The Bum's NBA Playoff Trends,News,Picks !

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

TOR at BOS 06:30 PM
BOS -3.5
U 209.5
+500 +500

LAC at DEN 09:00 PM
LAC -8.0
O 221.5
+500 +500

[StarDust Bum]

COMPLETED PICKS

Past Completed Picks

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

09/09/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/08/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail
09/07/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/06/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/05/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/04/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/03/2020 0-4-0 0.00% -2200 Detail
09/02/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/01/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail

Sept Totals.....14-22-0.......38.88.......-51.00

[StarDust Bum]

NBA public betting, line movement September 10
Patrick Everson

The Rockets' Russell Westbrook and the Lakers' Anthony Davis will have plenty to say about how Game 4 of the Western Conference finals plays out Thursday. Los Angeles is -5 at The SuperBook.

NBA betting odds are up for a slimmed-down Thursday playoffs schedule, with just one matchup on the docket. The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets clash in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

The SuperBook at Westgate provided insights on NBA opening lines and early line movement, sharp money and public betting for Thursday’s contest.

NBA line movement

The Lakers got rolled by 15 points in Game 1, then bounced back with a pair of victories, including a 112-102 win in Game 3 Tuesday night. Los Angeles opened -5 at The SuperBook for Game 4, and there was no line movement as of late Wednesday for a 7 p.m. ET Thursday tipoff.

The total also had zero movement through Wednesday, sticking at 220.5 at The SuperBook.

NBA public betting

In what’s become a pattern this series, Consensus is showing point-spread support for the underdog Rockets. As of late Wednesday night, there was two-way play, but Houston was attracting 55 percent of picks. The total had a more clear differentiation, with 67 percent of early Consensus picks on the Over.

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715LA LAKERS -716 HOUSTON
LA LAKERS are 9-20 ATS (-13 Units) in road games when playing their 3rd road game in 5 days in the last 3 seasons.


NBA
Dunkel

Thursday, September 10

LA Lakers @ Houston

Game 715-716
September 10, 2020 @ 7:10 pm

Dunkel Rating:
LA Lakers
120.171
Houston
119.098
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
LA Lakers
by 1
223
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
LA Lakers
by 5 1/2
220 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Houston
(+5 1/2); Over


NBA
Long Sheet

Thursday, September 10

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LA LAKERS (58 - 21) vs. HOUSTON (49 - 33) - 9/10/2020, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
HOUSTON is 53-37 ATS (+12.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
LA LAKERS is 8-6 against the spread versus HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
HOUSTON is 9-5 straight up against LA LAKERS over the last 3 seasons
7 of 14 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


NBA

Thursday, September 10

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LA Lakers @ Houston
LA Lakers
LA Lakers is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 9 of LA Lakers's last 11 games when playing on the road against Houston
Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Houston's last 10 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[StarDust Bum]

Game 4 Odds: Lakers vs. Rockets
Michael Crosson

The second round of the NBA Playoffs in the Western Conference will continue Thursday as the No. 4 Houston Rockets look to bounce back in Game 4 against the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.

Betting Resources

Matchup: Western Conference Game 4
Second Round: Lakers lead 2-1
Venue: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Location: Orlando, Florida
Date: Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: TNT

LeBron James scored 36 points in Game 3 and the L.A. Lakers used that effort to take a 2-1 series lead over the Houston Rockets. (AP)

Line Movements

After winning and covering in back-to-back contests to take a 2-1 series lead, Vegas has the Los Angeles Lakers listed as five-point favorites heading into Game 4 of this seven-game series as Frank Vogel’s crew will look to earn a commanding two-game advantage over the Rockets on Thursday night.

Despite cashing ‘over’ tickets in the second game of this series (117-109 – LAL), the ‘over-under’ for this matchup has been on a steady decline since it opened at OU 227 for Game 1. The line for Thursday night’s matchup sits at the lowest total between these units all season – OU 220.

Prior to Game 2, we saw the price for Houston’s potential advancement to the Western Conference Finals climb all the way up to +180 back when the Rockets owned a 1-0 lead. That mark has fallen significantly heading into Game 4 though, as Mike D’Antoni’s team is now a +525 underdog to knock off the top-seeded Lakers, trailing now 2-1.

