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5 Expert Picks
Mike Burrow is awful. . ...
Naz Reid averaged 7.3 rebounds at home this season. ...
Will OG Anunoby play in Philly? ....
Well, can't really have a draw day can I? 1-1-1. Few cents down. Since I can't bet the NBA or NHL without any alt options realistically, yep shall do this, but I might have hantavirus. (Cruises were fun pre-pandemic. But I was likely never going again and definitely am not now. See you on the train.) I believe both these clubs are playing way above their skiis. But the Dads' Michael King has been quite solid and a fair amount of San Diego batters (if limited) have solid splits off STL starter Matthew Liberatore. As a rule, I try not to fade Matthews. Except in the "Lost" pool. #sandiegans #sandiegoites
DraftKings. Across 25 games with at least 24 minutes, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and without Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren averaged 28 combined points plus rebounds, and had a 72% success rate on this line. This is a solid matchup for Chet, where his height poses a mismatch offensively, and defensively he can float and crash the glass. I’d bet this to over 25.5.
In the last four playoff games, the Lakers have scored 96, 93, 98, and 90 points. During the seven postseason games, the Lakers' pace of play at 92.55 is the second-slowest of all playoff teams. Versus the Thunder this year, L.A. has 92, 110, 96, 87, and 90 points, with the last 3 coming in April or Tuesday's Game 1. The Lakers know the best way to slow down the Thunder is to limit the possessions. They had 53 points at halftime of Game 1, and still ended with only 90.
In each of the past two games -- Game 1 vs. the Lakers and Game 4 at Phoenix -- Chet Holmgren grabbed 12 boards. I like him to continue that pace, or close to it, against the offensively-challenged Lakers. Holmgren averaged 9.7 rebounds at home during the regular season, compared to 8.2 on the road. He is a total mismatch for LA, so he should see plenty of minutes before garbage time.
DraftKings. Going to hold my breath and fade Cade Cunningham tonight. The Cavs, whose pick and roll defense was top five in the regular season, did a solid job on the Pistons guard in Game 1, holding Cade to 6/19 shooting en route to a 23 point and 7 assist effort. The Cavs were able to trap/blitz Cade at the point of attack, forcing Detroit to use their secondary playmakers (and Tobias Harris and Ausar Thompson have been meeting the moment). Dean Wade has the size to disrupt Cunningham (akin to Franz Wagner in the first round) - but unlike Orlando, Cleveland’s big men will help to stop the ball. Would bet this down to under 36.5.
Tobias Harris has been sensational for the Pistons throughout the postseason and has seen his scoring average rise over 8 PPG. While he’s playing more and his usage is up, that’s simply unsustainable considering his usage rate, thus hes a regression candidate. This is a bloated line and I would fade him at 17.5 as well.
The Pistons survived their first round as a No. 1 seed. The team took a sigh of relief and outscored the Cavs 37-21 in the opening quarter of Game 1 of the second round. They made Jarrett Allen a non-factor and Cade Cunningham shot just 6-of-19; he’ll do better. Cleveland covered in just 37.8% of road games – only the Wizards were worse. This is also only the fourth time since March 1 the Cavs will be underdogs in a game. The previous three, they lost by 10, 22 and 14. The 10-pointer was Game 1.
Max Strus was excellent in Game 1, scoring 19 points over 28 minutes. That came on the heels of him scoring 12 points in Game 7 against the Raptors in the previous round. He is an excellent three-point shooter and could be primed for more playing time Thursday with Sam Merrill (hamstring) listed as questionable. Given that Merrill battled with an injury to the same hamstring as recently as last month, I don’t think he plays in Game 2. Look for Strus to play around 25 minutes and emerge with double-digit points.
Tobias Harris scored 20 points over 39 minutes in Game 1. That marked his sixth straight game with at least 20 points. During the playoffs, he is averaging 36 minutes and 16.9 shot attempts a night. The increased usage rate is important to note because he is generally an efficient scorer, shooting 46.9% from the field and 36.8% from behind the arc this season. In what should be another close game, Harris is in a favorable position to hit this over.
Not easy fading Cade Cunningham, who leads all NBA players this postseason at 31.3 PPG. But most of that was vs. Orlando. In five games vs. Cleveland this season, including Game 1 on Tuesday, Cunningham has yet to go over 27.5, averaging "only" 19.4 PPG. The Cavs have held him to 33.7% shooting and 21.7% from beyond the arc. He had 23 points in 42 min of Game 1.










