Announcement

**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:21 AM

Sunday's betting tips: Bulls haven't lost two straight in months

Weather to Watch

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago White Sox – There’s a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms, and 21-mile-per-hour winds will be blowing from the southwest. The temperature will be 79 degrees.

Who’s Hot

MLB: Baltimore is 5-1 in Chris Tillman’s last six home starts.

NBA: The Over is 5-0 in Miami’s last five games as a favorite.

NHL: San Jose is 7-1 in its last eight games as a favorite of -110 to -150.

Who’s Not

MLB: San Diego is 1-7 in its last eight games against starters with a WHIP less than 1.15. The Padres face Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, who has a WHIP of 1.13.

NBA: The Heat is 1-4 ATS in its last five games playing on 3 or more days’ rest.

NHL: The Under is 0-5 in the last five Canucks-Sharks games in San Jose.

Key Stat

20 – That’s Kyle Korver’s 3-point shooting percentage in his last five games (3 of 15) after a hot playoff start. Chicago’s sharpshooter is just 6 of his last 25 overall, with 15 points scored in those five games. The Bulls need Korver to find his touch when the Eastern Conference finals shift to Miami for Sunday’s Game 3.

Injury not to be overlooked

Florida ace Josh Johnson, tied for the MLB lead with a 1.64 ERA, was put on the disabled list Saturday with inflammation in his right shoulder. The back of his shoulder has been bothering him all season. The move is retroactive to Tuesday, so Johnson might only miss two starts. He could return June 1 at Arizona. Triple-A call-up Jay Buente will take Johnson’s spot and start Sunday against Tampa Bay.

Game of the Day

Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat (-5, 179)

Notes and tips

Umpire Fieldin Culbreth will be behind the plate Sunday afternoon when the Dodgers visit the White Sox. The Over is 13-5 in his last 18 games behind the plate. The Over also is 6-2 in Culbreth’s last eight games involving Los Angeles, and 5-2 in his last seven games involving Chicago. The total for Sunday’s game is 8.

Toronto’s Jose Bautista is threatening to make another mockery of the MLB home run race. Bautista, who blasted 54 homers last year, 12 more than second-place Albert Pujols, cracked two homers in Saturday’s 7-5 win over Houston to give him 18 this season. The Yankees’ Curtis Granderson is next with 15, followed by teammate Mark Teixeira with 12. Bautista is on pace for 65 homers.

The Bulls haven’t lost consecutive games since Feb. 5-7. So don’t expect Chicago to make major changes heading into Sunday’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in Miami. MVP Derrick Rose shot 7 of 23 from the floor in the Game 2 loss, including 10 misses in the paint. Coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t panicking. “I don’t want [Rose] to change anything that he’s doing,” Thibodeau said. “That’s how we got here. And we want to continue to do all the things that we did well through the course of the season. We’re not going to change who we are now.”

**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:24 AM

Sunday's six-pack

-- NL teams are off to a 17-11 start in interleague play. Over is 11-5 in AL parks, 4-7-1 in NL parks.

-- Florida ace Josh Johnson went on the DL with something akin to a tired arm; Marlins will need him back to keep contending.

-- Of the nine players starting for the Mets this weekend, four of them started the season at AAA Buffalo.

-- This is the first time since 1907 that the winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness both went off at odds higher than 10-1.

-- Winning jockey for the Preakness earned $42,000.

-- If you played DD Lohaus' selections from this page on Preakness, you wound up with a profit of roughly $95. Good job by him.

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Sunday's List of 13: Assorted stuff for a spring Sunday

13) As a college coach, you never want the AD who hired you to leave, because the new guy will re-evaluate everyone, and he/she often prefers his/her own people. Illinois AD Ron Guenther is retiring June 30, which could be bad news for Illini football coach Ron Zook, who has struggled since coming to Champaign, Illini only had three football coaches during Guenther’s tenure at Illinois, despite a 88-132 record. The new AD might very well shake things up if the Illini doesn’t win this season.

