CNOTES 2023-2024 NBA TRENDS, NEWS, BEST BETS AND OPINIONS THRU THE PLAYOFFS !

[CNOTES]

Monday’s 6-pack:
Major League leaders in ERA, among starting pitchers:
0.78— Shota Imanaga, Cubs
1.44— Jose Berrios, Tor
1.56— Kutter Crawford, Bos
1.60— Seth Lugo, KC
1.66— Javier Assad, Cubs
1.69— Logan Gilbert, Sea

Quote of the Day
“I’m a very fortunate, lucky man. I have a beautiful wife, I have a beautiful son. I’ve had 12 great years in this league……..but he (Texans’ coach DeMeco Ryans) knows that if he ever truly does need it, I’ll be there for him.”
JJ Watt, on potentially coming out of retirement this year

Monday’s quiz
In the old TV show The White Shadow, where a marginal NBA player retires and becomes a high school coach in Los Angeles, which NBA team did he play for?

Sunday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they beat Cleveland in seven games.

Saturday’s quiz
First time the Cincinnati Bengals played in a Super Bowl, Ken Anderson was their QB.

**************************************************

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend……..​

— An underrated thing in football is how a lot of coaches are nomads; you look at the 32 coordinators for the 16 NFC teams, then eliminate Rams/49ers’ OC’s, since McVay/Shanahan are really the offensive coordinator- of the 30 remaining NFC coordinators for this coming season, over half of them will be in their first year in that job.
Coaches’ wives must be very good at packing.

— When the Padres acquired Luis Arraez from Miami Friday night, it happened while games were going on. One of the prospects San Diego acquired was a runner on 2nd base in his minor league game; his manager called time, they sent a pinch-runner out for him, and when he got back to the dugout, told him he had been traded to Miami.

— There is a kicker on the UFL’s Michigan Panthers, Jake Bates; the guy has made three FG’s of 60+ yards in six games this year. How has an NFL team not signed the guy already?

— Toronto Maple Leafs have now lost their last six Game 7’s that were on the road; they’ve won one playoff series the last 20 years, losing four playoff series to Boston in the last 11 years.

— How has Denver Nuggets’ star Jamal Murray never been in an NBA All-Star Game? The guy has scored 18+ ppg the last five years he’s played, has helped lead Denver to an NBA title, he is a great player.

— Cavaliers 106, Magic 94
Cavaliers were down 18 at one point; this is the biggest comeback win ever in a Game 7.
Mitchell had 39 points, 5 assists for Cleveland.
Cleveland wins series, 4-3

— Dallas 2, Vegas 1
Stars win series, 2-1
Dallas coach DeBoer is 8-0 in Game 7’s.
Since 2005, under is now 43-26-9 in NHL Game 7’s (62.3%)

— Famous birthdays for May 6th:
Willie Mays, 93
Jason Witten, 42
Goran Dragic, 38
Jose Altuve, 34
Joey Meneses, 32
Jonas Valanciunas, 32

— Phillies SS Trea Turner hurt his hamstring this weekend, is out six weeks.

— Mets’ 2B Jeff McNeil’s home/away splits this year:
Home: .175 batting average, .453 OPS in 63 AB’s.
Away: .320 batting average, .864 OPS in 50 AB’s.

— It is still early in the season; pitcher’s ERA can jump pretty fast. Jose Quintana got rocked in Tampa Friday night; his ERA, in one start, jumped from 3.48 to 5.20.

— Orioles 11, Reds 1— Cincinnati lost its last five games, scoring total of eight runs.

— Rays 7, Mets 6 (10)
Arozarena tied game with a 9th inning homer.
Rookie OF DeLuca’s 10th-inning triple was the game-winning hit.

— Red Sox 9, Twins 2— Boston snaps the Twins’ 12-game winning streak.

— Nationals 11, Blue Jays 8
Winker homered, doubled, knocked in three runs.
Blue Jays led 6-2 in the 4th inning.

— Mariners 5, Astros 4
Raleigh’s 9th inning home run was the game-winning hit.

— Rangers 3, Royals 2 (10)
Kansas City led 2-0 after seven innings.
Heim’s 9th inning home run tied the game 2-2.

