Cnotes 2020-2021 nba trends, news, best bets and opinions thru the playoffs !

[Udog]

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the PGA Championship:
11-1— Rory McIlroy
14-1— Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm
16-1— Bryson DeChambeau
18-1— Dustin Johnson
22-1— Xander Schauffele
25-1— Viktor Hovland

Quote of the Day
“I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.”
Steve Martin

Tuesday’s quiz
From 1975-84, Biff Pocoroba was a catcher for which major league team?
(Hint: He played in the 1978 All-Star Game)

Monday’s quiz
Lou Piniella was Seattle Mariners’ manager last time they made the playoffs, in 2002.

Sunday’s quiz
Philip Seymour Hoffman played A’s manager Art Howe in Moneyball.

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

Tuesday’s Den: Schedule notes for AFC teams

Ravens:
— Three of their first four games are on the road.
— They play in Denver October 3; their next road game isn’t til November 11.
— Weeks 10-14, they play four road games in five weeks.

Bills:
— Four primetime games; three of them are on the road.
— Play in New Orleans Thanksgiving night.
— Two games with New England are late, in weeks 13/16.

Bengals:
— Only primetime game is Week 4 vs Jacksonville.
— Weeks 6-8; three straight road games.
— Four of their first six games are against NFC North teams.

Browns:
— Go to Baltimore in Week 12, have Week 13 bye, host Ravens in Week 14
— Have three primetime games, including January 3 in Pittsburgh.
— Christmas Day at Lambeau Field should be nice and toasty.

Broncos:
— Four of their first seven games are in Eastern time zone.
— Only primetime game: Week 7 in Cleveland.
— Play Chargers/Chiefs in Weeks 12-13, then again in Weeks 17-18.

Texans:
— 13 games at 1:00 Sunday; not a lot of faith from the NFL.
— Only primetime game: Week 3 vs Carolina.
— From October 11-November 27, have only one home game.

Colts:
— Weeks 3-5: three straight road games.
— Three of their four primetime games are on the road.
— Week 14 bye; latest possible bye.

Jaguars:
— Only primetime game: Week 4 at Cincinnati.
— Weeks 16-17 at Jets/Patriots, cold weather games.
— Week 6, they play the Dolphins over in England.

Chiefs:
— From October 25-December 15, have only one road game.
— Three of their last four games are on the road.
— Week 16 Thursday game at Chargers is long trip on short week.

Raiders:
— First Allegiant Stadium game with fans; Week 1 Monday nighter vs Ravens.
— Play the Cowboys in Dallas Thanksgiving Day.
— Weeks 14-15, have consecutive trips east, to Kansas City/Cleveland.

Chargers:
— First SoFi Stadium game with fans: Week 2 vs Dallas.
— Have three primetime games, all at home.
— Play Chiefs in Week 3, then not again until Week 15.

Dolphins:
— Play New England in Week 1, then not again until Week 18
— In Week 6, play Jaguars over in England.
— Have only two 4:00 games, none after Week 3.

Patriots:
— Host Tom Brady/Buccaneers in Week 4 Sunday night game.
— Patriots’ other two primetime games are on road.
— Four of their eight road games are in domes.

Jets:
— Visit Sam Darnold/Panthers in season opener.
— In Week 5, play Falcons over in England.
— Only night game: Week 9 Thursday game at Indianapolis.

Steelers:
— Play the normal five primetime games, three of them at home.
— Play rival Ravens in Weeks 13/18.
— Host Las Vegas in Week 2, after Raiders played on Monday nite in Week 1.

Titans:
— Week 16 Thursday game vs 49ers is tough spot for the visitors.
— Play 13 games at 1:00 Sunday; not lot of faith from the NFL.
— Week 2 at Seattle is their only 4:00 game all season.

[Udog]

[Udog]

559CHARLOTTE -560 INDIANA
INDIANA is 5-19 ATS (-15.9 Units) in home games after a combined score of 215 points or more 3 straight games in the last 3 seasons.

561WASHINGTON -562 BOSTON
BOSTON is 10-1 ATS (8.9 Units) after having lost 5 or 6 of their last 7 games in the current season.




NBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, May 18






NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Tuesday, May 18

Charlotte @ Indiana
Hornets (33-39)
— Charlotte lost nine of its last 12 games SU.
— Hornets are 1-6 ATS in their last seven road games.
— Over is 4-3 in Charlotte’s last six games.

Pacers (34-38)
— Indiana is 4-3 in its last seven games SU.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Pacers are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five home games.
— Over is 10-3 in Indiana’s last 13 games.

— Indiana is 6-3 in its last nine series games, but lost last two.
— Hornets are 1-4 ATS in last five visits to Indiana.
— Under is 4-1-1 in last six series games.

Loser of this game is eliminated; winner plays again Thursday.

Washington @ Boston
Wizards (34-38)
— Wizards won four of their last six games SU.
— Washington is 8-1-1 ATS in last ten road games.
— Under is 3-0 in their last three games

Celtics (36-35)
— Boston lost five of its last six games.
— Celtics are 0-4 ATS in their last four home games.
— Under is 3-0 in their last three games

— Celtics won six of last nine series games.
— Wizards are 2-2-1 ATS in last five visits to Washington.
— Last five series games stayed under the total.

Winner of this game is the #7 seed; loser plays again Thursday.