12) Tampa Bay Bucs showed good sense by turning down HBO’s invite to be featured on Hard Knocks this summer. First of all, there might not be training camp at all this summer, and second, maybe HBO should just feature the Jets every summer. They seemed to enjoy the attention.

11) I’m glad AMC has aired Bull Durham late at night last couple weeks; one of my favorite movies, it never gets old.

10) Speaking of which, the late Danny Gans, who spent the last 13 years of his life as a very popular headline act in Las Vegas, was the Bulls’ third baseman in that movie. Gans played ball at Cal Poly and was drafted by both the Royals/White Sox.

9) As we know, guys who play basketball in the D-League are only a phone call away from the big money world of the NBA, but until they get there, D-League salaries top off at only $24,000 a year. You’d make a lot more money going overseas to play, but you’re also less accessible on short notice to NBA teams.

8) In October 1990, I was at a junior college football game between West LA and Santa Monica College; game was played on what amounted to a high school-level field with about 200 fans there on a perfect fall day. My point here is that it wasn’t a great playing field, but the play was great (as it turns out, Isaac Bruce played in that game for West LA). NFL owners need to wake up and realize the game is the thing; as long as the game is great, TV ratings will be huge, and the cash will keep flowing in.

7) Other than abject greed, why do NFL teams need these new stadiums? When the NFL had its boom time in the 60’s/70’s, most teams shared their stadiums with baseball teams; the 49ers played in hideous Kezar Stadium before moving to Candlestick Point. The league has never been more popular, but the current owners are risking that popularity because they’re so damn greedy. It makes no sense, but then again, I’m not wealthy so I don’t understand how rich people think.

6) Nine major league baseball teams have all-you-can-eat sections, where fans play extra but can stuff their faces all night. They better hope Joe West isn’t umpiring, or else their eating time could be greatly diminished.

5) Before 2011 is over, Justin Turner is going to be entrenched as a Met regular; he’s a good ballplayer.

4) Glad to hear that CSI: NY got renewed for an 8th season by CBS. It had been up in air until this week. Good TV show; it deserves to carry on.

3) World Series of Poker will be starting up soon in Las Vegas; last three winners of the WSOP Main Event were all 23 years old or younger. Not sure why, but it’ll be interesting to see if the trend continues this summer.

2) Texans/Browns have never made NFL playoffs; other than those two teams, Buffalo Bills have gone longest without making the playoffs. Bills were last in the postseason in 1999, when they lost to Tennessee on the Music City Miracle.

1) Dan Uggla has been awful this season, one of the many reasons why my fantasy baseball team is struggling. Just because I traded Mariners' pitching phenom Michael Pineda to get Uggla on my team last year doesn’t mean I’m bitter or anything. Really, I’m not. Well, maybe a little.

**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:30 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Sunday, May 22

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CHICAGO (71 - 24) at MIAMI (67 - 27) - 5/22/2011, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 56-38 ATS (+14.2 Units) in all games this season.
CHICAGO is 12-4 ATS (+7.6 Units) as an underdog this season.
CHICAGO is 28-18 ATS (+8.2 Units) in road games this season.
CHICAGO is 22-12 ATS (+8.8 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent this season.
CHICAGO is 13-3 ATS (+9.7 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite this season.
CHICAGO is 27-14 ATS (+11.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
CHICAGO is 46-29 ATS (+14.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 27-16 ATS (+9.4 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game this season.
CHICAGO is 18-8 ATS (+9.2 Units) in road games versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MIAMI is 6-6 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
MIAMI is 7-6 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
9 of 13 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:31 AM

NBA
Short Sheet

Sunday, May 22

Eastern Conference Finals - Game 3 - Series Tied 1-1
CHICAGO at MIAMI, 8:30 PM ET TNT
CHICAGO: 12-4 ATS as an underdog
MIAMI: 18-27 ATS as a home favorite