— Dodgers 5, Braves 1
Rough trip out west for Atlanta; they were 1-5 this week.
Ohtani went 4-4 with two home runs for the Dodgers.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs, Nationals
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx, Royals, Twins

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Monday, May 6

NBA
Long Sheet

Monday, May 6

 

[CNOTES]

MONDAY, MAY 6​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
IND at NY	07:30 PM	IND +5.5 U 217.5	+500 +500
MIN at DEN	10:00 PM	MIN +5.5 U 207.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
— Phillies 6, Giants 1- Wheeler had 11 strikeouts in 7 IP.
— Guardians 2, Tigers 1- Ramirez hit the game-winning homer.
— Pirates 4, Angels 1— Halos have lost 14 of their last 17 games.
— Rays 8, White Sox 2- Rookie OF DeLuca homered, had 4 RBI
— Royals 3, Brewers 2- Kansas City scored 3 runs in 7th inning.
— Dodgers 6, Marlins 3- Ohtani leads MLB, with 11 home runs.

Quote of the Day
“If you’re not on the court playing against Boston, or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut.”
Miami Heat president Pat Riley, talking about Jimmy Butler

Tuesday’s quiz
In the 1984 NBA Draft, Hakeem Olajuwon was the first pick, Michael Jordan was the third pick. Who did Portland take with the 2nd pick?

Monday’s quiz
In the old TV show The White Shadow, where a marginal NBA player retires and becomes a high school coach in Los Angeles, Ken Reeves had played for the Chicago Bulls.

Sunday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they beat Cleveland in seven games.

*******************************************

Tuesday’s Den: Baseball series records, and other stuff…….​

Series records for every major league team (H/A-Total):
Arizona 3-3/1-3-1. 4-6-1
Atlanta 4-1/3-2-1. 7-3-1
Chicago 4-0-1/2-3-1. 6-3-2
Cincinnati 2-3-1/2-3. 4-6-1
Colorado 0-3-1/0-7. 0-10-1
Los Angeles 3-3/4-1-1. 7-4-1
Miami 3-5/0-4-1. 3-9-1
Milwaukee 2-2-1/4-1-1. 6-3-2
NY Mets 2-3-1/3-2. 5-5-1
Philadelphia 3-2-1/4-0-1. 7-2-2
Pittsburgh 2-1-2/2-3-1. 4-4-3
St Louis 2-3/3-3. 5-6
San Diego 2-3-1/3-1-2. 5-4-3
San Francisco 3-1-1/1-4-1. 4-5-2
Washington 2-3/3-3. 5-6
Baltimore 4-2/4-1. 8-3
Boston 3-2/3-2-1. 6-4-1
White Sox 1-4-1/1-4. 2-8-1
Cleveland 4-1/4-2. 8-3
Detroit 2-2-1/4-1-1. 6-3-2
Houston 2-3-1/1-3-1. 3-6-2
Kansas City 3-3/2-3. 5-6
LA Angels 0-5/1-4-1. 1-9-1
Minnesota 2-3/3-1-2. 5-4-2
New York 4-0-1/4-2. 8-2-1
A’s 3-3/3-1-1. 6-4-1
Seattle 3-2-1/3-2. 6-4-1
Tampa Bay 2-2-2/2-3. 4-5-2
Texas 3-2-1/3-2. 6-4-1
Toronto 3-2/1-4-1. 4-6-1

— Famous birthdays for May 7th:
Sivi Aberg, 80
Pat McInally, 71
Louis Orr, 66
Leslie O’Neal, 60
Shawn Marion, 46
Alex Smith, 40
Drew Stanton, 40
Emilio Pagan, 33
Nolan Jones, 26
Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams was born on this day in 1926.
Hall of Fame QB Johnny Unitas was born on this day in 1933.

— Minnesota 106, Denver 80
Minnesota outscored Nuggets 33-15 in 2nd quarter.
Towns/Edwards were a combined 21-32 from the floor.
Timberwolves grab a 2-0 series lead.

— Knicks 121, Indiana 117
Knicks win series opener, outscoring Indiana 39-30 in 4th quarter.
Brunson scored 43 points, had 6 rebounds, 6 assists.
New York played only 3 subs, who played total of 27:00.

— Boston 5, Florida 1
Bruins win Game 1, 48 hours after they won Game 7 in last round.

— Oakland A’s are improved this year, but on their Twitter account, they still don’t let anyone respond, since 95% of the responses they get are some version of “Sell the Team!!!!”

