Announcement

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:37 AM

Daily Sports Roundup

Daily Sports Roundup: May 24

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Racing fans get their fix on three fronts, the Cavs and Magic meet up in Orlando, and the Hawks try to beat the Wings again.

Tipping off on the hardwood . . .

The Cavaliers and Magic will break their 1-1 series deadlock on Sunday night when the Eastern Conference Finals shift to Orlando for Game 3. LeBron James sunk a clutch three-pointer at the end of Game 2 to give the Cavaliers a 96-95 victory and tie up the third-round series. James was good for 35 points in that contest, while Mo Williams had 19 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas grabbed 15 boards. Dwight Howard was held to 10 points and 18 rebounds in a losing cause.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

It'll be Cole Hamels (2-2, 4.95 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.43 ERA) in a high-powered matchup at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Philadelphia closes out their three-game series with New York. Meanwhile, the Sunday night matchup has Milwaukee at Minnesota; the Brewers will send Dave Bush (3-0, 3.74 ERA) to the mound, and the Twins counter with Scott Baker (1-5, 6.98 ERA).

Also on baseball's interleague slate for Sunday: Colorado at Detroit, Tampa Bay at Florida, Cleveland at Cincinnati, Baltimore at Washington, Toronto at Atlanta, the Mets at Boston, Texas at Houston, Pittsburgh at the White Sox, Kansas City at St. Louis, Arizona at Oakland, San Francisco at Seattle, and the Angels at the Dodgers. As well, the Padres will play host to the Cubs to round out the schedule.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

The Blackhawks will try to tie up their third-round series with the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon when those teams take to the ice in Chicago. The Hawks grabbed their first win of the Western Conference final on Friday night, getting a Patrick Sharp marker in overtime to secure the 4-3 decision. Chicago forward Martin Havlat left that game with a head injury, while goalie Nikolai Khabibulin left with a lower-body injury. The Wings played without forward Pavel Datsyuk (foot).

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

Finally, a huge day in racing on Sunday features the Sprint Cup Series' Coca-Cola 600, IndyCar's Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix. Overseas it'll be Jenson Button looking to continue his dominance on the F1 track, as the Brawn-Mercedes driver has taken the checkered flag in four of the circuit's five races so far this season. Lewis Hamilton got the Monaco win in 2008.

In the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson is pegged as the 5/1 Vegas favorite. Johnson has visited victory lane in five Cup events at Lowe's, although he last turned the trick back in 2005. Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch are both listed at 6/1 odds, with Tony Stewart at 7/1, and Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth at 10/1. Kasey Kahne, the defending Coca-Cola 600 champion, is farther back at 30/1 odds. Jeff Burton, a Lowe's champion in October, is at 22/1.

And Helio Castroneves is the 3/1 Vegas favorite to win at The Brickyard on Sunday, with defending Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon next at 4/1 odds. Tony Kanaan, who leads the IndyCar standings this season, and Ryan Briscoe, who is one point behind him, are next at 6/1, followed by Dario Franchitti at 8/1. Danica Patrick ended up in 22nd place at Indy last season; she's at 15/1 to grab the win.

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:39 AM

Six-pack for Sunday

-- High drama involving both New York teams, as Bronx beat Lidge and Phillies with three in ninth, before Santos took Papelbon deep in ninth inning, giving Mets a 3-2 win at Fenway.

-- Matt Cain threw only complete game of the day, beating Seattle 5-1 at Safeco; Giants scored five in 8th to get Cain the win.

-- Cubs are in freefall; they've five in a row, scoring three runs total.

-- White Sox shut Pittsburgh out for the second straight day, 4-0.

-- Blue Jays lost their fifth straight game, 4-3 in Atlanta.
-- Under is 23-5 in five two days of interleague play, 12-2 in parks where AL teams are home, 11-3 in National League parks.

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

Sunday's List of 13: Quick observations from the Gym Rat

13) After 15.5 hours of watching basketball in person Saturday, I'm a little on the bleary-eyed side, so please excuse any typos here. Was at the Gym Rat Hoop Challenge Saturday, and will be there Sunday too, mostly at Siena College. Lot of good ballplayers here.

My job is to help evaluate who the better players in the 15-year old age group, the youngest of the three groups. Here are some of my quick observations, before I go grab a few hours sleep.......I'm going to have a list of 13 kids who impressed me on Monday so we'll leave that alone today

12) As always in spring/summer ball, better bring a solid point guard and couple of kids who can rebound with anyone, or else you're in for a long day. Refs generally let the kids play more this time of year.

11) Best kid I saw today, in terms of potential, was Kuran Iverson, a big kid from ANU Generation in Connecticut; he is still raw and time will help make him stronger, but he looks like a great prospect.

