Today's picks: Why the Diamondbacks will beat the Reds, plus more MLB, NBA and soccer for Monday, June 13
The SportsLine crew shares its expert bets for Monday, June 13, on The Early Edge podcast
Allan Bell is joined by expert sports bettors John Bollman, Larry Hartstein, Mike Barner and Zack Cimini on The Early Edge podcast. They give you their best bets for Major League Baseball, the NBA and soccer for Monday, June 13.
Bell kicks things off with the SportsLine Play of the Day, which is in soccer via Martin Green: Croatia (+1 at -105) to cover against France in their UEFA Nations League match (2:45 p.m. ET). "France is missing three key players," Allan says. "Also, their midfield? No bite whatsoever, which is tough when you're going against a Croatia team that has plenty of bite. They're going to be attacking."
Cimini is up next with a pair of prop bets. The first is in MLB: Over 5.5 strikeouts for Toronto's Alek Manoah (-140) in the Blue Jays-Orioles four-game series opener (7:07 p.m. ET). "I broke down his three starts against the Baltimore Orioles," he says. "He's gone Over (this number) in all three - six, six and then last October, a big number with 10 strikeouts. He's a heavy favorite today."
Zack's second prop bet is in the NBA: Under 3.5 made 3-pointers for Boston's Jayson Tatum (-140) in Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors (9 p.m. ET). "We saw the way the Boston Celtics just collapsed in the fourth quarter of Game 4," he says. "It had to do with the way they just fell in love with the 3-point shot. I think they missed six or seven in a row down the stretch, were stuck on 94 points. I think Tatum, as their leader, he needs to assert himself a little bit more, take it to the hole, take it to the paint. … This has been his number through the series, he's averaged 3.5 3-pointers made. I just think he asserts himself a little bit more by attacking the basket and goes Under."
Bollman follows with an MLB play. He likes the Diamondbacks (-150) to beat the Reds in the opener of their three-game set (9:40 p.m. ET). "Tyler Stephenson won't be available for the Reds in this game after (suffering) a broken thumb," he says. "The Reds will also have a couple relievers unavailable, and that's trouble for the worst-ranked bullpen in the league. The D-Backs have trouble with lefties, but Mike Minor will be making just his third start of the season, and he really struggled in (the first two) - and those were at home. … The Reds are much worse against righties in the past month than they have been against lefties. I believe they're ranked 22nd against righties."
Barner jumps in with two prop bets in the NBA. The first is Golden State's Stephen Curry as the leading scorer in the game (-130). "He's been the top scorer in all four games of this series against one of the best defensive teams in the league," he says. "He's shooting 50 percent from the field and 49 percent from behind the arc. He's the only player on the Warriors that can really get anything going on a consistent basis. His main competition for top point scorer in this game are probably both on the Celtics side with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and they kind of take attempts from each other."
Mike's second prop bet is the Warriors to win the third quarter (-142). "They've won the third quarter in every game of the series," he says. "They haven't been particularly close, they've won each by (an average of) six points. When they were home in Games 1 and 2, they won the third quarter by 14 and 21 points, respectively."
Hartstein wraps things up with his own NBA prop bet. He likes Over 16.5 points+rebounds+assists for Golden State's Kevon Looney (-115). "I think he's going to get another 25-plus minutes," Larry says. "His points-rebounds-assists is 16.5. He's gone over it in four of five games. The only one he missed, that was by a half - in the game he only played 17 minutes, he got to 16. I think tonight, we get 25 minutes and we get about 20 points, assists and rebounds."
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