Tuesday Trends and Indexes 4/14 (MLB, NBA, Misc.)

[pm530]

NBA


Tuesday, April 14

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Trend Sheet
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7:00 PM
MIAMI vs. ATLANTA
Miami is 12-5 ATS in its last 17 games when playing Atlanta
Miami is 16-6 SU in its last 22 games when playing Atlanta
Atlanta is 3-6-1 ATS in its last 10 games
Atlanta is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games

8:00 PM
BOSTON vs. PHILADELPHIA
Boston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games
Philadelphia is 1-6-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
Philadelphia is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Boston

10:30 PM
UTAH vs. LA LAKERS
Utah is 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 games when playing LA Lakers
Utah is 4-10 SU in their last 14 games when playing LA Lakers
LA Lakers are 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games
LA Lakers are 6-1 SU in their last 7 games

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[pm530]

NBA


Tuesday, April 14

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NBA Game of the Day: Utah Jazz at L.A. Lakers
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Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers (-6.5, 207)

Season series

Will the winning team tonight score 113 points? That would be the third game in a row between these two that it would be the case.

The Lakers beat Utah by 13 in the season’s first meeting Jan. 2 in Los Angeles, while Utah managed that same score after besting Phil Jackson's club by four on Feb. 11 in Salt Lake City – which ended a seven-game home losing streak to Los Angeles.

It should be noted that the Jazz didn’t have Carlos Boozer in either game, while L.A. didn’t have Andrew Bynum for the one at Utah. Kobe Bryant is averaging 38.5 points in the two meetings with the Jazz.

These two sides are currently slotted to meet in the playoffs.

"We're going into [the Utah game] trying to send them a message," Bynum told the Los Angeles Times.

Which starters will play?

Tonight is the regular season finale for both teams. The Cavaliers clinched the NBA’s best overall record Monday at Indiana, so this game means nothing for the Purple and Gold, who have been locked in as the West’s best for weeks.

Coach Jackson said Monday afternoon that he wouldn't bench his three players with the most minutes (Bryant, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol) no matter what the Cavs did Monday night.

"I don't think of sitting players," Jackson said. "I don't think that's the right thing to do when people buy season tickets and special-game tickets and things like that, and the league has asked us not to do that.”

Of course, he didn’t mention anything about limiting minutes, and Jackson began doing that last week, with no player getting more than 32 minutes in the win over the Grizzlies on Sunday.

Look for Fisher, especially, to play very limited minutes Tuesday (he got just 18 on Sunday). The 34-year-old, who hasn’t missed a game this season, has begun to look his age, shooting 22.5 percent from the field owner of a 1-for-15 from 3-point range mark in the past five games. Fisher, who is dealing with a sore left foot, has just 16 total points in that stretch.

As for the Jazz, they certainly should be playing everyone as usual. Assuming the Jazz beat the Clippers on Monday night (a safe assumption), Utah still needs a win over the Lakers and either New Orleans to finish 0-2 in its final two games or Dallas to lose at least one of its final two. The Hornets and Mavs both play Wednesday night, so Utah’s motivation to finish above No. 8 and avoid the Lakers in the playoffs should still be there.

A few numbers

Utah has just one road win in 12 road games against the West’s seven other playoff qualifiers and just two road wins over teams above .500 overall. They are 3-13 ATS in their past 16 on the road.

For certain Utah won’t win 50 games for a third straight regular season. And the Jazz defense has disappeared of late, allowing 112.7 points in their past seven games entering Monday’s action.

The Lakers are 24-4 over the last two seasons when Kobe scores fewer than 20 points.

The Jazz are 3-17 in the second half of back-to-backs and 0-6 ATS in their past six.

L.A. is 7-1 ATS in the past eight at home in this series.

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[pm530]

NBA


Tuesday, April 14

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Pick ‘n’ Roll: NBA best bets
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Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks (-9, 190.5)

This matchup will be replayed in the first round of the playoffs. The Heat are locked in with the fifth seed and the Hawks are settled one spot higher. With nothing to play for look for Miami to rest Dwyane Wade after pouring in 55 points on Sunday against the Knicks.

The Heat, who are 1-2 straight up and against the spread this season vs. Atlanta, could also be without Jermaine O’Neal. He did not return for the second half Sunday because of a strained left. Miami’s rotation looks even thinner when you factor in a still injured Udonis Haslem.