** (TC) Denotes Time Change

**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:32 AM

NBA
Write-Up

Sunday, May 22

We'll see what effect ridiculous four days between games has here; you'd think it favors the team with less depth (Miami). You look at stats from Games 1-2, and Miami's offensive stats are very similar; Chicago went from 44% in Game 1 to 34% in Game 2-- Rose was 10-22 in first game, 7-23 in Game 2. Chicago bench was just 5-16 last game (11-22 Game 1). Bulls are +12 in turnovers for series; they;ve got 36 offensive rebounds in two games but James/Wade got to foul line twice as much last game as in Game 1. Miami is 6-0 at home in playoffs, 1-4 vs Bulls this year. Heat scored 82-81-82 points in its three playoff losses.

We'll see what effect ridiculous four days between games has here; you'd think it favors the team with less depth (Miami). You look at stats from Games 1-2, and Miami's offensive stats are very similar; Chicago went from 44% in Game 1 to 34% in Game 2-- Rose was 10-22 in first game, 7-23 in Game 2. Chicago bench was just 5-16 last game (11-22 Game 1). Bulls are +12 in turnovers for series; they;ve got 36 offensive rebounds in two gamesm but James/Wade got to foul line twice as much last game as in Game 1. Miami is 6-0 at home in playoffs, 1-4 vs Bulls this year. Heat scored 82-81-82 points in its three playoff losses.

**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:34 AM

NBA

Sunday, May 22

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Trend Report
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8:30 PM
CHICAGO vs. MIAMI
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chicago's last 6 games when playing on the road against Miami
Chicago is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Miami
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Miami's last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Miami's last 6 games when playing at home against Chicago

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:37 AM

NBA

Sunday, May 22

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Bulls at Heat: What bettors need to know
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Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat (-5, 179)

Series tied 1-1

THE STORY: The Miami Heat turned the defensive tables on their rivals from Chicago to seize home-court advantage in the NBA's Eastern Conference final. The Heat look to take advantage of their Game 2 victory by hosting the Bulls in Game 3 on Sunday night. Miami has yet to lose at home in the postseason, but Chicago won its only game there in the regular season.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, TNT

ABOUT THE HEAT: Game 1 was a significant eye-opener for the Heat, who were spanked by 21 points thanks to a stifling second-half defensive stand by the Bulls. Faced with the prospect of returning to Florida down 2-0 in the best-of-seven, Miami used its own suffocating defense to limit the Bulls to just 29 points in the final 24 minutes of Game 2. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade rebounded from so-so performances in the opener, combining for 53 points on 20-for-37 shooting from the floor. Udonis Haslem gave the Heat a major boost off the bench, scoring 13 points in 23 minutes. Miami won despite committing 15 turnovers, five coming from James.

ABOUT THE BULLS: Coach Tom Thibodeau chided his team for its "low-energy offense (and) low-energy defense" in Game 2. While the latter may have been a bit harsh, the statistics support his complaints on the first count. The Bulls shot just 34 percent from the field, made just 3 of 20 attempts from 3-point range and missed 10 free throws in their worst offensive performance of the season. Taj Gibson had eight of the Bulls' 10 points in the fateful fourth quarter as Carlos Boozer (seven points, eight rebounds) remained stapled to the bench. He'll need to bounce back if the Bulls hope to counter Miami's Big Three of Wade, James and Chris Bosh.

WHO'S HOT/WHO'S NOT: James' 12-for-21 effort in Game 2 was his best shooting performance of the playoffs. Bulls guard and league MVP Derrick Rose went 0 for 3 from the 3-point line, his first oh-fer from long range since going 0 for 9 in Chicago's first-round series opener against the Indiana Pacers.

KEY STATISTIC: +81 - The combined plus/minus of Miami's starting five in Game 2. The Bulls' starting unit finished -45.

TRENDS:

* Bulls are 3-1-1 ATS in the last five meetings.
* Under is 11-4 in the last 15 meetings.
* Underdog is 4-1-1 ATS in the last six meetings.