— Pretty good 4-team college basketball tournament at Mohegan Sun in November:
Boston College, UMass, Providence, Temple

— There is a story out there that QB Kirk Cousins decided to leave the Minnesota Vikings because of their plan to draft a QB this year; imagine his delight when his new team, the Falcons, did the same exact freakin’ thing. $45M a year will soften the blow a little, but still…….

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs, SD/Wash
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Rangers. Wild Cards: Bronx, Royals, Twins

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, May 7

NBA
Long Sheet

Tuesday, May 7

 

[CNOTES]

TUESDAY, MAY 7​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
CLE at BOS	07:00 PM	CLE +12.0 U 211.0	+500 +500
DAL at OKC	09:30 PM	OKC -3.5 O 218.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Most hits in a season for the Baltimore Orioles:
214— Miguel Tejada, 2006
211— Cal Ripken, 1983
210— Cal Ripken, 1991
207— BJ Surhoff, 1999
205— Al Bumbry, 1980
203— Miguel Tejada, 2004

Quote of the Day
“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.”
Jack Handey

Wednesday’s quiz
In the movie Last Vegas, which Las Vegas hotel do the four friends stay at?

Tuesday’s quiz
In the 1984 NBA Draft, Hakeem Olajuwon was the first pick, Michael Jordan was the third pick. Portland took Sam Bowie with the 2nd pick.

Monday’s quiz
In the old TV show The White Shadow, where a marginal NBA player retires and becomes a high school coach in Los Angeles, Ken Reeves had played for the Chicago Bulls.

*******************************

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….

— Celtics 120, Cavaliers 95
Boston won all four quarters in jogging to an easy Game 1 win.
Celtics shot 18-46 on the arc (39.1%)

— Thunder 117, Mavericks 95
Dallas subs were a combined minus-46; OKC subs were +45.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points, had 9 rebounds, 9 assists.

— Avalanche 4, Stars 3 OT
Dallas led 3-0 after the first period.
Miles Wood got the game-winning goal, 11:03 into overtime.

— Rangers 4, Hurricanes 3, 2OT
Rangers grab a 2-0 series lead.
Vincent Trocheck scored the winning goal 7:24 into the second OT.

— San Jose Sharks won the draft lottery, have the #1 pick in the amateur draft.

— Arizona’s basketball program poached a transfer from the Campbell Camels, Anthony Dell’Orso, a 6-6 Australian who shot 38.7% on the arc last year.

— St John’s poached 6-6 senior Kadary Richmond from Big East rival Seton Hall; he was considered one of the best players still in the transfer portal.

— Don Mattingly played 14 years in the major leagues; he hit six grand slams in his career, all of them in 1987, which seems unusual.

— Famous birthdays for May 8th:
Dennis Leonard, 73
Mike D’Antoni, 73
Bill Cowher, 67
Lovie Smith, 64
Speedy Claxton 46
Adrian Gonzalez, 42
Kemba Walker, 34

— Mets 7, Cardinals 5
St Louis lost C Willson Contreras to a broken arm when JD Martinez swung his bat and drilled Contreras on the arm. He is expected to be out 6-8 weeks.

— Giants 5, Rockies 0
Kyle Harrison tossed seven shutout IP against the impotent Rockies, who are now 8-27.

— Angels 9, Pirates 0
Patrick Sandoval also threw seven shutout IP; Angels improved to 9-12 on the road.

— Brewers 6, Royals 5
Willie Adames hit a dramatic 3-run home run in the 9th inning.

— Braves 4, Red Sox 2
Marcell Ozuna had the game-winning hit in the 8th inning.

— Diamondbacks 6, Reds 2
Cincinnati lost its last six games, scoring a total of 10 runs.

— Nationals 3, Orioles 0
Trevor Williams is 4-0, 2.00 in his first seven starts.

— Phillies 10, Blue Jays 1
Bryce Harper homered for the third straight game.
Phillies are 21-5 in their last 26 games.

— Cubs 3, Padres 2
Michael Busch hit a walk-off homer for the Cubs.
Chicago is 7-0 when Imanaga starts.