10) Best guard I saw was Rob Hazard from Rhode Island Breakers.

9) Best name of the day: Austin Taps. Pretty good player, too.

8) I am told part of the reason there aren't usually as many standout 15-year olds is the really great ones play up an age group or two.

7) Fire alarms went off at Union College early in the second-to-last games of the day, just what we didn't need, delaying things half hour or so. At least it was a nice night to stand outside during the delay.

6) Chanango Vipers are team made up mostly of kids from Norwich High, hardly a hoop power, and they got fed to the wolves, put in a pool with three pretty good teams: the Rockland Rockets, MABC Bengals and Sports University All-Stars. They had to play great just to stay within 20 points of any of those teams, no disrespect meant, just that they got dealt a really tough hand to play.

5) Liked Team CJEOTO from New Jersey; in particular kid named Jude Weekes-Young, a slashing wing from Bridgewater who really plays good defense. Will be interested in seeing them again Sunday.

4) Kid named Alex Mitola can really shoot-- he plays for school in New Jersey, Gill-St Bernard-- he led his county in 3-point shooting last winter. Hoop Heaven Elite is a pretty good team.

3) You get a wide variety of coaching styles; one guy was yelling at his point guard, "You're KILLLLLLING US!!!!" when his team was up by 20 points. Most coaches are a lot calmer than that.

2) Thought the officiating was very good Saturday; it was warm in the gym, so kids got frustrated sometimes as day went on, but refs kept control of things all day. Excellent job by them.

1) Tournament play in all three age brackets begins Sunday afternoon with finals of all three divisions Sunday night at Siena. Kids working as court monitors on the Siena courts are all current Siena players.

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:41 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

When the "Top Trends" section updates, we'll repost.

Sunday, May 24

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

CLEVELAND (75 - 17) at ORLANDO (68 - 29) - 5/24/2009, 8:35 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
ORLANDO is 11-1 against the spread versus CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
ORLANDO is 8-4 straight up against CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
7 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:42 AM

NBA
Short Sheet

Sunday, May 24th

Eastern Conference Finals
Game Three
Series Tied, 1-1
Cleveland at Orlando, 8:35 ET

Cleveland:
12-1 Under on Sundays
32-18 ATS as road dog of 6pts or less

Orlando:
21-7 Under off BB Overs
30-15 Under as home favorite

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:44 AM

NBA
Write-Up

Sunday, May 24

NBA playoffs

Orlando was down 16 in Game 1, rallied to win by a point; they were down 23 in Game 2, lost on near-miraculous buzzer-beater by James-- not sure how Magic reacts to that brutal loss in front of home crowd in Game 3. Cavaliers are 9-1 in playoffs now, with eight double digit wins, but Orlando has shown they can go on runs vs Cleveland. Orlando is 4-2 at home in playoffs, with two losses by combined total of three points.

So far in five games in this round, total margin of victory is 13 points.

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:45 AM

NBA

Sunday, May 24

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

8:30 PM
CLEVELAND vs. ORLANDO
Cleveland is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Orlando is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland
Orlando is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland

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

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:47 AM

NBA

Sunday, May 24

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pick 'n' Roll: Sunday's best NBA bets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando Magic (-1.5, 190)

For all the drama and emotion surrounding the riveting shot, the Cavaliers have plenty to fix if they want to reclaim home-court advantage when the series shifts to Orlando for Game 3 on Sunday night.

The Magic ripped their defense apart, exposed their lack of depth and roared back from a double-digit deficit for the second straight game. Now the NBA's top-seeded team heads to Orlando, where it lost both games this season, including a 29-point blowout in April in which it trailed by as many as 41.

But one shot made all of that seem like a distant memory.

''To go on the road, 1 second from being down 0-2, going to Orlando and from zero seconds the shot goes in to being 1-1 going on the road, it is a good feeling for us,'' James said. ''We can carry this momentum.''

It's an all too familiar feeling for Orlando.

The Magic have been last-second losers four times this postseason. Boston's Glen Davis hit a jumper as time expired in Game 4 of their second-round series. Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young each hit a shot in the final seconds for wins in the opening round, forcing the Magic to again watch another team celebrate as they walked slowly to the locker room in defeat.

Any carry-over seems unlikely.

Orlando responded well after each of the previous heartbreakers, winning the following games against Philadelphia and nearly taking Game 5 against the Celtics before blowing a big fourth-quarter lead.

''How many times have I been asked that in the postseason so far?'' coach Stan Van Gundy said. ''Game 1 in Philly we lose at the buzzer. Is there going to be carry-over? OK. Game 3 in Philly, they beat us at the buzzer. Is there going to be carry-over? Game 4 against Boston, is there going to be carry-over? I mean, you know, I've heard that the entire postseason.''