Atlanta also has no real motivation, but the Hawks at least would like to make a statement that the Heat can’t beat them at home (they lost the first time there this season) even though Miami has covered six of the past eight in Atlanta.

Pick: Hawks



Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers (-4, 189)

Boston has nothing to play for and won’t have the injured Kevin Garnett back yet.

Garnett (sprained right knee) is expected to practice with the team in Philadelphia but has been ruled out until the playoffs begin.

The 76ers, depending on the Bulls’ result Monday night, might have to win out to ensure the sixth seed in the East. A little momentum heading into the playoffs would probably do Philly some good too. The Sixers have lost five straight and have only one cover over the same period.
Philadelphia is 0-3 against Boston this season but it took a Ray Allen last-second 3-pointer for Boston to win the only matchup in Philly.

Pick: Sixers

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[pm530]

MLB
Baseball Today


SCOREBOARD

Tuesday, April 14

Florida at Atlanta (7:10 p.m. EDT). The Marlins and Braves both are off to 5-1 starts. Florida’s Chris Volstad is slated to face Javier Vazquez in the opener of the three-game series.

STARS

Monday

— Orlando Hudson and Andre Ethier, Dodgers. Hudson hit for the cycle and Ethier drove in four runs with a pair of homers as Los Angeles beat Randy Johnson and San Francisco 11-1.

— Zach Duke, Pirates, limited the struggling Astros to four hits in his third career shutout, helping Pittsburgh extend Houston’s losing streak to five games with a 7-0 victory.

— Ted Lilly, Cubs, held Colorado hitless for 6 2-3 innings on a raw day at Wrigley Field and Chicago won its home opener by holding the Rockies to one hit in a 4-0 victory.

— Edwin Encarnacion, Reds, hit a towering grand slam to cap a six-run rally with two outs in the third inning, and Cincinnati started their longest road trip this season by beating Milwaukee 7-6.

— Carlos Pena, Rays, hit a second-inning grand slam and drove in six runs, helping Tampa Bay beat the New York Yankees 15-5 in the home opener for the AL champions.

— Travis Snider, Blue Jays, hit two home runs, including a go-ahead two-run shot in the eighth inning, and Toronto rallied to beat Minnesota 8-6.

— Zack Greinke, Royals, pitched five shutout innings to extend his scoreless innings streak to 25 and Kansas City held on to defeat Cleveland 4-2.

QUIET BOOTH

Longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, who punctuated innumerable home runs with his “Outta here!” call, died after being found passed out in the broadcast booth before a game against the Washington Nationals. He was 73. Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971. Before that, he was a member of the Houston Astros’ broadcast team from 1965-70. In 2002, he received the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions to the game. Kalas lent his sonorous voice to everything from puppies to soup. He did work for NFL Films, was the voice for Chunky Soup commercials and Animal Planet’s annual tongue-in-cheek Super Bowl competitor, the Puppy Bowl.

SO LONG, BIRD

Mark Fydrich, an eccentric All-Star pitcher nicknamed “The Bird” whose career was shortened by injuries, was found dead in an apparent accident at his farm. He was 54. The curly-haired right-hander was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1976 when he went 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA and 24 complete games. He spent all five of his major league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, compiling a 29-19 record and a 3.10 ERA. Knee and shoulder injuries limited him to 58 major league games.

BACK IN THE SWING

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez resumed drills on the baseball field five weeks after hip surgery and hopes to return as “good as new.” A-Rod hit 36 balls off a tee and took 42 swings during a soft-toss hitting session. He also fielded 40 grounders and did light running at the team’s minor league complex. The Yankees don’t expect the three-time AL MVP to rejoin the team until about May 15. Rodriguez has been optimistic about returning sooner.

MILESTONE, MILESTONE

Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko reached 300 career homers with consecutive drives in the second inning of the White Sox’s 10-6 win over Detroit. They became the first teammates to hit century milestone home runs of at least 300 in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

TOUCH ‘EM ALL

Dodgers second baseman Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle, completing the feat with a triple in the sixth inning against the Giants. Hudson singled in the first, homered in the third and doubled in the fourth—all off Giants starter Randy Johnson—before his leadoff triple. He became the first Los Angeles player since Wes Parker on May 7, 1970, to hit for the cycle, and the first to do so at Dodger Stadium.