Spread: Los Angeles -5
Money-Line: Los Angeles -210, Houston +180
Total: 220.5
Updated Series Price: Los Angeles -750 Houston +525

Game 3 Recap

Another high-quality basketball game took place between the Rockets and Lakers in the bubble on Tuesday night, as the first and fourth seeds in the Western Conference entered the final quarter of Game 3 deadlocked on the scoreboard and in the series. LeBron James finished with another jaw-dropping stat line of 36 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in Tuesday’s contest as he became the NBA’s all-time playoff wins leader (161) – but anyone who actually watched the game will confirm that Rajon Rondo was the MVP for the Lakers in the contest.

Anthony Davis and James were rather loud in the opening two stanzas of Game 3 as the superstar-duo combined for 44 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in the first half on Tuesday – but the closing minutes of the contest belonged to “Playoff Rondo” as he tallied 12 points, 5 assists, and played tremendous defense down the stretch to help secure the victory and a 2-1 lead for Los Angeles.

Following Game 1, the Lakers appeared to be lacking the depth at the guard position to keep up with the explosive scoring ability of the Rockets, but it looks like they might have found a neutralizing factor if Rondo is able to contribute similarly to the way he did on Tuesday night.

Game 3 Betting Results

Outcome: Lakers 112 Rockets 102

It was déjà vu for bettors backing the Rockets in Game 3 as the club ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles outscored Houston by exactly 10 points (30-20) in the final 12 minutes for the second consecutive game.

Houston was outscored 51-38 in the second-half and the offensive struggles helped 'under' bettors connect even though the 'over' appeared to be the right side in this contest.

Game: Lakers Win, Lakers Cover (-4), Under (222)
First Quarter: Rockets Win (33-32), Rockets Cover (+1), Over (57.5)
First-Half: Rockets Win (64-61), Rockets Cover (+2), Over (114)
Second-Half: Lakers Win (51-38), Lakers Cover (-4.5), Under (107.5)

Los Angeles Betting Outlook

Inside the Stats

Bubble: 9-7 SU, 6-10 ATS, 10-7 O/U
Playoffs: 6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS, 7-9 O/U

It was great to see LeBron and AD finally get some help scoring the ball on Tuesday night as Kuzma and Rondo combined for 35 points off the bench in the Lakers’ crucial Game 3 victory – 20 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

In LAL’s 112-97 loss to Houston in Game 1, Alex Caruso appeared to be the only Laker role-player with a pulse as he led his team’s non-superstars in scoring with 14 points on 57% shooting. On Tuesday, LeBron kept his team in contention during Houston’s scoring outbreaks, going for 29 points in the first half, but then we saw him turn the ball over to the hot-hands coming off the bench down the stretch as he coasted to the finish line with just five points in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers are easily the best team in the NBA when all the pieces come together for them like they did on Tuesday night. It is crucial for LAL to get serviceable play out of its role-players (especially its guards) for the remainder of this series, because we have seen what the Rockets are capable of when teams get lazy defensively against them.

Houston Betting Outlook

Inside the Stats

Bubble: 8-10 SU, 7-11 ATS, 6-12 O/U
Playoffs: 5-5 SU, 4-6 ATS, 4-6 O/U

I am not sure who I should be mad at in the Rockets organization for this, but regardless, the Rockets’ approach on offense in this series is driving me crazy and something clearly needs to change. There is no way Houston traded away Clint Capela to the Hawks so a 25% 3-point shooter in Russell Westbrook can jack up an increased volume of longballs per game. The ex-Thunder point-guard has outshot Harden 63-55 over the course of this series and that cannot continue to happen if Houston wants to remain competitive.

What the Rockets have done with this team should inspire front offices with inferior talent-levels to engineer unique offensive schemes and ride with them, but the way Houston is currently executing its strategy is atypical for them in a playoff sense. Westbrook averaged over 38 points per game against LAL in the regular season, but the Rockets know now they are dealing with an evolutionarily advanced version of the unit as the post-season intensity continues to ramp up.

James Harden NEEDS to shoot the ball more in Game 4 for Houston – whether he is feeling it or not (4 for 9 – G3). If Westbrook continues to take more shots than Harden for the remainder of this series, you can go ahead and chalk this series up to a victory for the Lakers because that is basically Houston waving the white flag on the season.