Pick: Orlando -1.5

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

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:49 AM

NBA

Sunday, May 24

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBA on ABC: Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando Magic
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando Magic (-1.5, 190)

Do you believe in Magic?

The Magic proved they are a championship-caliber contender by winning Game 7 in Boston last round, taking Game 1 in Cleveland earlier in the week, and coming within a second of holding a 2-0 lead against the Cavaliers. Orlando is a team learning how good it can be. It is 11-9 in its last 20 games ATS, but 7-3 ATS in the past 10.

Be careful against picking the favorite, though. They are 0-4 ATS in the third round and just 2-2 SU. Last round, however, the favorites were 3-1 ATS in Game 3’s

Defense or Offense?

The first two games between Orlando and Cleveland make it very difficult to predict if these teams will try to outscore or stop each other.

Game 1 featured 213 total points, smashing the total of 184. The second game, however, was much more defense oriented. The teams combined for just 191 points, but it still was more than enough to push it past the total of 188.5.

With both team’s preferring to play lower-scoring games – Cleveland is 4-6 O/U and Orlando is 6-9 O/U – defense figures to eventually become a focus of the series.

And look for the teams to settle into that defensive mode Sunday. The under has hit in Cleveland’s past four road games and Orlando has gone under the total in 26 of its past 36 home games as a home favorite. The over, however, is 11-5-1 in the team’s past 17 games in Orlando.

Matchups matter

So nothing gets older than hearing Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Chris Webber on TNT continually harp on matchups being the deciding factor in playoff series.

But they are right.

Cleveland still is favored to reach the NBA Finals, but the Magic give the Cavs fits. Cleveland is 1-12 ATS against the Magic in the team’s past 13 meetings and 1-5 ATS in its past six trips to the Sunshine State. In two games in Orlando this season, the Magic covered as five-point favorites in a 99-88 win early in the year and again as 3.5-point favorites in a 116-87 blowout last month.

The biggest issue for Cleveland appears to be its inability to find a way to guard Dwight Howard (20.6 ppg, 13.8 rpg), or at least keep him away from the basket. Orlando also is doing a great job at forcing the rest of the Cavaliers to make difficult, contested jump shots.

The LeBron Rules

So how do teams stop LeBron James?

“The Chosen One” averaged 28.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 7.2 apg as the Cavaliers were streaking through the postseason prior to their loss in Game 1. In the loss, all LeBron did was score 49 points, grab six rebounds and hand out eight assists. Following the game, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy admitted he had “no idea” how to guard James.

That showed at the end of Game 2, when he took Mickael Pietrus off of James and allowed Hedo Turkoglu to guard him with a second left.

The result: A game-winning 3-pointer by The King and lots of second guessing. Pietrus appeared to be causing trouble for James, holding the league’s MVP to just four fourth-quarter points prior to the game winner. If Van Gundy doesn’t figure out how to stop or at least slow down James, who had 35 points on Friday night, the series could be over quickly.

"The way they were celebrating, it was good, man,” Turkoglu told reporters. “They win and they celebrate, and it means we're in their heads. So it's all on us now, and how we play in front of our fans.”

Other key numbers:
- Magic are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Sunday games
- The Magic are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS win
- The under is 16-7 in the Cavaliers last 23 playoff games as an underdog
- The underdog is 10-3 ATS in the team’s past 13 games

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

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:52 AM

NHL
Long Sheet

When the Top Trends section updates, we'll re-post.

Sunday, May 24

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

DETROIT (61-23-0-12, 134 pts.) at CHICAGO (55-30-0-12, 122 pts.) - 5/24/2009, 3:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 16-9-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
12 of 21 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.6 Units)

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

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:53 AM

NHL
Short Sheet

Sunday, May 24th

Western Conference Finals
Game Four
Detroit Leads, 2-1
Detroit at Chicago, 3:05 ET

Detroit:
1-5 SU off division loss by 1 goal
3-8 SU Away as a #2 seed

Chicago:
24-8 SU as a home favorite of -200 or less
8-1 SU off BB division games

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:54 AM

NHL
Write-Up

Sunday, May 24

NHL Playoffs

Detroit is 6-3 vs Chicago this year, splitting four games here, where the Blackhawks are 6-1 so far in playoffs. Red Wings are 3-3 on road so far in playoffs. Blackhawks' OT win in Game 3 keeps series interesting, and was also second straight series game that needed extra time. Chicago has a power play goal in all three series games (3-10, 18:18). Detroit is 2-10 with man advantage (15:59). Huge game for Blackhawks here.

