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**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:32 AM

Daily Sports Roundup: May 10

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Bulls and Hawks look to break a series deadlock, the Sharks try to dispatch the Wings, and the Phillies battle with the Marlins.

Tipping off on the hardwood . . .

The lone NBA playoff game on the Tuesday schedule has Atlanta at Chicago in Game 5 of their best-of-seven second-round series. The Hawks tied the set 2-2 with a 100-88 home win in Game 4 on Sunday night. Joe Johnson led the way with 24 points for Atlanta in that victory, while Josh Smith picked up 23 points and 16 rebounds. Al Horford added 20 points on the night for the Hawks. Derrick Rose poured in a game-high 34 points to go along with 10 assists for the Bulls; Carlos Boozer added 18 points that day.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

On the American League schedule for Tuesday it's Seattle at Baltimore, Tampa Bay at Cleveland, Kansas City at the Yankees, Boston at Toronto, Oakland at Texas, Detroit at Minnesota, and the White Sox at the Angels. Chicago will send John Danks (0-5, 3.83 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday, while Los Angeles counters with Joel Pineiro (1-0, 0.71 ERA). Lefthander Danks lost his fourth straight start last time out, allowing three runs on eight hits over eight innings of work against the Twins. Righthander Pineiro beat the Red Sox in his last trip to the mound, surrendering just three hits in his 5 2-3 shutout innings.

In the National League on Tuesday it's then the Dodgers at Pittsburgh, Washington at Atlanta, Cincinnati at Houston, St. Louis at the Cubs, San Diego at Milwaukee, the Mets at Colorado, Arizona at San Francisco, and Philadelphia at Florida. Roy Halladay (5-1, 2.19 ERA) will get the ball for the Phillies in that last matchup, while Josh Johnson (3-1, 1.68 ERA) counters for the Marlins. Righthander Halladay beat the Nationals in his most recent start, giving up two runs on six hits over seven innings of work while fanning 10. Righthander Johnson is coming off his first loss of the year, allowing five runs on eight hits over 7 1-3 innings of work against the Cardinals. Johnson struck out seven that day.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

Finally, the NHL's Western Conference second-round series between the Sharks and Red Wings continues on Tuesday night in Detroit, with San Jose holding a 3-2 lead in that best-of-seven set. The Red Wings avoided elimination again on Sunday night, getting goals from Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Danny Cleary, and Tomas Holmstrom in a 4-3 victory. Pavel Datsyuk had three assists for the Wings in that win, while Jimmy Howard made 39 saves. Devin Setoguchi, Joe Pavelski, and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks in the defeat, and Antti Niemi stopped only 18 of 22 shots.

**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:35 AM

Tuesday's betting tips: Bulls big home faves again

Who’s hot

NBA: Atlanta has covered in seven of its last 10 games.

NHL: San Jose has won 12 of its last 16 as an underdog.

MLB: San Francisco has won five of its last six.

MLB: Chicago Cubs have won 14 of their last 17 games with Carlos Zambrano on the hill.

Who’s not

NBA: Chicago has covered in just three of its last 11 home games.

NHL: The under is just 4-10 in the last 14 meetings between the Sharks and Red Wings.

MLB: Arizona is 7-20 in its last 27 meetings with the San Francisco Giants.

MLB: Houston is 4-13 in its last 17 home games against Cincinnati.

Key stat

3 – The Detroit Red Wings scored three times in the third period on just six shots on goal to earn a 4-3 comeback win over the San Jose Sharks to force a Game 6. The Wings were outshot 42-22 in the game but now returns home as a -140 favorite on Tuesday.

Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked

Johan Franzen, Detroit Red Wings: Franzen reinjured his sprained ankle in Detroit’s Game 5 victory and missed the entire third period. The team will re-evaluate the injury again but he’s currently listed as questionable for Game 6. Franzen is really struggling with this ankle issue and has only three points in eight playoff games.

Game of the day

Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls (-8.5, 181)

Notable quotable

“A lot of people seem to think that coming home is the answer. But (the series) is even again. I don’t think we’re worried, but we can’t take that team lightly given how they played (Sunday) night.” – Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls after his club dropped Game 4 to the Atlanta Hawks, evening the series at two games apiece. The Bulls now head back home for Game 5, where they are 24-15-2 against the spread at home this year. However, Chicago is only 2-3 against the spread at home in this year’s playoffs as the club has been set as at least a 8.5-point favorite in each of those contests.