NBA

Tuesday, May 18

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Trend Report
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Charlotte @ Indiana
Charlotte
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Charlotte's last 5 games when playing on the road against Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Charlotte's last 17 games on the road
Indiana
Indiana is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing at home against Charlotte

Washington @ Boston
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games when playing Boston
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games on the road
Boston
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Boston's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 5 games when playing Washington


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[Udog]

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Over/under win totals for NFL teams:
— Cincinnati Bengals, 6.5, -125
— Cleveland Browns, 10,-150
— Dallas Cowboys, 9.5, +110
— Denver Broncos, 8.5, -140
— Detroit Lions, 5, +125
— Green Bay Packers 9, -115

Remember, this year it is a 17-game schedule for first time.

Quote of the Day
“Despite not looking so good, I feel as close to normal as possible. … I feel good. I feel lucky.”
Mets’ OF Kevin Pillar, who got hit in the face with a pitch Monday, suffering nasal fractures

Wednesday’s quiz
Before the Texas Rangers moved to the Lone Star State, where did they play?

Tuesday’s quiz
From 1975-84, Biff Pocoroba was a catcher for the Braves.

Monday’s quiz
Lou Piniella was Seattle Mariners’ manager last time they made the playoffs, in 2002.

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

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..

13) I have a suggestion that I think would help our country; instead of Presidents having four-year terms, and being limited to two terms, I suggest that they serve only one term, but the term would be six years long. That way, they just do the work, and don’t worry about re-election.

What do you think?

12) Baseball analytics people have defenses shifting a lot, which puts players in places on the field that they’re not used to being, and that weakens the defense. I’m sure someone keeps track of this, but hits saved/hits given up by the shift would be an interesting statistic to study.

There have to be pitchers who lose their mind when they give up a soft ground ball to the opposite field, and it goes thru the infield for a hit. I’m thinking of Madison Bumgarner; he gave up one of those Monday night in LA, and he didn’t look very happy about it.

11) Genius alert: Braves rookie pitcher Huascar Ynoa broke his right (pitching) hand when he punched the dugout bench following a poor start at Milwaukee Sunday. Not good.

Ynoa had the lowest ERA on the Braves’ staff; he is out for couple months.

10) Umpire Joe West worked a Giants’ game the other night, with Mike Yasztrzemski playing for San Francisco. West has been around so long, he was in the big leagues the last eight years that Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski played in the majors— that’s Mike’s grandfather.

Giants have homered in 15 consecutive road games, by the way.

9) Detroit Tigers re-did their TV crew last season, and improved it greatly; now the analysts are Jack Morris, Kirk Gibson or Dan Petry- they’re all very good, especially Morris. Listening to him is like taking a college course on pitching. He speaks his mind, good or bad.

8) Last week was the anniversary of a game where the Phillies beat the Cubs 23-22 in Wrigley, on a day when the wind was blowing out, obviously.

— For some reason, Larry Bowa batted 2nd for Philly, ahead of Pete Rose/Mike Schmidt. A career .260 hitter with no pop (15 homers in 16 years), he would definitely bat 8th these days.
— Bob Boone caught for Philly, hit a homer; his son manages the Bronx Bombers now.
— Tug McGraw pitched in relief that day; his son Tim is a very famous singer.
— Bill Buckner was 4-7, knocked in seven runs that day.
— Dave Kingman hit three homers for the Cubs.

7) Baseball stuff:
— Mike Trout (calf strain) is out 6-8 weeks
— Mets acquired Cameron Maybin to give them some OF depth
— Braves put P Huascar Ynoa (hand) on the IL

6) Since the start of the 2018 season, Aaron Judge/Giancarlo Stanton have played on the same day only 163 of 426 games, 38.2% of the time.

Two of the best abilities: availability, durability.

5) Cincinnati Reds are 11-2 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on; Chicago White Sox are 2-8 in those games.

4) Dodgers lost their last eight one-run games, not a good thing.

3) Not to be the old guy on his lawn, but……..
— In Larry Bird’s first seven NBA seasons, he missed a total of 13 games
— Artis Gilmore was a very good 7-foot-2 center; in his first eight years as a pro, he didn’t miss a game, and the ABA played 84 games, not 82. Teams didn’t have private jets, either.
— In 2012-13, the year Kevin Durant scored 28.1 ppg, while shooting 41.6% on arc, 53.9% inside arc and 90.5% from the line, he played in 81 games, missing only one.

My point here is that NBA players today are soft; they take nights off when they’re not hurt.

2) RIP to the great actor Charles Grodin, who passed away at age 86. Funny man.

RIP to former big league infielder Rennie Stennett, 72, who played on two World Series title teams with the Pirates.

1) In 1975, Stennett went 7-7 in a game at Wrigley Field. 7 for freakin’ 7.
— Pirates won the game 22-0, scoring 9 times in first inning.
— Stennett scored five runs that day; when he was taken out of the game, a young 2B named Willie Randolph pinch-ran for him
— Pete LaCock was an OF for the Cubs that day; his dad was Peter Marshall, host of the Hollywood Squares, a very popular game show back in the day.
— Rick Reuschel started game for the Cubs; his brother Paul mopped up last two innings.

[Udog]

567SAN ANTONIO -568 MEMPHIS
MEMPHIS are 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) after 3 or more consecutive unders in the current season.




NBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, May 19






NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Wednesday, May 19

San Antonio @ Memphis
Spurs (33-39)
— San Antonio lost 10 of its last 12 games.
— Spurs are 2-4 ATS in last six road games.
— Over is 9-4 in Spurs’ last 13 games.

Grizzlies (38-34)
— Memphis won five of its last five games SU.
— Grizzlies are 1-4 ATS in last five home games.
— Under is 6-1 in last seven Memphis games.

— Teams split last ten series games.
— Spurs are 3-1 ATS in last four visits to Memphis.
— Over is 5-1 in last six series games.

Loser of this game is eliminated; winner plays again Thursday.

Golden State @ LA Lakers
Warriors (39-33)
— Golden State won eight of its last nine games SU.
— Warriors are 5-4 ATS in last nine road games.
— Over is 4-1 in their last five games.

Lakers (42-30)
— Lakers won their last five games SU
— Lakers are 2-5 ATS in their last seven home games.
— Under is 6-4-1 in their 11 games.

— Lakers won five of last six series games.
— Golden State is 3-2 ATS in last five road series games.
— Under is 6-2 in last eight series games.

Winner of this game is the #7 seed; loser plays again Thursday.




NBA

Wednesday, May 19

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Trend Report
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San Antonio @ Memphis
San Antonio
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Antonio's last 6 games when playing Memphis
San Antonio is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Memphis
Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Memphis's last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Memphis's last 6 games when playing San Antonio

Golden State @ LA Lakers
Golden State
Golden State is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Golden State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
LA Lakers
LA Lakers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
LA Lakers is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Golden State


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[Udog]

Thursday’s 6-pack
Over/under win totals for NFL teams:
— Houston Texans 4.5, -115
— Indianapolis Colts 10, +100
— Jacksonville Jaguars 6.5, +110
— Kansas City Chiefs 12.5, -105
— Las Vegas Raiders 7, -115
— Los Angeles Chargers 9, -160

Remember, this year it is a 17-game schedule for first time.

Quote of the Day
“[The Jets] tried switching him to tight end, and he wasn’t good. That’s what people don’t acknowledge.”
Former NFL QB Greg McElroy, talking about Tim Tebow

Thursday’s quiz
Steph Curry’s dad Dell Curry played 16 years in NBA; where did he play his college ball?

Wednesday’s quiz
Before Texas Rangers moved to the Lone Star State, they were the Washington Senators.

Tuesday’s quiz
From 1975-84, Biff Pocoroba was a catcher for the Braves.

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

Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….

13) 76-year old Tony LaRussa is already in the Hall of Fame as a manager, but he came back this season, after a 10-year absence, to manage the White Sox. So far, the results are mixed.

On the field, Chicago is doing well; they’re 26-16, atop the AL Central.

Off the field, there have been issues.
— LaRussa didn’t know the extra inning rule, and put closer Liam Hendriks in as a ghost runner to start an extra inning, when he could’ve used the guy who hit before Hendriks’ spot in the order. LaRussa has a law degree; this would qualify as malpractice.

— LaRussa went out of his way to publicly rip one of his players when the guy hit a home run off a position player while the White Sox led, 15-4. If he has a problem with the “unwritten rules” of the game, tell the guy in private. Publicly calling him clueless was a tone-deaf move.

— Despite their good record, White Sox are 2-9 in games where the winning scored from the 7th inning on- those games are where managers can make a difference.

If LaRussa loses the respect of the players, a promising season could go in the ashcan.

12) Grizzlies 100, Spurs 96:
— Valanciunas was +26 in his 38:00; they were minus-22 when he was on bench.
— DeRozan shot only 5-21 from the floor.
— Memphis visits the Warriors Friday night, in a play-in game.

Lakers 103, Warriors 100:
— Golden State was up 13 at the half.
— Caruso scored 14 points in 30:00 off bench for LA.
— Lakers move on to play Phoenix in the playoffs.

11) Padres 3, Rockies 0— Not only is Colorado 2-17 on the road, they’ve been shut out in seven of the 17 losses.

10) Why some teams win, and some teams lose; this trade was made July 31, 2018:
— Pittsburgh Pirates got Chris Archer.
— Tampa Bay Rays got Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and a minor leaguer.

Archer was 6-12, 4.92 in 33 starts for the Pirates.
Glasnow is 16-9, 3.08 in 43 starts for the Rays.
Meadows has an .855 OPS in 224 games for Tampa Bay.

9) MLB teams with best record in games where winning scores from 7th inning on:
11-2— Cincinnati, Oakland
9-4— NY Mets
9-5— San Diego

MLB teams with worst record in games where winning scores from 7th inning on:
2-9— White Sox
4-11— Minnesota
5-13— Atlanta
4-8— LA Dodgers, Baltimore

8) Tigers 6, Mariners 2— Detroit has quietly won eight of its last ten games.

7) New York 2, Texas 0— Corey Kluber throws a no-hitter on 101 pitches, already the 7th no-hitter this season. Three teams (Seattle/Cleveland/Texas) have been no-hit three times each.

6) Scheduling quirk: A’s have played only nine of their first 44 games against AL West rivals, all of them against Houston. Astros played 29 of their first 43 games against division rivals.

5) Brandon Woodruff has been pitching really well for Milwaukee, but he hasn’t been getting lot of support at the plate; four of his nine starts have been 0-0 after five innings.