LAST WORD: "This is playoff basketball. It's physical. Guys are banging. You're playing for a championship. We've seen each other all year long. This is no time to be friends." - Gibson on the lack of scoring in Game 2

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:39 AM

NBA

Sunday, May 22

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Pick 'n' roll: Sunday's best NBA bet
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Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat (-5, 179)

LeBron James came up big in the fourth quarter on Wednesday and almost seemed to single-handedly tie the Eastern Conference Finals at 1-1 as the Heat scored an 85-75 road win. But arguably the biggest story was none other than Udonis Haslem.

Haslem, whom Dwyane Wade called “the heartbeat of the team,” had missed almost the entire season with a foot injury. He played his first significant minutes since November 20. In more than 23 minutes on the court, the 30-year-old contributed 13 points and five rebounds.

“We don’t necessarily need Udonis to score for us to be effective,” head coach Erik Spoelstra told the Miami Herald. “It’s all the other little things he does. We’ll see how he responds in the next game. We’ll give him some more minutes.”

For the Bulls, Carlos Boozer has been a disappearing act most of the playoffs. He was great against Atlanta in Game 6 and decent in Game 1 of this series (14 points, nine rebounds) but was a no-show on Wednesday with seven points and eight rebounds. Derrick Rose also struggled, scoring 21 points on dismal 7-of-23 shooting from the floor.

It will be hard for Chicago to get back on track playing at AmericanAirlines Arena. Miami is 6-0 (4-2 ATS) at home in the playoffs and has covered the spread on three straight occasions. Dating back to the regular season, the Heat has won eight in a row and 11 of its last 12 at home.

Pick: Heat

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:43 AM

NHL
Long Sheet

Sunday, May 22

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VANCOUVER (64-23-0-11, 139 pts.) at SAN JOSE (57-32-0-9, 123 pts.) - 5/22/2011, 3:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SAN JOSE is 26-15 ATS (+7.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
VANCOUVER is 64-34 ATS (+8.5 Units) in all games this season.
VANCOUVER is 52-26 ATS (+16.2 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 40-19 ATS (+12.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
VANCOUVER is 28-13 ATS (+8.4 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
SAN JOSE is 8-7 (+0.7 Units) against the spread versus VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
SAN JOSE is 8-7-0 straight up against VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
9 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.2 Units)

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:48 AM

NHL
Write-Up

Sunday, May 22

Home team is 3-0 in Canuck-Shark series; after having power play for a total of just 2:53 in Games 1-2, Sharks had it for 15:51 in Game 3 (at the Shark Tank), scoring three times, and getting half their 38 shots on goal with man advantage. Red flag for San Jose is that they've been outscored 9-2 in third period this series- they scored three goals on nine shots last game in third period. Sharks are 5-3 at home in playoffs; they're 2-5 in last seven games overall. Vancouver is 4-3 on road in playoffs, 5-2 in its last seven games against San Jose. Only 33:51 of Game 3 was 6-on-6.

**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:50 AM

NHL

Sunday, May 22

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Trend Report
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3:00 PM
VANCOUVER vs. SAN JOSE
Vancouver is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Vancouver's last 9 games when playing San Jose
San Jose is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Vancouver
San Jose is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:53 AM

NHL

Sunday, May 22

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Canucks at Sharks: What bettors need to know
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Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks (-115, 5.5)

Vancouver leads series 2-1

THE STORY: Penalties were the story Friday night as the San Jose Sharks held on for a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of the NHL's Western Conference final. The Sharks will look to even the best-of-seven at two games apiece as they host the Canucks in a rare playoff matinee Sunday afternoon.

TV: 3 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC

ABOUT THE SHARKS: San Jose's vaunted power play had been perfect through the first two games of the series, but it didn't mean much since the Sharks had only been given three man advantage chances in Vancouver. That changed dramatically in Game 3, as San Jose finished 3-for-10 on the power play against a wildly undisciplined Canucks team. Patrick Marleau scored twice - giving him five goals in the past four games - while Joe Thornton added three assists and looked like the most dangerous forward on the ice. Logan Couture left the game after colliding with a teammate. The rookie forward suffered a pair of concussions during his time in junior hockey and, while he briefly returned in the third period, his status for Game 4 is unknown.