Notes and tips

Boston Red Sox skipper Terry Francona says that Carl Crawford isn’t going to be sticking in the eighth spot of the batting order much longer. Francona wouldn’t say when he would make the move, but Crawford may force his hand with hits in every game this month heading into Monday night’s game against Minnesota. The Red Sox are set as -155 favorite in Toronto on Tuesday.

Tottenham won’t have outside wing Gareth Bale in the lineup Tuesday against Manchester City after he suffered a ruptured ankle ligament during Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Blackpool over the weekend. Bale, who won this year’s Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award, is now expected to miss the remainder of the season. Tottenham is pegged as a +280 underdog for Tuesday’s game, with Man City pegged at -110 and the draw at +230.

San Jose Sharks forward and former team captain Patrick Marleau is no stranger to controversy or criticism, but he was ripped especially hard by former teammate and current NHL TV analyst Jeremy Roenick after the Sharks blew a 3-1 lead in Game 5 against Detroit. "Unbelievable comeback by Detroit but an unbelievable poor effort by Patrick Marleau -- a gutless, gutless performance by Patrick Marleau," Roenick said. "Count them, zero points in this series and he has a game like that."

**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:38 AM

Tuesday's six-pack

-- Maryland hired Mark Turgeon away from Texas A&M; good coach. Aggies will probably try to hire Buzz Williams away from Marquette.

-- Pirates are 18-17, over .500 in May for first time in seven years; they got break when ump ruled Tabata caught a ball that replay showed he didn't catch. Pittsburgh then scored three runs in next half-inning.

-- Rangers are 9-17 in their last 26 games after starting season 9-1.

-- Five pitchers have homered in the big leagues this season; three of the five home runs were given up by the Astros.

-- Vancouver Canucks, who have never won the Stanley Cup, are now eight wins away after knocking Nashville out in six games.

-- Talk about tough acts to follow; how about next coach of the Lakers?

Late Night Update
Game ended at 1:39am; Oklahoma City came back from 16 down to win classic triple OT game in Memphis, 133-123. Russell Westbrook had 40 points. Quick turnaround with series tied 2-2; Game 5 Wednesday. If this game had involved the media darling teams, it would be regarded as one of the best games in recent playoff history.

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Tuesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but..........

13) By my count, 23 of the 32 NFL teams at one point shared a stadium with a major league baseball team; now, only Oakland/Miami have shared stadiums, and when the Marlins open their new baseball park next April, Mt Davis will be the only dual-purpose facility left in the NFL. That says a lot about how spoiled owners of pro sports teams have become.

12) There is no doubt that NFL owners’ greed for new stadiums (and the revenue streams they produce) is driving this current labor dispute. Its too bad, because if more games are lost (there were games lost in ’82 and ’87) regular people who need the money will be hurt. Vendors, ticket sellers, stadium employees.

The rich dudes who own these teams will smirk and say they care about the fans, but actions speak way louder than words.

11) CBS Sports’ current top four college football teams for 2011: Oklahoma-Alabama-LSU-Oregon.

10) Tony Larussa’s eye infection is so painful that he flew to Minnesota on his off day to get it checked out at the Mayo Clinic.

9) Eldrick Woods has slipped to #8 in World Rankings, as Paul Casey passed him; if he doesn’t win this year, it’ll be interesting to see just how far he falls in the rankings. He doesn’t have much from last year to bolster his ranking.

8) I am told that oil prices fell last week, which explains why gas prices stayed the same where I buy gas. Greedy bastards can’t even throw us a bone and drop the price a penny or two.

7) ESPN.com reports that this week is the first time in almost 40 years that there are no Americans ranked in the top 10 in tennis, on either the men’s or women’s side. Just thought you'd like to know.

6) Aaron Harang’s win Sunday was the first home win by a San Diego starting pitcher in four weeks, covering 15 home games. San Diego is 4-11 in its last 15 games at Petco Park.