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, May 8

NBA
Long Sheet

Wednesday, May 8

 

[CNOTES]

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
IND at NY	08:00 PM	IND +5.0 O 218.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
NBA leaders in field goal %age this regular season:
72.5%— Daniel Gafford, Wsh-Dal
66.1%— Rudy Gobert, Minn
64.9%— Ivica Zubac, LAC
63.4%— Jarrett Allen, Clev
62.9%— Nic Claxton, Bklyn
61.9%— Jalen Duren, Det

Quote of the Day
“Small-market teams deserve an equal shot. They deserve a fair shot no matter where they are playing.”
Indiana Pacers’ coach Rick Carlisle, complaining about the officiating

Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show The West Wing, which actor played the role of the person who succeeded President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as President of the United States?

Wednesday’s quiz
In the movie Last Vegas, four old friends stay at the Aria hotel/casino.

Tuesday’s quiz
In the 1984 NBA Draft, Hakeem Olajuwon was the first pick, Michael Jordan was the third pick. Portland took Sam Bowie with the 2nd pick.

***********************************************

Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..​

— Wednesday was the 56th anniversary of the perfect game Catfish Hunter pitched for the A’s, in their 11th game ever in Oakland. A’s beat Minnesota 4-0 that night; Catfish also knocked in three of the four runs, going 3-4 at the plate (this was 1968, five years before the DH).
Rick Monday was 2-3 with two runs scored for the A’s that night; to this day he is still a radio announcer for the Dodgers. Danny Cater pinch-hit for the A’s that night; he wound up hitting .290 that year, finishing 2nd in the AL batting race (this was the last year before they lowered the pitching mound). Ron Perranoski pitched in relief for the Twins; he wound up being a pitching coach for the Dodgers from 1981-94.
6,298 fans witnessed the perfect game.

— Pittsburgh Pirates are bringing up their #1 prospect Paul Skenes to pitch against the Cubs in Chicago Saturday; Skenes has a 0.99 ERA in seven AAA starts this year, but he’s only thrown 27.1 innings in those seven starts, striking out 45 batters.

— NFL will release their 2024 schedule next Wednesday, May 15th; the last couple years, it was released tonight, but they’ve moved it back a few days this year.

— Knicks 130, Pacers 121
Indiana led 73-63 at halftime.
Jalen Brunson scored 24 points in 2nd half; he didn’t play in 2nd quarter.
New York leads series, 2-0

— Florida 6, Boston 1
Panthers tied series 1-1; they trailed 1-0 after 1st period.
Florida outshot the Bruins, 33-15.
Boston was playing its third game in five nights.

— Famous birthdays for May 9th:
Candice Bergen, 78
Calvin Murphy, 76
Billy Joel, 75
Steve Yzerman, 59
Doug Christie, 54
Brandon Webb, 45
Prince Fielder, 40
Tommy Edman, 29
Samson Ebukam, 29

— Orioles 7, Nationals 6 (12)
Jorge Mateo knocked in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning.
Orioles have now gone 103 series in a row without being swept, the 4th-longest streak ever.
Baltimore/New York are tied for first atop the AL East.

— Guardians 5, Tigers 4 (10)
Detroit led this game 4-2 in the 8th inning.
David Fry tied the game with a 9th inning homer.
Brayan Rocchio knocked in the game-winning run.

— Padres 3, Cubs 0
Dylan Cease allowed one hit, struck out 12 in 7 IP.
San Diego has won six of its last eight games.

— Dodgers 3, Marlins 1
Teoscar Hernandez hit a 2-run homer in sixth inning.
Dodgers finished off a 6-0 homestead.
Marlins are 10-29; they’re already 16.5 games out of first place.

— Diamondbacks 4, Reds 3
Montgomery threw 95 pitches in his 7 IP.
Cincinnati has lost seven games in a row.

— Royals 6, Brewers 4
Bobby Witt Jr went 2-3, homered, scored three runs.
Six Kansas City relievers combined to get the last 11 outs.

— A’s 9-11, Rangers 4-12
Oakland scored 20 runs in a twinbill, had to settle for a split.
Marcus Semien went 6-10 in the doubleheader, with 4 runs scored.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: New York, Twins, Royals
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Rangers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs (SD-Wsh-NYM)

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Thursday, May 9

NBA
Long Sheet

Thursday, May 9

 

[CNOTES]

THURSDAY, MAY 9​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
CLE at BOS	07:00 PM	BOS -13.5 U 212.0	+500 +500
DAL at OKC	09:30 PM	DAL +5.0 U 218.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack:
— Cavaliers 118, Celtics 94- Cleveland outscored hosts 64-40 in 2nd half.
— Dallas 119, Thunder 110- Doncic had 29 points, 7 assists, 10 rebounds.
— Brewers 7, Cardinals 1- St Louis has lost five games in a row.
— Arizona 5, Reds 4- Carroll had game-winning single in 8th.
— White Sox 3, Guardians 2- Fedde tossed six shutout IP.
— Royals 10, Angels 4- Blanco went 3-3, with a HR, four runs scored.