MEMORABLE START

Jody Gerut christened the Mets’ new home, Citi Field, with a leadoff homer in the Padres’ 6-5 win over New York. Gerut’s shot off Mike Pelfrey marked the first time in history that the first batter homered in a regular-season opener at a major league ballpark, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

BANNER DAY

The Tampa Bay Rays celebrated one of the biggest turnarounds in major league history, raising the franchise’s first division and AL championship banners before their home opener, a 15-5 win over the New York Yankees.

SIDELINED

The Arizona Diamondbacks put Brandon Webb on the 15-day disabled list because of tightness in his pitching shoulder. The move is retroactive to April 7, the day after Webb gave up six runs in four innings on opening day against Colorado. … Chicago White Sox center fielder Dewayne Wise separated his right shoulder making a tumbling catch in the fifth inning of a 10-6 win over Detroit. Wise will be out four to six weeks. … The Red Sox placed shortstop Jed Lowrie on the 15-day disabled list with a sore left wrist. Lowrie was sent to Boston for tests to determine the extent of the injury.

FIRSTS

Zach Duke’s 7-0 shutout against Houston was the first by a Pirates pitcher in a home opener since John Candelaria beat the Cubs 1-0 on April 7, 1978. … Ryan Howard hit first homer of 2009, a three-run shot off reliever Saul Rivera that broke a 4-all tie in the seventh inning of the Phillies 9-8 win over Washington. … Randy Johnson lost at Dodger Stadium for the first time in his 22-year career, falling to 7-1 in just his second start in Los Angeles since 2004. … Brian Barden broke a tie with his first career home run and St. Louis beat Arizona 2-1. … Yankees first baseman Nick Swisher pitched a scoreless eighth inning of a 15-5 loss to Tampa Bay, the first New York position player to take the mound since Wade Boggs used his knuckleball Aug. 19, 1997. … Texas’ Andruw Jones hit his first homer in the American League.

TWO PICKOFFS

Red Sox starter Jon Lester picked off Oakland’s Ryan Sweeney and Orlando Cabrera, who each singled, in consecutive at bats to end the fourth inning of Oakland’s 8-2 win.

SPEAKING

“He spread his passion for people, and baseball, all over the country for almost 50 years. His voice will resonate in my mind the rest of my life. I will never be called ‘Michael Jack’ again without seeing his smile.—Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt on broadcaster Harry Kalas, who died after collapsing in the Phillies broadcast booth before Philadelphia played the Nationals.

SPEAKING II

“Baseball will miss him. They missed him because he didn’t have as long as a career as everybody would have liked in the first place. It’s just horrible. … He did embrace life. I remember him trying to play golf when he couldn’t play golf and enjoying every minute of it. He was a marvelous pitcher and I just hate to see him go.”—Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer on former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark Fydrich, who was found dead in an apparent accident at his farm. He was 54.

SEASONS

April 14

1910—William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw out the first ball at a baseball opener in Washington.

1910—Chicago’s Frank Smith pitched a one-hitter in the season opener to give the White Sox a win over the St. Louis Browns.

1915—In the opening game at Philadelphia, left-hander Herb Pennock of the A’s blanked the Red Sox 5-0. He gave up only one hit—a scratch single by Harry Hooper with two outs in the ninth.

1917—Ed Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 11-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns.

1925—The Cleveland Indians opened the season with a 21-14 victory over the St. Louis Browns, the most runs scored by one club on opening day. The Indians scored 12 runs in the eighth inning when the Browns made five errors. Browns first baseman George Sisler had four errors in the game.

1967—Boston rookie Bill Rohr lost a no-hit bid in his first major league start when Elston Howard singled in the ninth inning for the New York Yankees’ only hit in a 3-0 loss to the Red Sox.

1969—The first major league game outside the United States was played in Montreal’s Jarry Park with the Expos defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.

1999—John Franco struck out the side in the ninth inning of the New York Mets’ 4-1 win over the Florida Marlins, becoming only the second pitcher to reach 400 career saves.

1999—Jose Canseco became the 28th player in major league history to reach 400 home runs. He hit a 386-foot shot in the third inning of Tampa Bay’s 7-6 loss to Toronto.

2001—The Cincinnati Reds set a modern National League record by scoring in their 175th consecutive game by shutting out the New York Mets 1-0.

2005—Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield got into a brief scuffle with a fan along the right-field fence at Fenway Park during New York’s game against the Boston Red Sox.

Today’s birthdays: Kyle Farnsworth 33; Greg Zaun 38; Brad Ausmus 40.

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