4) Mets traded for OF Cameron Maybin, then batted him 3rd in their game in Atlanta last night. 34-year old Maybin is on his 10th team in his 14-year career.

At the time of the trade, Maybin was hitting .103 in the minors; not sure why he batted third.

3) NBA hasn’t expanded since 2004; rumors are that the league will expand soon, to make up some of the money they lost during the pandemic. Cities rumored to be in the running for an expansion team: Seattle, Louisville, Las Vegas.

2) Sports betting was legalized in Florida this week.

1) Happy 84th birthday this week to the great 3B Brooks Robinson; had the chance to meet Mr Robinson long time ago, maybe 1990 or so, at an event in Glens Falls. Bunch of us were huddled around a TV, watching an NFL playoff game; something strange happened in the game; Brooks just shook his head and laughed “Can you believe people bet on this stuff?”

Very nice man, one of the greatest fielders ever. Happy birthday, sir.

[Udog]

575INDIANA -576 WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON is 275-328 ATS (-85.8 Units) as a home favorite since 1996.




NBA
Dunkel

Thursday, May 20






NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, May 20

Indiana @ Washington
Pacers (35-38)
— Indiana is 5-3 in its last eight games SU.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Pacers are 6-3 ATS in their last nine road games.
— Over is 11-3 in Indiana’s last 14 games.
— Indiana scored 144 points Tuesday, going 16-35 on arc.

Wizards (34-39)
— Wizards won four of their last seven games SU.
— Washington is 5-2 ATS in last seven home games.
— Under is 4-0 in their last four games.
— Wizards were outscored 66-46 in 2nd half Tuesday.

— Washington is 3-0 vs Indiana this year, winning by 8-1-13 points.
— Pacers scored 132.3 ppg in the three games, still lost ‘em all.
— All three games went over the total.

This is an elimination game.




NBA

Thursday, May 20

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

Indiana @ Washington
Indiana
Indiana is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 6 games on the road
Washington
Washington is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games


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[Udog]

Friday’s 6-pack
Teams who have been no-hit twice at home, in the same season:
1923- Philadelphia A’s
1971- Cincinnati Reds
1973- Detroit Tigers
2001- San Diego Padres
2015- New York Mets
2021- Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers

Quote of the Day
“It’s disappointing to not be at 85% as a team. We’ve worked hard to try and convince or educate the people that have been reluctant. We’re at a place right now — I’m not going to give up hope we’re going to get there — my level of optimism is waning. It is disappointing.”
Cubs’ president Jed Hoyer, on Cubs not having 85% of their people vaccinated

Friday’s quiz
Nine years after he retired as a player, Hall of Famer Ted Williams took over as manager of which American League team?

Thursday’s quiz
Steph Curry’s dad Dell Curry played 16 years in NBA; he played college ball at Virginia Tech.

Wednesday’s quiz
Before Texas Rangers moved to the Lone Star State, they were the Washington Senators.

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

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

13) Kyle Gibson is pitching for the Texas Rangers tonight; he is 3-0, 1.67 in his last eight starts, and seems like a shoo-in to make the All-Star team this summer. Not bad for a who got KO’d from his first start this season in the first inning, giving up five runs to Kansas City.

Did he suddenly make adjustments? Did he just have a bad day Opening Day?

12) Seattle Mariners are hitting .198 as a team; the whole team. Some of these over-educated fools who get hired to run big league squads put together bad rosters, simple as that.

The people in Texas decided that having Joey Gallo/Khris Davis back/back in the same was somehow a good idea— why? They’re both all or nothing guys, mostly nothing.

11) There are several reasons why scoring in baseball is down:
— The baseball is a little less lively.
— Guys try too hard to hit home runs.
— Not enough guys take hits by going against the shift.

But to me, the biggest reason is that only the best pitchers are allowed to face hitters a third time thru the order. If a hitter faces a different pitcher every time, up, its a lot harder to hit.

Tampa Bay’s Josh Fleming has been taken out of two games this season, when he was throwing a shutout in the 6th inning— he had thrown 65-53 pitches, but faced 18-16 hitters.

10) Dodgers 3, Arizona 2— Albert Pujols hit his first home run as a Dodger.

9) Wizards 142, Pacers 115— Washington scored 48 points in the third quarter; how does an NBA team that is playing to extend its season give up 48 points in 12:00? Seriously?

8) Atlanta Hawks’ coach Nate McMillan said “the NBA wants the Knicks in the playoffs, they need the Knicks in the playoffs” somehow that spouting of truth cost him $25,000. How do you fine someone for saying something that is true?

7) Rough week for the Minnesota Twins:
— Monday-Wednesday, lost two of three at home to the White Sox.
— Flew to California, split a makeup twinbill with the Angels Thursday
— Open a weekend series in Cleveland tonight.

6) if the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Mets, Cardinals, Giants. Wild Card: Dodgers @ Padres
AL— Red Sox, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: Rays vs A’s

5) If someone asked me which NFL team had the highest-paid center, I would’ve been wrong with my guesses. Very wrong.

Detroit Lions gave C Frank Ragnow a four year, $54M deal; he is the NFL’s highest-paid center.

4) Corey Conners is the 8th player since 1983 to lead the PGA Championship by multiple strokes after Round 1. None of the previous seven went on to win that tournament; last player who did?