Quote of the Day
“I didn’t think (Jalen Brunson) would be this good, Maybe a more talented player might be the leading scorer, but he’d be the leader……..I thought he would be a point guard on an NBA championship team because he’s such a winner.”
Jay Wright, Brunson’s college coach at Villanova

Friday’s quiz
Who managed the San Diego Padres, the first time they played in a World Series?

Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show The West Wing, Jimmy Smits played the role of Matt Santos, the person who succeeded President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as President of the United States.

Wednesday’s quiz
In the movie Last Vegas, four old friends stay at the Aria hotel/casino.

************************************

Friday’s Den: A quick trend for all 30 MLB teams…….

A quick trend for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Under is 6-1 in Diamondbacks’ last seven road games.

— Braves won nine of their last 11 home games.

— Cubs are 20-12 vs righty starting pitchers, 2-4 vs lefties.

— Reds lost their last eight games, scoring total of 17 runs.

— Rockies are 2-27 when they score less than seven runs.

— Dodgers won their last seven games, outscoring foes 45-12.

— Marlins are 1-14 against lefty starting pitchers.

— Over is 7-3 in the Brewers’ last ten home games.

— Under is 12-7 in Mets’ home games, over is 11-6 in their road games.

— Phillies are 24-3 when they score 4+ runs, 2-9 when they don’t.

— Pirates lost 8 of last 9 road games; their last six road tilts stayed under.

— Cardinals are 5-14 in day games, 10-8 in night games.

— Padres won six of last eight games; they’ve scored 5.6 runs/game in five games with Arraez in their lineup.

— Giants are 4-1 in home series openers, 2-5 in road series openers.

— Nationals are 8-4 in their last 12 games; they’re tied for the last Wild Card slot in the NL.

— Famous birthdays for May 10th:
David Clennon, 81
Dave Mason, 78
Meg Foster, 77
Jim Zorn, 71
Bono, 64
Rony Seikaly, 59
Salvador Perez, 34
Nolan Gorman, 24

— Orioles won seven of their last nine games; they have best record in American League.

— Red Sox are 15-2 when they score 5+ runs, 4-16 when they don’t.

— Tommy Pham is hitting .327 in 12 games with White Sox; he’s scored 10 runs in those 12 games, knocked in eight more. Chicago is 7-5 with Pham in lineup, 3-23 when he isn’t.

— Guardians are 7-1 vs lefty starting pitchers, 17-13 vs righty starters.

— Tigers lost six of their last seven road games; they’re 6-1 vs lefty pitchers.

— Astros are off to an 13-24 start; their last losing year in a full season was 2014 (they went 29-31 in 2020, the pandemic season).

— Royals are off to a 23-16 start; their last winning season was 2015, when they won the World Series.

— Angels lost 10 of their last 12 games.
Anthony Rendon is making $38,571,429 this year; he’s on the 60-day DL.
Mike Trout is making $37,116,667 this year; he isn’t expected back for a while after having knee surgery last week.

— Twins won 15 of their last 17 games; over is 8-3 in their last 11 games.

— New York won five of its last six games. Under is 9-3 in their series openers.

— Over is 5-1 in A’s last six home games; under is 5-2 in their last seven road tilts.

— Mariners are 5-1 in home series openers, 2-4 in road series openers.

— Rays won five of their last six games; they’re 6-3 in one-run games.

— Under is 12-3 in Rangers’ last 15 home games.

— Blue Jays are 4-10 in their last 14 games.