ABOUT THE CANUCKS: Whether it was a matter of the Sharks being motivated by a return home or the Canucks simply coming out flat, Game 3 looked like it was over early. Vancouver fell behind 3-0 after one, and had been outshot 15-1 with six minutes to go in the period. A late five-minute power play allowed Vancouver to get back into the game with a pair of goals, but defenseman Kevin Bieksa was called for hooking with 56 seconds left to end the rally. The Sedin twins were largely ineffective, thanks in large part to the fact that the Canucks spent so much time killing penalties. They combined for one assist and just three shots after dominating Game 3 with five combined points. Ryan Kesler was held without a point but won 19 of 27 faceoffs.

WHO'S HOT/WHO'S NOT: Marleau (four goals, one assist) and Thornton (one goal, five assists) have kept the Sharks' offense afloat against Vancouver. Vancouver F Alex Burrows had a goal in Game 3 while finishing with a team-high seven shots on net.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Sharks are now 6 for 13 on the power play against the Canucks, while Vancouver is 6 for 17 with the man advantage.

TRENDS:

* Over is 5-0 in the last five meetings in San Jose.
* Favorite is 13-3 in the last 16 meetings.
* Over is 7-2 in the last nine meetings.
* Canucks are 5-2 in the last seven meetings.
* Home team is 12-5 in the last 17 meetings.
* Canucks are 2-7 in the last nine meetings in San Jose.

LAST WORD: Friday's win snapped the Sharks' eight game conference final losing streak dating back to 2004.

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:55 AM

NHL

Sunday, May 22

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Ice picks: Sunday's best NHL bet
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Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks (-115, 5.5)

The Sharks made this a series by defeating Vancouver 4-3 on Friday night, pulling within 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals.

But let’s not overreact to the victory. Nor should there be any real reason for confidence even among San Jose fans. The team has still won only two of its last seven games; it lost three in a row to Detroit before winning Game 7 by a 3-2 decision and then it dropped the first two against the Canucks.

The Sharks won Game 3 because they showcased one good period of hockey, storming to a 3-0 lead before the end of the first. Still, they almost blew it by allowing Vancouver to notch three third-period goals of its own.

The Canucks, on the other hand, have still won five of their last seven playoff outings. Despite their sub-par performance in Game 3, which included 11 penalties for 32 minutes, they still almost mounted a comeback win. Overall, the team cannot be too discouraged and must feel like Friday was only an aberration to the rule of stellar hockey.

“We're a pretty good team when we stay out of the box, and that's going to be the theme,” Ryan Kesler told the Vancouver Sun. “I have to be better. Team-wise and me. We all have to be better, and we're going to be tomorrow.”

Kesler, meanwhile, leads Vancouver with 16 playoff points. He has been held pointless in the last two games, but don’t be surprised if the center forward delivers a breakout performance. Kelser produced five goals and five assists in the last four games of the previous series and he tallied an assist in the opener against San Jose.

Pick: Canucks

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**Udog** · 05-22-2011, 08:56 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Vancouver at San Jose

The Sharks look to build on their 7-1 record in their last 8 playoff games as a favorite from -110 to -150. San Jose is the pick (-115) according to Dunkel, which has the Sharks favored by 1 1/2. Dunkel Pick: San Jose (-115). Here are all of today's picks.

SUNDAY, MAY 22

Game 65-66: Vancouver at San Jose (3:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Vancouver 11.059; San Jose 12.741
Dunkel Line & Total: San Jose by 1 1/2; 5
Vegas Line & Total: San Jose (-115); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Jose (-115); Under

Announcement

Sunday's Trends and Indexes - 5/22 (NBA, NHL, MLB, Misc.)

Sunday's Trends and Indexes - 5/22 (NBA, NHL, MLB, Misc.)

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