5) Reality TV knows no bounds; there is a TV show called Whale Wars, which chronicles the struggles between conservationists and the Japanese whalers (no relation to Hartford Whalers). Who thinks of these things?

4) Former DePaul head basketball coach Jerry Wainwright, who looks a lot like Vince McMahon, is now an assistant coach at Fresno State, joining Rodney Terry’s staff.

3) Dynamic pricing is the new trend in baseball, where rivalry games and games against teams with big stars cost more than normal games vs cruddy teams. That’s all well and good, but if a Cardinal game is a high-priced game, and it will be most places, and Albert Pujols goes on the DL, do tickets get knocked down a tier or two while he’s on the DL? Hell no they won’t be. Just another way to rip the public off. Thanks guys.

2) One of the things that drives me nuts about the NBA is the insistence on isolation plays on last-second shots; God forbid the star doesn't stand in one place, dribble for 10-12 seconds, then take an awkward, contested fadeaway for the win. If a star passes late in the game, he gets ripped.

Remember a Cleveland playoff game couple years ago when Lebron went inside, drew defenders to him, then kicked the ball to a wide-open shooter for the winning shot? Guy missed and Lebron got ripped for not shooting the ball, when in fact he made a perfect pass to set up an open shot. Sad.

1) When this season started, I thought Erik Spoelstra was getting set up to be canned, with Pat Riley coming in to coach the team just before the start of the playoffs. Good for Spoelstra that he's done well. Its easier for him because they've seemed to assemble a group of good guys, but those expectations were/are still very high.

**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:46 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Tuesday, May 10

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ATLANTA (50 - 42) at CHICAGO (68 - 23) - 5/10/2011, 8:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 9-5 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 9-5 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
10 of 14 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:48 AM

NBA
Short Sheet

Tuesday, May 10

Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round - Best of 7 - Game 5 - TIED 2-2
ATLANTA at CHICAGO, 8:05 PM ET TNT
ATLANTA: 11-3 ATS off win by 10 or more as an underdog
CHICAGO: 7-0 Under revenging road loss by 10 or more

** (TC) Denotes Time Change

**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:49 AM

NBA
Write-Up

Tuesday, May 10

Over is 12-4 so far in second round, after unders dominated in first round; favorites are 9-7 in this round.

Atlanta scored 103-100 points in its series wins, making 51-49% from floor, then scored 73-82 points in two losses, shooting 43% both games. Chicago was +19/+13 on boards in its two wins- rebounds were ever in Atlanta's two wsins. Rose had 44 points, 7 assists in Game 3, but was 12-32 last game. Horford was 9-11 last game; Hawks' starting guards hit 15-26 from floor. Bulls are 4-1 at home in playoffs, 2-3 vs spread.

**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:52 AM

NBA

Tuesday, May 10

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
ATLANTA vs. CHICAGO
Atlanta is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 7 games on the road
Chicago is 15-3 SU in its last 18 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 7 games when playing at home against Atlanta

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**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:54 AM

NBA

Tuesday, May 10

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What bettors need to know: Hawks at Bulls
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Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls (-8.5, 181)

THE STORY: It’s down to a best-of-three series as the Atlanta Hawks have proven they will not be easily dispatched. The Chicago Bulls appeared to have all of the momentum on their side after a convincing Game 3 victory, but the Hawks refused to roll over and took Game 4 when they confounded Derrick Rose and took over in the final four minutes. The Bulls will need to regroup again to avoid a hole when they host Atlanta in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Tuesday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT

ABOUT THE BULLS: After it evened the series with a less than stellar win in Game 2, Chicago went into Atlanta on Friday night for Game 3 and dominated 99-82 behind Rose's career-high 44 points. It looked as though the Bulls had solved the offensive inefficiency and defensive breakdowns that had plagued them during the first round and into the first two games against the Hawks. But all those problems returned in Game 4 as Rose managed 34 points, but shot 12-of-32 from the floor. Chicago’s defense broke down in the fourth quarter and allowed Atlanta to close with a 16-4 burst en route to a 100-88 victory.