Raymond Floyd (led by 3) in 1982 at Southern Hills.

3) When Drew Pearson gets inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in July, his presenter will be Roger Staubach, his QB with the Cowboys.

When you get inducted, you get to choose who introduces you; it is filmed now instead of live, because Steve Young’s father wouldn’t shut up when he was introducing his son a few years ago, but it is still a great honor.

I’m convinced that if Roger Staubach had wanted to enter politics after he played football, he would’ve eventually been elected President, that’s how highly respected he is, having gone to the Naval Academy and then serving four years in the Navy before his NFL days.

2) Happy 94th birthday to Bud Grant, former Vikings’ coach who also played in the NBA; he played in the lowest-scoring NBA game ever, for the Minneapolis Lakers.

Bud Grant’s Vikings made my teenage years a less happy place; the Rams never could beat his teams in the playoffs, except once in the late 70’s. But then they’d lose in the Super Bowl and I’d laugh- they were a 17-point favorite when they lost Super Bowl IV to the Chiefs.

Anyway, happy birthday coach, even though you ruined my 10th birthday (23-20, Vikings)

1) People pay $49 a month for that Peloton exercise bike, so the lady can yell at you while you pedal away; this is a good thing? I drink Cherry Coke while I ride my exercise bike, no one yells at me, and I save $49 a month. Advantage, me.

[Udog]

579MEMPHIS -580 GOLDEN STATE
GOLDEN STATE is 11-2 ATS (8.8 Units) in home games after a loss in the current season.




NBA
Dunkel

Friday, May 21






NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, May 21

Memphis @ Golden State
Grizzlies (39-34)
— Memphis won six of its last seven games SU.
— Grizzlies are 3-7 ATS in last ten games, 2-2 in last four on road.
— Under is 7-1 in last eight Memphis games.
— Memphis subs were a combined minus-66 in Wednesday’s win.

Warriors (39-34)
— Golden State won eight of its last ten games SU.
— Warriors won/covered their last six home games.
— Over is 4-2 in their last six games.
— Warriors lost Wednesday despite being up 13 at the half.

— Teams split last eight series games.
— Memphis is 1-3 ATS in last four visits to SF/Oakland.
— Last six series games stayed under the total.

This is an elimination game.




NBA

Friday, May 21

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Trend Report

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Memphis @ Golden State
Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Memphis's last 5 games when playing Golden State
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Memphis's last 8 games
Golden State
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Golden State's last 5 games when playing Memphis
Golden State is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games


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[Udog]

Saturday’s 6-pack
Odds on random college football games this fall:
Sept 4— LSU (-2) @ UCLA
Sept 11— Iowa @ Iowa State (-7)
Sept 18— Auburn @ Penn State (-3.5)
Sept 25— Louisville @ Florida State (-3)
Oct 2— Michigan @ Wisconsin (-7)
Oct 9— Oklahoma (-9) vs Texas

Quote of the Day
“I might try to play 36, 45 holes in a day and try to focus on each shot so that when I go out and play 18, it doesn’t feel like it’s that much. I might try to elongate the time that I end up meditating, but I’m trying to use my mind like a muscle and just expand it because as I’ve gotten older it’s been more difficult for me to maintain a sharp focus, a good visualization and see the shot.”
Phil Mickelson

Saturday’s quiz
Which NBA team did Dick Vitale coach?

Friday’s quiz
Nine years after he retired as a player, Hall of Famer Ted Williams took over as manager of the Washington Senators.

Thursday’s quiz
Steph Curry’s dad Dell Curry played 16 years in NBA; he played college ball at Virginia Tech.

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

Saturday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..

13) Dodgers 2, Giants 1— Trevor Bauer gets big road win, but in top of 6th inning, he hit what looked like a line drive single to RF with two on and two out, which would’ve broken the game open. Instead, SF rightfielder Mike Yastrzemski fielded the ball on one hop, threw him out at first base- end of rally. You don’t see that very often.

12) Tampa Bay 9, Toronto 7 (12)— Francisco Mejía hit a grand slam in the 12th inning as the Rays won their 8th game in a row; Toronto walked Joey Wendle intentionally to pitch to Mejia.

11) Texas 7, Houston 5 (10)— Rookie Adolis García sent most of the 30,445 fans home happy with a walk-off homer, his 12th homer this season. Texas blew a 4-1 lead in 8th inning, but they win for only second time in their last 11 games.

10) Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 1— Arizona has lost its last 11 road games.

9) Reds 9, Brewers 4— Jesse Winker went 4-4, scored four runs, hit three solo homers.

8) Mets 6, Marlins 5 (12)- Rookie Khalil Lee hit a tie-breaking RBI double in the 12th inning, his first major league hit. Mets put Pete Alonso (hand) on the IL before the game.

7) Memphis 117, Golden State 112, OT
— Grizzlies led by 13 at the half.
— Ja Morant scored 35 for Memphis.
— Warriors wore jerseys that said “Oakland”; the logo at midcourt said “Oakland”; if they want to be Oakland so bad, why did they build their new arena in San Francisco?
— Grizzlies move on to play Utah in the playoffs.

6) There is a new pro basketball league in Africa; there are 12 teams in it, representing seven countries. Some of the games are shown on NBA TV, in early-morning hours.

5) Whatever happened to Yoenis Cespedes? He didn’t play at all in 2019 because of a leg injury, then opted out of last season after only eight games. Is he retired?

He’ll be 36 in October; if he is healthy, he could still help a team, but haven’t heard his name much at all lately. Maybe next year, if NL teams can have the DH, he will re-surface.

4) I had forgotten that when Brett Favre won his only Super Bowl with the Packers, his backup that year was Jim McMahon, who won a Super Bowl with the ’85 Bears, 11 years earlier.

3) Pitcher Tyler Ivey made his MLB debut with Houston Friday; he is the 19,998th player in major league history.

2) Tampa Bay/Milwaukee made a trade Friday:
— Rays get P’s J.P. Feyereisen, Drew Rasmussen
— Brewers get SS Willie Adames, P Trevor Richards

1) Braves 20, Pirates 1— Atlanta is first team ever with 7+ homers and two grand slams in the same game.

[Udog]

505BOSTON -506 BROOKLYN
BOSTON is 11-1 ATS (9.9 Units) after having lost 5 or 6 of their last 7 games in the current season.

507WASHINGTON -508 PHILADELPHIA
WASHINGTON is 12-0 ATS (12 Units) after having won 3 of their last 4 games in the current season.

509DALLAS -510 LA CLIPPERS
DALLAS are 10-1 ATS (8.9 Units) off an upset loss as a road favorite over the last 2 seasons.




NBA
Dunkel

Saturday, May 22






NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Saturday, May 22

Miami @ Milwaukee
Heat (40-32)
— Miami won/covered 12 of its last 16 games.
— Heat is 6-2 ATS in last eight road games.
— Over is 11-2 in their last 12 games.

Bucks (46-26)
— Milwaukee is 8-2 its last ten games SU.
— Bucks are 1-3 ATS in last five home games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Over is 5-2 in Milwaukee’s last seven games.

— Teams split last six series games.
— Heat is 3-2 ATS in last five visits to Milwaukee.
— Three of last four series games stayed under.

Dallas @ LA Clippers
Mavericks (42-30)
— Mavericks won nine of their last 12 games.
— Mavericks are 4-2 ATS in last six road games.
— Over is 5-0 in last five Dallas games.

Clippers (47-25)
— Clippers lost eight of their last 11 games.
— Clippers are 1-3 ATS in last four home games.
— Under is 12-3-1 in last 16 Clipper games.

— Teams split last eight series games.
— Dallas is 2-2 ATS in last four road series games.
— Last four series games stayed under the total.

Boston @ Brooklyn
Celtics (37-36)
— Boston lost five of its last seven games.
— Celtics beat Washington in a play-in game Tuesday.
— Celtics are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 road games.
— Under is 4-0 in their last four games

Nets (48-24)
— Brooklyn won/covered its last five games.
— Nets are 6-1 ATS in last seven home games.
— Under is 6-3 in last nine Brooklyn games.

— Nets won five of last six series games.
— Celtics are 0-5 ATS in last five visits to Brooklyn.
— Last three series games stayed under the total.

Portland @ Denver
Trailblazers (42-30)
— Portland won 10 of its last 12 games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Blazers are 7-1 ATS in last eight road games.
— Under is 4-2 in Portland’s last six games.

Nuggets (47-25)
— Denver won 21 of its last 28 games.
— Nuggets are 4-6 ATS in last ten home games.
— Over is 4-2 in Denver’s last six games.

— Denver won five of last seven series games.
— Blazers are 3-3 ATS in last six visits to Denver.
— Five of last eight series games stayed under.




NBA

Saturday, May 22

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Trend Report

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Miami @ Milwaukee
Miami
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Miami's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Miami's last 13 games
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Milwaukee is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games

Dallas @ LA Clippers
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games on the road
LA Clippers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Clippers's last 6 games at home
LA Clippers is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games at home

Boston @ Brooklyn
Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing on the road against Brooklyn
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Boston
Brooklyn is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Boston

Portland @ Denver
Portland
Portland is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Portland is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
Denver
Denver is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Denver is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Portland


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[Udog]

Sunday’s 6-pack
Odds on random college football games this fall:
Sept 4— Penn State @ Wisconsin (-3.5)
Sept 11— Stanford @ USC (-10)
Sept 18— Alabama @ Florida (-11)
Sept 25— West Virginia @ Oklahoma (-17)
Oct 2— Nevada @ Boise State (-6)
Oct 9— Georgia (-4) vs Auburn

Quote of the Day
“If it was a nobody, they would put him in health and safety protocols. Ain’t no (bleep)ing way LeBron James is going to be sit out because of health and safety protocols.”
Charles Barkley

Sunday’s quiz
What famous actor plays the losing attorney in A Few Good Men?

Saturday’s quiz
Dick Vitale was 34-60 as coach of the Detroit Pistons, from 1978-80.

Friday’s quiz
Nine years after he retired as a player, Hall of Famer Ted Williams took over as manager of the Washington Senators.

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

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) Next wave of change in major league baseball figures to be some losing teams ditching their over-educated “executives” and bringing back old school baseball people to put together rosters and lineups. Overachieving teams either do something different, or they do things better.

Some of these cruddy teams are playing badly for one simple reason; they have bad players, or players who aren’t ready to be major leaguers yet.

Seattle insists on batting their big prospect Jarred Kelenic leadoff; problem is, he is hitting .139, Drop him down in the order, take some pressure off him, maybe score more runs.