 

[Udog]

NBA
Long Sheet

Friday, May 10

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Friday, May 10

 

[CNOTES]

FRIDAY, MAY 10​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
NY at IND	07:00 PM	NY +7.5 O 222.5	+500 +500
DEN at MIN	09:30 PM	MIN -3.5 U 205.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Saturday’s 6-pack:
All-time hit leaders for the Oakland A’s:
1,882— Bert Campaneris
1,768— Rickey Henderson
1,317— Carney Lansford
1,311— Sal Bando
1,276— Eric Chavez
1,228— Reggie Jackson

Quote of the Day
“It’s a terrible decision and something I need to learn from. I knew the time, I knew everything that was going on, I just made a terrible decision.”
Jalen Brunson, after Friday night’s loss at Indiana

Saturday’s quiz
The ABA folded in 1976, then four teams got absorbed by the NBA; what two current NBA teams played in the ABA finals in 1976, and which team won the last ABA title?

Friday’s quiz
Dick Williams managed the San Diego Padres in 1984, the first time they played in a World Series.

Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show The West Wing, Jimmy Smits played the role of Matt Santos, the person who succeeded President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as President of the United States.

***********************************************

Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….​

— Up until 1967, the NHL had only six teams, then in the fall of 1967, they added six expansion teams, doubling the size of the league.
Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in ’67, the last year with six teams; it was their fourth title in six years, but in 56 years since then, Toronto hasn’t won the Stanley Cup, they haven’t even made the finals since then.
Maple Leafs fired their coach this week; their next coach will be their 20th head coach since the last time they hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup.

— Speaking of hockey, Friday was the 54th anniversary of the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup win, when the great Bobby Orr clinched the Cup with an overtime goal against St Louis. There is a famous picture of Orr parallel to the ground, after he was tripped while scoring the goal.
Couple years before that, friend of my parents had given me a subscription to Sports Illustrated as a Christmas gift; the first issue that came to our house had Bobby Orr on the cover, and I became a big hockey fan, listening to lot of games on the radio, on WBZ in Boston, so March 10, 1970 was a very fun day for me.

— Pacers 111, Knicks 106
Indiana outscored the Knicks 26-16 in 4th quarter.
Pacers’ starters were +83, their subs minus-58.
New York leads series, 2-1
Knicks’ guard Josh Hart played 43:00 Friday; in his last five games, Hart has played 53-46-48-48-43 minutes. Lot more time between games in the playoffs, so the Knicks aren’t subbing as much as they do during the season.

— Nuggets 117, Timberwolves 90
Road team is now 3-0 in this series.
Jokic had 30 points, 9 assists, 14 rebounds.

— Phoenix Suns fired coach Frank Vogel (they still owe him $20M+), replaced him with former Bucks’ coach Mike Budenholzer, who gets a 5-year deal worth $50M+.

— In the NFL, New Jersey Giants signed WR Allen Robinson, who will be playing for this 4th team in four years this fall. Robinson played his first four seasons for the Jaguars; he led the NFL with 14 TD receptions in 2015, but his last three years…….
2021- Bears. 38 catches, 410 yards, 1 TD.
2022- Rams. 33 catches, 339 yards, 3 TDs.
2023- Steelers. 34 catches, 280 yards, no TD’s.

— Top pitching prospect Paul Skenes makes his MLB debut for the Pirates Saturday, at home against the Cubs. Smart move having him debut at home; it should draw a much bigger crowd.

— Famous birthdays for May 11th:
Walt Terrell, 66
Bobby Witt, Sr, 60
Jeffrey Donovan, 56
Matt Leinart, 41
Cam Newton, 35
Madison Lintz, 25

— Royals 2, Angels 1
Adam Frazier hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th.
Teams combined to go 0-21 with runners in scoring position.

— Padres 2, Dodgers 1
Luis Arraez’ walk-off single ends the Dodgers’ 7-game win streak.

— Braves 4, Mets 2
Atlanta hit three home runs in the third inning.
Charlie Morton allowed four baserunners in 7 IP.

— Astros 5, Tigers 2
Houston scored four runs in top of the 8th.

— Twins 3, Blue Jays 2
Minnesota has won 16 of its last 18 games.

— Phillies 8, Marlins 2
Ranger Suarez tossed seven shutout IP.

— Reds 4, Giants 2
Cincinnati snaps its 8-game losing streak.

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Saturday, May 11

NBA
Long Sheet

Saturday, May 11

 

[CNOTES]

SATURDAY, MAY 11​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
OKC at DAL	03:30 PM	DAL -2.5 O 217.5	+500 +500
BOS at CLE	08:30 PM	CLE +8.0 O 211.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Sunday’s 8-pack:
8-team college hoop tournament in Las Vegas in November:
— Alabama
— Creighton
— Houston
— Notre Dame
— Oregon
— Rutgers
— San Diego State
— Texas A&M

Quote of the Day
“He has a lot to work on. A lot to work on. But I have no doubt that he will put the time in. He was here all night trying to get on the same page as everyone else.”
Patriots coach Jerod Mayo, talking about rookie QB Drake Maye

Sunday’s quiz
Knicks beat the Lakers in the NBA finals in both 1970 and 1973; Lakers had different coaches in those two playoff losses. Name either one, or both of them.

Saturday’s quiz
The ABA folded in 1976, then four teams got absorbed by the NBA; the New York Nets beat the Denver Nuggets in six games, to win the last ABA title.

Friday’s quiz
Dick Williams managed the San Diego Padres in 1984, the first time they played in a World Series.

************************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday…….​

— Pirates 10, Cubs 9
Cubs drew six bases loaded walks in the 5th inning alone, the most that has happened in one inning since 1959, eight months before I was born. All six walks happened with two outs; there was even a one-hour rain delay between the 4th and 5th walk.
Despite all that, the Pirates won in the MLB debut of highly-touted P Paul Skenes, who allowed three runs in four IP, throwing 84 pitches.

— Braves 4, Mets 1
Max Fried tossed 7 no-hit IP, second time in his last three starts he didn’t allow a hit.
JD Martinez broke up the combined no-hitter with a home run with two out in the 9th.
Last time a home run broke up a no-hitter with two out in the 9th inning was when Detroit’s Bobby Higginson homered against Toronto on September, 27, 1998.

— Blue Jays 10, Twins 8
Minnesota led 7-1 in the third inning.
Vladimir Guerrero was 4-5 with three RBI.

— Brewers 5, Cardinals 3
Rhys Hoskins hit a 3-run homer in bottom of the 7th.
St Louis has lost seven games in a row.

— Rockies 8, Rangers 3
Colorado scored six runs in bottom of the 7th inning.
Rockies have won three games in row, for first time this year.
Ryan McMahon tied a career high with four hits.

— A’s 8, Mariners 1
Oakland is 9-9 on the road; they were 24-57 on the road last year.
Joey Estes tossed five IP, got his first major league win.

— Dodgers 5, Padres 0
James Paxton tossed six shutout innings.
Teoscar Hernadez hit a grand slam to break the game open.

— Orioles 5, Arizona 4 (11)
Jordan Westburg hit a walk-off single to end the game.
Gunnar Henderson hit his 12th home run, tied for the MLB lead.

— Famous birthdays for May 12th:
Felipe Alou, 89
Ted Kubiak, 82
Bruce Boxleitner, 74
George Karl, 73
Lou Whitaker, 67
Emilio Estevez, 62
Vanessa Williams, 61
Steve Smith, 45 (Carolina Panthers’ WR)
Lance Lynn, 37

— They named the field for a new 8-team college basketball tournament in Las Vegas, with lots of $$$ available; each team’s NIL set-up would get $1M each, with the winners of the event getting even more $$$. The event is expected to grow to 16 teams in 2025.
The 8-team field for this year’s event is listed up above, in the Daily 6-pack area.

— Grand Canyon/Seattle are bolting from the WAC to the WCC for the 2025-26 season, with Oregon State/Washington State likely to leave the WCC’s basketball’s set-up after 2026.

— Arlington 47, Memphis 23
QB Perez was 27-32/296 passing, with three TD’s.
Only 8 of Arlington’s 55 plays came on 3rd down.
Both teams are 1-6, but Arlington has three one-possession losses.

— Birmingham 30, St Louis 26
St Louis had the ball in Stallions’ territory in last minute, but couldn’t score.
14th consecutive win for Birmingham, dating back to last year.
Stallions outgained St Louis, 349-214.

— Mavericks 105, Thunder 101
Washington scored 27 points, had six rebounds.
Mavericks were minus-7 in the 7:00 with Irving off the floor.
Dallas leads series, 2-1

— Celtics 106, Cavaliers 93
Tatum scored 33 points, had 6 assists, 13 rebounds.
Boston leads series, 2-1

— In the NFL, Chargers signed LB Bud Dupree to a 2-year deal with $10M or so. He played for the Atlanta Falcons last year.