ABOUT THE HAWKS: Atlanta spread it around Sunday and maintained a slim lead through most of the contest thanks to Josh Smith’s 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, and Joe Johnson’s 24 points. With the game knotted at 84-84 with just over four minutes left, it was time for Al Horford and Jeff Teague to take over. The two combined to score the next 10 points and the Hawks turned it into an easy win. Teague has been a strong fill-in for the injured Kirk Hinrich, averaging 16 points in the series.

WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Carlos Boozer scored a playoff-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting Sunday for Chicago. Marvin Williams was dropped out of Atlanta’s starting lineup in Game 4 and ended up scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench.

KEY STATISTIC: One of the reasons Rose kept driving into traffic was because the Bulls could not hit from the outside - they were 3-for-16 from 3-point range in Game 4. Luol Deng and Kyle Korver were the worst offenders, combining to shoot 1 of 11. Atlanta shot 4-for-11 from 3-point range in Game 4.

LAST WORD: Sunday’s victory marked the first time Atlanta won a home playoff game in the second round since May 13, 1996.

TRENDS: Atlanta has covered in seven of its last 10 overall.
Chicago is 3-8 in its last 11 home games.
The under has cashed in on 14 of Atlanta's last 20 games.

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**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 08:56 AM

NBA

Tuesday, May 10

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Pick 'n' roll: Tuesday's best NBA bets
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Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls (-8.5, 181)

Just when it looked like the nail had been put in the Atlanta Hawks’ coffin, it all turned around for them on Sunday. Following a lackluster 99-82 blowout loss to Chicago in Game 3, they bounced back to even the series with a 100-88 victory.

How is it dead even between a team that owns the best record in the NBA against another that had lost 15 consecutive conference semifinal games prior to these playoffs? Partly because Atlanta may have found its point guard of the future in Jeff Teague, who is playing only because Kirk Hinrich is out with a strained hamstring.

Teague has seen at least 39 minutes of action in all four contests and has scored double-figures in all four. He went for 21 in both Game 2 and Game 3 and is shooting 52 percent from the floor for the series.

“I have to give Jeff Teague a lot of credit,” teammate Joe Johnson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He has really stepped up and played big in this series. He had a few big defensive plays where he got steals and came down the court and he maybe could’ve taken the shot. But he pulled out and ran the offense. That’s big for a second-year guard. He’s been unbelievable.”

Perhaps even more importantly, what transpired in Game 4 suggests that the Hawks have figured out how to play the Bulls: be aggressive on both ends of the floor, especially on Derrick Rose—doing whatever it takes to keep the MVP out of the paint. On the offensive end, that aggressiveness starts with Josh Smith.

Smith, who took a ridiculous amount of long-range jumpers in Game 3, delivered 23 points and 16 rebounds on Sunday while getting to the charity stripe nine times.

“I just stayed with it, stayed aggressive, saw some cracks in the defense where I had opportunities to drive,” Smith told the AJC. “Tonight I did a good job of not settling [for jump shots]. When I am able to do that it helps us out.”

Atlanta may not get the outright win on Tuesday, but if it shows up with the same attitude, 8.5 points should be more than enough.

Pick: Hawks

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**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 09:02 AM

NHL
Long Sheet

Tuesday, May 10

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SAN JOSE (55-29-0-9, 119 pts.) at DETROIT (53-26-0-12, 118 pts.) - 5/10/2011, 8:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
SAN JOSE is 13-9 (+3.0 Units) against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
SAN JOSE is 13-9-0 straight up against DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
14 of 22 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+5.7 Units)

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**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 09:05 AM

NHL
Short Sheet

Tuesday, May 10

Western Conference Playoffs - Second Round - Game 6 - SJ Leads 3-2
SAN JOSE at DETROIT, 8:05 PM ET VERSUS
SAN JOSE: 5-0 SU Away playing with double revenge
DETROIT: 1-5 SU Away after scoring 4+ goals BB games

** (TC) Denotes Time Change

**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 09:06 AM

NHL
Write-Up

Tuesday, May 10

Red Wings won last two games, both 4-3, after scoring total of five goals in losing first three series games; last three series games all went over the total. Sharks outshot Detroit 42-22 in Game 5, but didn't score in 8:00 on power play, getting eight shots stopped by Howard. Detroit was on power play for 4:00 but didn't get any shots on goal. Detroit is 3-1 in home playoff games, with all four games going over. All five series games have been decided by one goal.