12) Indians 5, Twins 3 (10):
— Cesar Hernandez walked it off with a home run.
— Minnesota is now 0-8 in extra innings.

11) I don’t have numbers on this, but seems to me that base umpires are calling more and more strikes on check swing appeals. The end of the bat always looks like it goes too far, even if the batter’s hands don’t commit to the swing.

10) Dwight Gooden’s son is a sophomore in high school who is rising up the recruiters’ charts as a pass rusher; the kid is 6-foot-6, and he is getting recruiting attention from several top 20 teams.

At first, Dylan Gooden wanted to be a WR, but his dad talked some sense to him, he switched to defense and now he figures to be a highly sought after recruit.

9) Bucks 109, Heat 107, OT:
— Miami took 50 3-pointers, 49 2-point shots.
— Milwaukee was +13 on the boards.
— Miami’s bench outscored the Bucks’ subs, 39-15.

8) Mavericks 113, Clippers 103:
— Dallas made 17 of 36 shots on the arc.
— Clippers’ five starters were a combined minus-70.
— Luka Doncic scored 31 points, had a triple-double.

7) Nets 104, Celtics 93:
— Brooklyn outscored Celtics 57-40 in second half.
— Blake Griffin played 20:00, didn’t take a shot from floor, was 1-2 on foul line.
— Jayson Tatum was 6-20 from the floor; not good enough.

6) Trailblazers 123, Nuggets 109:
— Blazers played only eight guys, not a lot.
— Carmelp Anthony scored 18 points in 22:00 off the bench.
— Funny how Portland’s star G’s went to Weber State/Lehigh.

5) When the Braves led Atlanta 20-1 the other night. Ronald Acuna wanted to take an at-bat left-handed, but manager Brian Snitker wouldn’t let him do it. Javier Baez has done this a couple of times, when hitting against a position player who was pitching in a blowout.

4) Modern baseball: Mets-Miami were scoreless after four innings; Joey Lucchesi had mowed the Marlins down on 43 pitches, allowing only one baserunner, but the Mets took him out after the 4th inning.

Lucchesi has started 61 big league games, he’s a capable big leaguer, I don’t care what the pencil pushers say— he faced only 12 batters by the way.

3) Rockies 7, Arizona 6— Diamondbacks have lost 12 in a row on the road.

2) Nationals 12, Orioles 9— Baltimore scored five runs in top of the first, but were trailing by the 4th inning- except for John Means, their pitching is terrible.

1) Cubs played St Louis on FOX last night; they had Anthony Rizzo miked, which irritates the hell out of me. Is it that difficult to concentrate on your job instead of yukking it up for the cameras? Not like Rizzo is killing the ball this year; little more focus wouldn’t hurt, and if that makes me the miserable old guy sitting on my porch, then so be it.

[Udog]

[Udog]

501ATLANTA -502 NEW YORK
ATLANTA is 18-33 ATS (-18.3 Units) after successfully covering the spread in 2 or more consecutive games in the last 3 seasons.

507WASHINGTON -508 PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA is 42-20 ATS (20 Units) in home games versus terrible defensive teams - allowing 110+ points/game in the last 3 seasons.

513LA LAKERS -514 PHOENIX
LA LAKERS are 15-28 ATS (-15.8 Units) after 4 or more consecutive wins in the last 3 seasons.

515MEMPHIS -516 UTAH
UTAH is 14-4 ATS (9.6 Units) in home games versus good shooting teams - making >=46% of their shots in the current season.




NBA
Dunkel

Sunday, May 23






NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Sunday, May 23

Sunday’s NBA games:
all Game 1’s, best-of-7:
Washington @ Philadelphia
Wizards (35-39)
— Wizards won three of their last four games SU.
— Washington is 3-2-1 ATS in last six road games.
— Under is 4-1 in their last five games.
— Wizards played Tuesday/Thursday in play-in games.

76ers (49-23)
— 76ers won 10 of their last 12 games (8-4 ATS).
— Sixers are 5-1 ATS in their last six home games.
— Over is 4-1 in Philly’s last five home games.

— 76ers won last five series games.
— Wizards are 2-3 ATS in last five visits to Philly.
— Under is 3-1 in last four series games.

LA Lakers @ Phoenix
Lakers (43-30)
— Lakers won their last six games SU
— Lakers are 3-5 ATS in their last eight road games.
— Under is 7-4-1 in their 12 games.
— Lakers won a play-in game Wednesday.

Suns (51-21)
— Phoenix won its last three games.
— Suns are 3-1 ATS in their last four home games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Over is 21-6 in their last 27 games.
— Suns are in playoffs for first time in a decade.

— Lakers won seven of last ten series games.
— LA is 2-2 ATS in last four visits to Phoenix.
— Under is 6-3 in last nine series games.

Atlanta @ New York
Hawks (41-31)
— Hawks won seven of last eight games (5-3 ATS).
— Hawks are 0-5 ATS in their last five road games.
— Last time Atlanta covered a road game; April 13.
— Under is 3-0 in their last three games.

Knicks (41-31)
— New York won four of its last five games.
— Knicks are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 home games.
— Under is 5-2 in New York’s last seven games.
— Knicks are in playoffs for first time in eight years.

— Knicks won last four series games.
— Three of last five series games went to OT.
— Hawks are 1-4 ATS in last five trips to Manhattan.
— Over is 5-1 in last six series games.

Memphis @ Utah
Grizzlies (42-34)
— Memphis won seven of its last eight games SU.
— Grizzlies are 4-7 ATS in last 11 games, 3-2 in last five on road.
— Under is 7-2 in last nine Memphis games.
— Memphis won Wednesday/Friday to get to this point.

Jazz (52-20)
— Utah won seven of its last nine games SU.
— Jazz is 3-7 ATS in its last ten home games.
— Under is 3-0 in Utah’s last three games.

— Utah won last six series games (4-2 ATS)
— Grizzlies are 2-3 ATS in last five visits to Utah.
— Over is 4-1 in last five series games.




NBA

Sunday, May 23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trend Report

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

Washington @ Philadelphia
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Washington's last 9 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Washington
Philadelphia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Washington

LA Lakers @ Phoenix
LA Lakers
LA Lakers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 10 of LA Lakers's last 13 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix
Phoenix is 14-1 SU in its last 15 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Phoenix's last 10 games

Atlanta @ New York
Atlanta
Atlanta is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing New York
New York
New York is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games at home
New York is 6-0-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Atlanta

Memphis @ Utah
Memphis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Memphis's last 5 games when playing on the road against Utah
Memphis is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
Utah
Utah is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Memphis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah's last 5 games when playing at home against Memphis


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

[Udog]

Monday’s 6-pack
Odds on random college football games this fall:
Sept 4— Boise State @ UCF (-10)
Sept 11— Utah (-7) @ BYU
Sept 18— Purdue @ Notre Dame (-10)
Sept 25— Toledo @ Ball State (-1)
Oct 2— Ole Miss @ Alabama (-22)
Oct 9— Utah @ USC (-4)

Quote of the Day
“We held their team to 99 points. We played good defensively and we gave them a ton of points as well. A couple in transition, they had 16 transition points in the first half. Second-chance points. We just have to be better on that end, but there’s no way we’re winning a game, let alone a series, with me playing the way I played. So this one is on me. I take full responsibility for sure. We’ll be better in Game 2.”
Lakers’ Anthony Davis

Monday’s quiz
Actor Tom Selleck played one year of D-I college basketball; where did he play?

Sunday’s quiz
Kevin Bacon played the losing attorney in A Few Good Men.

Saturday’s quiz
Dick Vitale was 34-60 as coach of the Detroit Pistons, from 1978-80.

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

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday

13) Six American League games Sunday; the winning run in all six games scored from the 7th inning on. Interesting day of baseball, for sure.

12) Rangers 3, Astros 2 (10)— Adolis Garcia should’ve been walked with a man on third and one out, but they pitched to him and Garcia singled up the middle to end the game. Astros got only three hits in seven innings against Mike Foltynewicz.

11) Royals 3, Tigers 2— Carlos Santana hit a walkoff homer for Kansas City.

10) Saturday night Scott Kazmir threw four innings for the Giants, his first MLB appearance since September, 23, 2016. Lot of work had to go into those five years, getting back to being MLB-ready.

Tough weekend for the Giants, though, who fell from first place to third place.

9) There is a Toronto Raptors’ super fan who apparently got inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame recently; he was also a big time car salesman who sold 129 cars in his first 90 days on the job, which is still a record in Canada. He didn’t miss a Raptors’ home game for 25 years.

8) My Mt Rushmore of Oakland A’s managers:
— Dick Williams— Only three years, but two World Series titles.
— Bob Melvin— Current manager keeps the A’s in contention with a steady hand.
— Tony LaRussa— Won three straight AL titles, and the ’89 World Series
— Art Howe— Got a raw deal in the movie Moneyball; he did a great job in Oakland, winning 102-103 games his last two seasons there.

7) The website for our fantasy baseball league is 2-3 seconds ahead of the picture on my TV; DirecTV must be slow. I see results go up on the website before the pitcher even starts to throw the pitch, its a little unusual.

6) Twins 8, Indians 5— Minnesota wins its first extra inning game in nine tries.

5) 76ers 125, Wizards 118:
— Tobias Harris scored 37 points, 28 in first half.
— Ben Simmons had 15 rebounds, 15 assists, but was 0-6 on foul line.
— 0-6 on foul line was bad news if you took the Sixers (-8)

4) Suns 99, Lakers 90:
— DeAndre Ayton scored 21 points, had 16 boards, was 10-11 from floor.
— Anthony Davis was 5-16 from floor, minus-18 for game.
— Lakers were 7-26 on arc, 17-28 on line; not good.

3) Hawks 107, Knicks 105:
— Trae Young made a runner in the lane with 0:00.9 left for the win.
— Hawks were +17 with Bogdanovic in game; no one else was better than +9
— Julius Randle was only 6-23 from the floor.

2) Grizzlies 112, Jazz 109:
— Dillon Brooks scored 31 points for the winners.
— Big week for Memphis, beating Pelicans, Warriors, then this game.
— Bogdanovic was scoreless in first half, scored 29 in second half.

Only five times has a #8-seed upset the #1-seed in an NBA playoff series.

1) The other night in Houston, A’s SS Elvis Andrus batted against Astros’ closer Ryan Pressly, the seldom seen matchup:

Elvis vs Pressly.

Thank you, thank you very much.