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:55 AM

NHL

Sunday, May 24

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

3:00 PM
DETROIT vs. CHICAGO
Detroit is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing Chicago
Detroit is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 5 games

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

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:57 AM

NHL

Sunday, May 24

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ice picks: Sunday's best NHL bets
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks (-110, 5.5)

A jarring hit from Detroit's Niklas Kronwall, one that flattened Chicago's Martin Havlat, has put a new spin on the Western Conference finals.

It most likely knocked Havlat, the Blackhawks' points leader, out for Sunday's Game 4 and spiked emotions between the old Original Six rivals.

''Marty didn't have the puck,'' Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell said Saturday. ''If he hit Marty and hit him clean, that's fine. That happens. ... It's just how he hits. You can see his forearms coming up and his hands are coming up and he's lunging forward and jumping into the guy.''

Kronwall received a five-minute interference penalty and was ejected from Friday night's Game 3 in which the Blackhawks pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory.

Campbell was asked if Kronwall should watch out Sunday for any retaliation.

''I don't know what will happen to him, but I'm sure there won't be one check not finished on him,'' Campbell said.

Not only will the Blackhawks likely go without Havlat - who had 77 points this season and has 15 more in the playoffs - they'll probably start backup goalie Cristobal Huet in place of Nikolai Khabibulin.

Khabibulin played the first two periods Friday before leaving with an injury. Huet replaced him and was able to stop a Red Wings' surge that had produced three quick second-period goals and wiped out Chicago's 3-0 lead.

Huet held the Red Wings scoreless in the third, and Patrick Sharp's goal less than two minutes into overtime gave the Blackhawks the win and cut Detroit's series lead to 2-1.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock said Kris Draper, hurt for most of the playoffs, would be out again Sunday. And star center Pavel Datsyuk, who missed Game 3 with a sore foot, would probably be a game-time decision again.

Pick: Under 5.5

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

**Udog** · 05-24-2009, 08:58 AM

NHL

Sunday, May 24

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What bettors need to know: Red Wings at Blackhawks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks (-115, 5.5)

Injury report

Both sides are dealing with key injuries.

Hart Trophy finalist Pavel Datsyuk missed Game 3 with a foot injury and is day-to-day for Game 4. Kris Draper is also day-to-day after suffering a pulled groin Friday.

Martin Havlat left Game 3 after a Niklas Kronwall body check. Havlat’s condition improved after the game and coach Joel Quenneville thinks Havlat may be able to play in Game 4.

Nikolai Khabibulin left Game 3 after sustaining a lower body injury and did not return. His status is unknown for Game 4. Cristobal Huet played well in his absence, stopping all six shots he faced.

The Rivalry is back

Though the Red Wings and Hawks have yet to drop the gloves in their nine meetings this year, there was plenty of animosity between the teams Friday night.

Niklas Kronwall received a five-minute major penalty for his crushing body check on Martin Havlat, though neither referee made a penalty call at the time of the hit. According to Wings coach Mike Babcock, the penalty was “absolutely the wrong call.” Quenneville disagreed, saying: “it’s a dangerous hit when you haven’t touched the puck.”

Mental toughness

No lead is safe against the defending champs and the Wings showed how dangerous the can be coming back from a 3-0 deficit in a span of four minutes and 23 seconds.

What was most surprising was how the young Hawks responded in the third period.

"A lot of teams probably would have gone the other way after giving up a three-goal lead, but we stayed with it," Hawks forward Patrick Sharp told reporters. "After they scored the third one, we played some of our best hockey. When we needed to play our best period of the season we did.”

Special teams

Both teams continue to play well with the man-advantage, averaging over 25 percent.

Detroit continues to struggle on the penalty kill, having given up at least one power-play goal in a team-record twelve straight games.

Chicago has averaged 4.5 power plays in the last two games after only having one in Game 1.

Star watch

Pavel Datsyuk: 0 goals, 2 assists, +1 (missed game 2)
Henrik Zetterberg: 1 goal, 1 assist, +3
Jonathan Toews: 2 goals, 0 assists, -2
Patrick Kane: 0 goals, 0 assists, -5

Other trends

- Blackhawks are 7-1 in their last eight home games
- Red Wings are 5-2 in their last seven vs. a team with a winning record
- Red Wings are 2-7 in last nine road games against a team with a winning percentage greater than .600.
- Home team is 4-0 in last four meetings
- Over is 4-1 last four meetings in Chicago

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

Announcement

Sunday Trends and Indexes 5/24 (NBA, MLB, NHL, Misc.)

Sunday Trends and Indexes 5/24 (NBA, MLB, NHL, Misc.)

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment