning or later; Oakland has all three of them.

10) A’s CF Ramon Laureano had his suspension reduced from six games to four; good thing he appealed, because he robbed the Angels of a game-tying home run in the 7th inning of their win in Anaheim Wednesday afternoon.

9) Houston’s Yordan Alvarez homered and grounded into a double play in the same inning Friday; he is the first big leaguer since Lou Whitaker in 1992 to do that.

8) Unnamed played on the Cincinnati Reds tested positive for COVID Friday night; no word yet on the status of the Reds’ games the rest of this weekend.

7) New York 10, Boston 3— Red Sox have now lost 23 of their last 26 games against Bronx and Tampa Bay; Boston allowed 53 runs in its last five games overall.

6) Houston Astros, through their first seven series this season, will have seen only two umpiring crews; MLB isn’t moving the umps around as much as they usually do.

5) 49ers’ tight end George Kittle signed a 5-year, $75M contract extension this week; he was the 9th tight end taken in the 2017 draft.

4) Carolina’s new QB this season is Teddy Bridgewater, who is 25-15 SU in his NFL career, 31-9 against the spread. New coach, new QB, new coordinators; how is that going to work, with no OTA’s and a very weird training camp routine, with no exhibition games?

3) Lebron James led the NBA in assists this year, the first time he has ever done that. Not bad for a 36-year old.

2) Jacob deGrom got scratched from his start Friday with a stiff neck; so did Oakland starter Frankie Montas. 33% of the way thru this shortened, unusual season, nagging injuries are starting to crop up.

1) After 3+ weeks of this unusual baseball season, I’m more convinced that ever that we need total geographic realignment. Would greatly reduce travel costs, would ignite new rivalries (Angels-Padres, Mets-Red Sox). Just think it would help the sport.

**Udog** · 08-15-2020, 09:24 AM

723MEMPHIS -724 PORTLAND
MEMPHIS are 3-11 ATS (-9.1 Units) in road games versus good 3 point shooting teams - making >=36% of their attempts - 2nd half of the season in the current season.

NBA
Long Sheet

Saturday, August 15

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MEMPHIS (34 - 39) vs. PORTLAND (35 - 39) - 8/15/2020, 2:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PORTLAND is 51-31 ATS (+16.9 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 3 seasons.
MEMPHIS is 182-137 ATS (+31.3 Units) after a win by 10 points or more since 1996.
PORTLAND is 22-32 ATS (-13.2 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
PORTLAND is 5-5 against the spread versus MEMPHIS over the last 3 seasons
PORTLAND is 5-5 straight up against MEMPHIS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NBA

Saturday, August 15

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Trend Report
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Memphis @ Portland
Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Memphis's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Memphis's last 7 games on the road
Portland
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Portland's last 5 games
Portland is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Memphis

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**Udog** · 08-15-2020, 10:18 AM

Play-In Game Predictions & Odds: Grizzlies vs. Trail Blazers
Kevin Rogers

The NBA 2020 postseason will begin on Saturday August 15, 2020 when the league produces its first inaugural play-in game.

The No. 8 Portland Trail Blazers will meet the No. 9 Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday from the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida.

If the Trail Blazers win on Saturday, they’ll advance to the 2020 NBA Playoffs and meet the No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. If the Grizzlies win, then the pair will meet again on Sunday and whoever wins that game will play Los Angeles on Tuesday in Game 1.

Betting Resources

Matchup: Play-In Game
Expert Picks: Vegas Insiders
Venue: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Location: Orlando, Florida
Date: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC

Betting Odds - Grizzlies vs. Trail Blazers

Portland opened as a seven-point favorite over Memphis for Saturday's NBA Play-In Game while the total was sent out at 231.5

The early action came in on the underdog and most books have the Trail Blazers listed as six-point favorites while the total has been pushed up a point to 232.5.

Be sure to follow all the line movements.

Point-Spread Odds

Trail Blazers -6
Grizzlies +6

Money-Line Odds

Trail Blazers -300 (Bet $100 to win $33)
Grizzlies +250 (Bet $100 to win $250)

Total Odds

Over 233.5
Under 233.5

Inside the Betting Stats

Overall

Portland: 35-39 SU, 32-40-2 ATS
Memphis: 34-39 SU, 36-36-1 ATS

Bubble

Portland: 6-2 SU, 5-2-1 ATS
Memphis: 2-6 SU, 2-6 ATS

The Grizzlies started the bubble as the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, but needed a victory in their eighth and final game against the Bucks just to qualify for the play-in series. Memphis lost four games by nine points or more, while two of the bubble defeats came to teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention (New Orleans and San Antonio).

Blazers' guard Damian Lillard is already an All-Star guard, but he ascended towards superstar status since the NBA restart. Lillard helped carry Portland to six victories, including the 134-133 triumph over Brooklyn in the regular season finale to guarantee a spot in the play-in series..

Lillard scored 42 points against the Nets, which was his fourth-highest scoring game in the bubble. The eye-opening performance by Lillard came in a 61-point outburst against the Mavericks on August 11 in a 134-131 win, while Portland cashed the OVER in seven of eight games.

Blazers' guard Damian Lillard has scored at least 40 points four times since the NBA restart. (AP)

Grizzlies vs. Blazers Head-to-Head

2019-20 Regular Season
July 31, 2020: Portland 140 (-3.5) vs. Memphis 135, Over 225
Feb. 12, 2020: Memphis 111 (-3.5) vs. Portland 104, Under 235

The Grizzlies took care of the Blazers in the only matchup prior to the restart at FedEx Forum. In the final game before the All-Star break, Memphis beat Portland, 111-104 behind Brandon Clarke's 27 points off the bench.

The rest of the Grizzlies struggled from the floor, as the starting backcourt duo of Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks combined to shoot 13-of-39 from the floor for 31 points. Portland was limited to 37% shooting, while Lillard was held to 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting.

Portland and Memphis tipped off play in the bubble in late July in one of the most entertaining games of the restart. The Blazers built a 68-60 halftime lead and jumped out to a 13-point third quarter advantage before the Grizzlies outscored Portland, 30-6 in an eight-minute span to go ahead to start the fourth quarter.

Memphis led 112-103 with under six minutes remaining in regulation, but Portland rallied back behind a pair of Carmelo Anthony three-pointers in the final two minutes to force overtime. The Blazers scored the first 11 points in the extra session and held on for the 140-135 victory and cover as 3.5-point favorites.

Over-Under Total Notes

Totals Report
Overall

Portland: 43-30-1 O/U
Memphis: 32-40-1 O/U

Bubble

Portland: 7-1 O/U
Memphis: 2-6 O/U

When it comes to betting NBA totals, this pair couldn’t be further apart.

The Trail Blazers enter Saturday’s matchup on a 5-0 run to the ‘over’ and seven of their eight games in the NBA Bubble have gone to the high side. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering Portland is averaging a league-best 126 points per game in Orlando. However, the defense has been terrible as the unit has allowed 123.4 PPG.

Memphis is definitely the better defensive team (113.6 PPG) but the Grizzlies have a negative point-differential since it entered the bubble. The offense is just averaging 112.6 PPG but its best effort did come in a loss against Portland.

In their first encounter on July 31 from the NBA Bubble, the total closed at 224 ½ and today's number is almost 10 points higher. If you're buying the 'playoff-like' atmosphere, then a strong case for an 'under' lean could be made.

Key Injuries

The Blazers are healthy heading into the play-in series, but the Grizzlies are without their second-leading scorer, Jaren Jackson, Jr. The former Michigan State standout sustained a knee injury in the third game of the restart against the Pelicans and is sidelined for the rest of the season. Jackson, Jr. averaged 25.3 points per game in the three restart contests and finished less than a point behind Morant for the team lead in points per game.

**Udog** · 08-15-2020, 10:59 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Saturday, August 15

Memphis @ Portland

Game 723-724
August 15, 2020 @ 2:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Memphis
115.488
Portland
125.408
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Portland
by 10
249
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Portland
by 6
232
Dunkel Pick:
Portland
(-6); Over

Announcement

Saturday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 8/15

Saturday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 8/15

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