**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 09:09 AM

NHL

Tuesday, May 10

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
SAN JOSE vs. DETROIT
San Jose is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Detroit
San Jose is 8-16-1 SU in its last 25 games ,when playing on the road against Detroit
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Detroit's last 14 games when playing San Jose
Detroit is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against San Jose

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**Udog** · 05-10-2011, 09:11 AM

NHL

Tuesday, May 10

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What bettors need to know: Sharks at Red Wings
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San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings (-140, 5.5)

THE STORY: Seeing the San Jose Sharks post impressive regular seasons only to fall flat in the playoffs has become the norm lately. The Detroit Red Wings are halfway to making this postseason the ultimate failure for the team from the Bay Area. The second-seeded Sharks get their third shot at eliminating the third-seeded Red Wings when the teams meet at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series. San Jose took a commanding series lead with three straight one-goal victories but has dropped each of the last two games by a 4-3 score. The Sharks have twice blown 3-2 series leads in the postseason and also saw a 2-0 advantage over the Edmonton Oilers turn into a six-game loss in the 2006 conference semifinals. Detroit never has won a series after dropping the first three games but is one of three clubs in NHL history to be on the losing side of such an historic comeback as it accomplished the dubious feat in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, VERSUS, TSN, CSN California, FSN Detroit

ABOUT THE RED WINGS: Things looked extremely bleak for Detroit on Sunday when Calder Trophy finalist Logan Couture gave San Jose a 3-1 lead just 54 seconds into the third period. But the veteran Red Wings refused to wave the white flag and tied the game before the 5 1/2-minute mark on goals 1:46 apart by defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and Dan Cleary. Tomas Holmstrom was the hero, extending Detroit's season by scoring his 45th career playoff tally with 6:08 remaining. Jimmy Howard made 39 saves as the Red Wings were outshot by a 42-22 margin. Johan Franzen was badly affected by his injured ankle and did not play in the third period. Pavel Datsyuk did not take a faceoff due to a hand injury but managed to collect three assists. While never rallying to win a series after trailing 3-0, the Red Wings have overcome a 3-1 deficit twice, most recently in 1992 against the Minnesota North Stars.

ABOUT THE SHARKS: San Jose appeared on the verge of its second straight conference final appearance before allowing three goals in a span of 10:09 in the third period of Game 5. The Sharks built their 3-1 lead on goals by Devin Setoguchi, Joe Pavelski and Couture. The three players, along with defenseman Dan Boyle, registered a game-high six shots apiece. Antti Niemi was superb over the first two periods before allowing the three tallies in the third on just six shots. Niemi's best save came with 5:25 to play in the opening session, when he slid across the crease to snag Ericsson's shot off a rebound from the right faceoff circle with his glove.

WHO'S HOT/WHO'S NOT: Datsyuk's three-assist performance in Game 5 tied him with Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis, Vancouver's Ryan Kesler and San Jose's Ryane Clowe for the playoff scoring lead with 13 points apiece. Datsyuk has a six-game point streak and has been kept off the scoresheet just once in 11 contests this postseason. Pavelski and Setoguchi share the goal-scoring lead for the Sharks with five apiece.

SPECIAL TEAMS: San Jose went 0-for-4 on Sunday to see its power-play success rate drop to 13.6 percent. Detroit, which failed to convert its two opportunities, has a 24.2 percent efficiency. The Sharks have successfully killed 78.6 percent of their penalties while the Red Wings are at 74.4 percent.

LAST WORD: "I think you put yourself in a very dangerous position if you get back on your heels against that team. I didn't think we did that. They just outplayed us in the third period." - San Jose coach Todd McLellan on Detroit's impressive comeback in Game 5.

TRENDS: The over is 12-2-2 in San Jose's last 16 road games and 9-2 in Detroit's last 11 overall.
San Jose has won six of the last eight meetings between the two clubs.

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Announcement

Tuesday's Trends and Indexes - 5/10 (NBA, NHL, MLB, Misc.)

Tuesday's Trends and Indexes - 5/10 (NBA, NHL, MLB, Misc.)

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