Key Injuries

Los Angeles

SG/SF Dion Waiters: Groin - Game-time decision

Houston

SF Danuel House: Personal - Game-time decision

Tyson Chandler and Danuel House Jr. both elected to sit out during Houston’s Game 3 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday for “personal reasons,” and House Jr. is listed as questionable again for Thursday night’s matchup with the same tag. House Jr. suffered a minor face injury in the opening game of this series, but has returned to the Rockets lineup since then, leading me to believe the forward’s status is unrelated to concussion protocol etc.

If any players listed on the injury report miss Thursday night’s contest, it should not have a large impact on the final outcome of the game – likely a slight uptick in volume for Harden and Westbrook.

[StarDust Bum]

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LAL at HOU 07:00 PM
HOU +5.0
O 218.0
+500 +500

[StarDust Bum]

COMPLETED PICKS

Past Completed Picks

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

09/10/2020 0-2-0 0.00% -1100 Detail
09/09/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/08/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail
09/07/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/06/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/05/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/04/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/03/2020 0-4-0 0.00% -2200 Detail
09/02/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/01/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail

Sept Totals.....14-24-0.......36.84.......-62.00

[StarDust Bum]

Friday’s 6-pack

NFL teams with most room under the salary cap:

$34.74M— Cleveland

$32.24M— New England

$31.31M— NJ Jets

$30.95M— Jacksonville

$26.03M— Washington

$25.43M— Denver


Americans who have died from COVID-19: 190,589
Please wear a mask when you go out.

Tweet of the Day
“With the NFL starting, I find myself pulling for the offense so maybe someone will need a defensive coach!”
Wade Phillips, currently unemployed

Friday’s quiz
In the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, which famous actor played Bob Woodward?

Thursday’s quiz
William Henry Harrison was President for only 31 days, before he died of pneumonia.

Wednesday’s quiz
Kevin Durant began his NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics, before they moved to Oklahoma and became the Thunder


*****************

Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..

13) Chiefs 34, Texans 20:
— Chiefs ran ball 34 times for 166 yards; they threw 32 passes.
— KC scored four of the first times they had the football.
— 15,895 fans attended this game on a drizzly night at Arrowhead Stadium.
— In first three series for both teams, KC ran 35 plays, Houston 16

12) With no teams having an off-season program, I’m thinking its going to take a few weeks for offenses to catch up to where they normally are. 34-20 sounds high-scoring, but Houston got couple of scores in garbage time. Pass patterns mostly seemed a lot shorter than normal.

11) Tigers 6, Cardinals 3— Detroit scored five runs in the top of the 7th to earn the split of this twinbill, after losing their previous two games by a combined score of 31-2.

10) Red Sox 3, Rays 2— Rookie Bobby Dalbec homered in his 5th consecutive game.

9) A’s 3, Houston 1— Sean Manaea got thru seven innings on 61 pitches; you just never see that anymore, less than 9 pitches per inning.

8) Miami 31, UAB 14:
— Total yardage was 495-285, Miami
— Hurricanes ran ball for 337 yards.

7) Royals 11, Indians 1— Rookie Brady Singer had a no-hitter into the 8th inning.

6) White Sox are 13-0 vs lefty pitchers; Arizona is 2-10.

5) Atlanta 7, Washington 6— Freddie Freeman knocked in 10 runs the last two games; he is the first Brave to knock in 4+ runs in consecutive games since Mark Teixeira, in 2007.

4) Arizona 5, Dodgers 2— If you have Mookie Betts on your fantasy team, last night was your lucky night; Betts played 2B, so now he’s eligible at 2B in a lot of fantasy leagues, which would be a large advantage over most teams. It was his 16th career game at second base, first one in two years.

LA put Walker Buehler (blister) on the IL before this game, then Dustin May left one inning after he was hit in the foot by a line drive.

3) Longest NFL playoff droughts:
17 years- Cleveland
12- Tampa Bay
9- NJ Jets

2) Lakers 110, Houston 100 (LA leads 3-1)
— Davis had 29 points, 12 rebounds five assists for LA.
— Harden was 2-11 from the floor, 16-20 on foul line. Harden was only Rocket starter with a =/- better than minus-10; he was even.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL East- Tampa Bay, Toronto
AL Central- Chicago, Minnesota
AL West- Oakland, Houston
AL Wild Cards- Cleveland, New York

NL East- Atlanta, Philadelphia
NL Central- Chicago, St Louis
NL West- Los Angeles, San Diego
NL Wild Cards- Miami, San Francisco

[StarDust Bum]

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

DEN at LAC 06:30 PM
DEN +8.5
O 216.0
+500 +500

BOS at TOR 09:00 PM
BOS -2.5
U 204.5
+500 +500

[StarDust Bum]

COMPLETED PICKS

Past Completed Picks

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

09/11/2020 3-0-1 87.50% +1500 Detail
09/10/2020 0-2-0 0.00% -1100 Detail
09/09/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/08/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail
09/07/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/06/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/05/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/04/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/03/2020 0-4-0 0.00% -2200 Detail
09/02/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/01/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail

Sept Totals.....17-24-1...41.46%.....-47.00

[StarDust Bum]

Saturday’s 6-pack

Major league leaders in OPS:

1.257— Juan Soto, Wash

1.089— Nelson Cruz, Minn

1.081— Freddie Freeman, Atl

1.065— Mike Trout, LAA

1.051— Dominic Smith, NYM

1.049— Trea Turner, Wash


Americans who have died from COVID-19: 192,616
Please wear a mask when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“It’s not real baseball, but it’s fine for this year, and I hope we never do it again.”
Clayton Kershaw, talking about the new extra inning rules

Saturday’s quiz
What eastern city did the LA Clippers call home, before they were known as the Clippers?

Friday’s quiz
In the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, Robert Redford played Bob Woodward.

Thursday’s quiz
William Henry Harrison was President for only 31 days, before he died of pneumonia.


************************

Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a busy Friday

13) Boston 92, Toronto 87 (Celtics win 4-3)
— Celtics held Toronto to 16 points in 4th quarter.
— Teams combined to make 17-66 on the arc.
— Jayson Tatum led Boston with 29 points.
— Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference final.

12) Nuggets 111, LA Clippers 105 (LA leads 3-2)
— Denver outscored LA 38-25 in 4th quarter to stay alive.
— Michael Porter scored Denver’s last 7 points, his only points of the game.

11) Tampa Bay 11, Red Sox 1— Rays are first team since at least 1900 to start nine lefty hitters in a game, with none of them switch-hitters.

10) Two more random facts from Thursday’s NFL games:
— There were only five plays of 20+ yards in Thursday’s game; Chiefs had two of them. Last year, Kansas City averaged 4.25 plays/game of 20+ yards
— Chiefs had a 15-yard advantage in average field position, which is unusually big.

9) Happy birthday to the great NBA player Bob Lanier, who turned 72 this week; to show how great Lanier was in college, he led St Bonaventure to the 1971 Final Four. Think about that; St Bonaventure is located in the middle of freakin’ nowhere, in the southern tier of central New York; for them to make the Final Four was amazing.

He was a great college player, but tore his knee up in the regional final, when Villanova’s Chris Ford rolled up on his knee. Ironically, Lanier/Ford later wound up as NBA teammates with the Pistons.

8) I was at an AAU tournament in Las Vegas a few years ago, at Bishop Gorman HS, two games going on at once. I’m sitting in the bleachers by myself, behind one couple.

Being AAU ball, when the coach’s cellphone buzzes that he got a text while the game is going on, the guy takes the phone out and reads the text. Why?

He turns around, looks at the couple in front of me and snaps, “If you text me again, he’ll never get in!!!”

The couple wanted their kid to play more; I couldn’t laugh in their faces, so I went to the concession stand. Good stuff.

7) Unsolicited opinions: best-ever play-by-play announcers by sport:
— MLB— Vin Scully
— NFL— Al Michaels
— NBA— Mike Breen
— NHL— Mike Emrick/Dan Kelly
— College hoop— Dick Enberg
— College football— Keith Jackson

6) Phillies’ pitcher Zach Wheeler makes $22M this year; he is now on the IL after tearing the fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand while he was putting his pants on.

Wheeler is 4-0, 2,47 in 8 starts; he is really good, but he got hurt putting his pants on.

5) Giant-Padre games for Friday/Saturday were postponed after a Giants’ player tested positive for COVID.

4) Dr Fauci was on TV today telling the truth, because someone needs to; the moderator said they were glad he was speaking, but they were also afraid he would get fired soon.

They can’t fire him; every TV network in the country (except FOX) would be throwing lucrative offers at him, to get his commentary on their station. He’d definitely get his own show, if he wanted one.

3) Sounds like November will be a very quiet month TV-wise, with only football going on until maybe college hoop starts around Thanksgiving. Good news, then, that the NBA now plans to hold their draft November 18, so that’ll provide one night of entertainment.

2) September 11, 1985— Pete Rose set the all-time hits record, getting a hit off of Eric Show of the Padres. Sadly, September 11 is now an infamous date in American history, because of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL East- Tampa Bay, Toronto
AL Central- Chicago, Minnesota
AL West- Oakland, Houston
AL Wild Cards- Cleveland, New York

NL East- Atlanta, Philadelphia
NL Central- Chicago, St Louis
NL West- Los Angeles, San Diego
NL Wild Cards- Miami, San Francisco

[StarDust Bum]

NBA public betting, line movement September 12
Patrick Everson

LeBron James and Anthony Davis lead the Lakers against the Rockets in Game 5 Saturday. Los Angeles is a 6.5-point favorite. A win would put the Lakers in the West finals against the Clippers.

NBA betting odds are up for the lone playoff game on the Saturday schedule: Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, where the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers can advance to the West finals with a victory over the Houston Rockets.

The SuperBook provided insights on NBA opening lines and early line movement, sharp money and public betting for Saturday’s matchup.

NBA line movement

After dropping Game 1 by 15 points, the Lakers rebounded with three straight wins over the Rockets, including Thursday’s 110-100 victory. Los Angeles can put away Houston in an 8 p.m. ET tipoff, and The SuperBook opened the Lakers -6.5. There was no line movement through Friday night.

The total opened 215 at The SuperBook and inched to 215.5 late Friday morning.

NBA public betting

The Consensus, often indicative of public play, shows an expectation that Los Angeles will advance, but there’s two-way play, to be sure. Through late Friday night, the Lakers were attracting 56 percent of tickets and the Rockets 44 percent.

On the total, 71 percent of early Consensus picks were on the Over.

[StarDust Bum]

723HOUSTON -724 LA LAKERS
HOUSTON is 86-67 ATS (12.3 Units) vs. winning teams in the last 3 seasons.




NBA
Dunkel

Saturday, September 12

Houston @ LA Lakers

Game 723-724
September 12, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Houston
112.406
LA Lakers
126.864
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
LA Lakers
by 14 1/2
221
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
LA Lakers
by 6 1/2
215
Dunkel Pick:
LA Lakers
(-6 1/2); Over




NBA
Long Sheet

Saturday, September 12

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HOUSTON (49 - 34) vs. LA LAKERS (59 - 21) - 9/12/2020, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
HOUSTON is 56-30 ATS (+23.0 Units) in road games after 3 or more consecutive losses since 1996.
HOUSTON is 53-38 ATS (+11.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
LA LAKERS is 9-6 against the spread versus HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
HOUSTON is 9-6 straight up against LA LAKERS over the last 3 seasons
8 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




NBA

Saturday, September 12

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Houston @ LA Lakers
Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Houston's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games when playing LA Lakers
LA Lakers
LA Lakers is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Lakers's last 6 games when playing Houston

[StarDust Bum]

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

HOU at LAL 08:00 PM
LAL -6.5
U 215.5
+500 +500

[StarDust Bum]

COMPLETED PICKS

Past Completed Picks

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

09/12/2020 2-0-0 100.00% +1000 Detail
09/11/2020 3-0-1 87.50% +1500 Detail
09/10/2020 0-2-0 0.00% -1100 Detail
09/09/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/08/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail
09/07/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/06/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/05/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/04/2020 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
09/03/2020 0-4-0 0.00% -2200 Detail
09/02/2020 1-3-0 25.00% -1150 Detail
09/01/2020 2-2-0 50.00% -100 Detail

Sept Totals.....19-24-1...44.18%.....-37.00

[StarDust Bum]

Sunday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in runs scored:

46— Fernando Tatis, SD
43— Dansby Swanson, Atl
39— Mike Trout, LAA
38— Freeman Atl, TAnderson CWS, TTurner Wash
37— Manny Machado, SD
35— Story Col, Abreu CWS, Yastrzemski SF, Conforto NYM, Hoskins Phil


Americans who have died from COVID-19: 193,482
Please wear a mask when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“It’s not real baseball, but it’s fine for this year, and I hope we never do it again.”
Clayton Kershaw, talking about the new extra inning rules

Saturday’s quiz
LA Clippers started out as the Buffalo Braves; they had Bob McAdoo, Jim McMillian, Ernie DiGregorio, some good players- they went 49-33 in 1974-75 under Jack Ramsay, who two years later won the NBA title coaching Portland.

Friday’s quiz
In the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, Robert Redford played Bob Woodward.

Thursday’s quiz
William Henry Harrison was President for only 31 days, before he died of pneumonia.


********************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) Like everything else in 2020, the first real Saturday of college football was odd, capped off by a Coastal Carolina-Kansas game that kicked off at 9pm local time in Lawrence, followed by a 1am ET Korean baseball game. Fun for the whole family.

I’m not a scientist, but I’m pretty sure playing football in this environment isn’t a great idea, especially when the players do not get paid, but college sports is big business, and if you don’t believe that, well Oklahoma charged $55 or so on pay-per-view for their opener against I-AA juggernaut Missouri State. Sooners won 48-0; thrilling.

12) If the presidents/AD’s in the Big X knew what was going to happen on the field Saturday, they might’ve thought a quarantine wasn’t such a bad idea.

Coastal Carolina 38, Kansas 23— Second year in row the Chanticleers upset Kansas in Lawrence; this game was 28-0 until just before halftime.

11) Texas Tech 35, Houston Baptist 33— Houston Baptist is I-AA, so this is kind of like a loss for Tech, except it isn’t officially a loss. I mean, Tech was a 40-point favorite and won by 2.

10) Louisiana 31, Iowa State 14— Ragin’ Cajuns’ DB’s dominated the Iowa State receivers; it helped that the refs didn’t seem interested in throwing any flags for defensive holding or PI. Iowa State was a 13-point favorite.

Louisiana missed two easy field goals, but ran a punt back for a TD and also ran a kickoff back for a TD. Saturday looked like it was a very rough day for placekickers, especially young ones.

9) Arkansas State (+14.5) 35, Kansas State 31— Arkansas State’s coach is Blake Anderson; he deserves some joy in his life- his wife passed away just before last season started, and then he lost his dad this offseason. Guy is a good coach who could be moving up soon.

8) Game of the Day: Tex-San Antonio 51, Texas State 48 OT— Down 41-35, Texas State ran a punt back 91 yards for a TD with 1:13 left, but they missed the PAT, then missed a short FG in overtime, and the Roadrunners escaped with a win in Jeff Traylor’s debut as USTA’s coach.

Texas State played without its starting QB, who sat out with COVID-related issues.

7) Saturday’s football upsets:
— Louisiana (+13) 31, Iowa State 14
— Arkansas State (+14.5) 35, Kansas State 31
— Georgia Tech (+13) 16, Florida State 13
— Coastal Carolina (+6) 38, Kansas 23

6) Kansas State (8-1) won the SouthPoint’s prop bet by scoring the first touchdown of the day; the favorites were North Carolina (3-1), Appalachian State (7-2).

5) Some NFL guys had big paydays Saturday; Saints’ RB Alvin Kamara, Vikings’ RB Dalvin Cook and Rams’ WR Cooper Kupp all got contract extensions.

4) Oakland A’s got some very bad news; 3B Matt Chapman will have hip surgery, is out for the season. Thats a big loss- they somehow acquired Jake Lamb from Arizona right before I typed this. They must pay Arizona under the table to cut him, then they signed Lamb up when no one else claimed him.

3) Arizona/Red Sox are first two teams to clinch their under bets in season win total wagering.

2) Lakers 119, Rockets 96— Lakers win series 4-1; you get the feeling Mike D’Antoni will be the scapegoat for Houston’s 2nd-round exit. Now the Lakers hope Denver can force a Game 7 against the Clippers tonight, just to tire both teams out.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL East- Tampa Bay, Toronto
AL Central- Chicago, Minnesota
AL West- Oakland, Houston
AL Wild Cards- Cleveland, New York

NL East- Atlanta, Philadelphia
NL Central- Chicago, St Louis
NL West- Los Angeles, San Diego
NL Wild Cards- Miami, San Francisco

15 days left in the season, and the Marlins are still a playoff team.