Carson K (MLB)
2* White Sox
Not sure how Carlos Carrasco will respond after getting drilled in the jaw with a line drive in his last start. Plus the Indians really aren't playing good ball right now. I'll take a chance with the White Sox and Noesi. Hector did pitch well last year in his two home starts against Cleveland, 14.1in, 11h, 3r, 1bb & 10Ks.
2* White Sox
Not sure how Carlos Carrasco will respond after getting drilled in the jaw with a line drive in his last start. Plus the Indians really aren't playing good ball right now. I'll take a chance with the White Sox and Noesi. Hector did pitch well last year in his two home starts against Cleveland, 14.1in, 11h, 3r, 1bb & 10Ks.
VegasButcher - NBA 1 – 2 @ 0% for -1.2 Units
Boston Celtics +11
Boston competed pretty well in game 1 of this series with an average margin of only -6.3 throughout. This is the 3rd time these teams have met in the month of April (though one of the games was when CLE rested all of their key players) and by now there’s shouldn’t be too many surprises. The key to this game and series going forward are game-to-game adjustments. And who do you trust more with that, an up-and-coming NBA coach with an excellent game planning pedigree in Brad Stevens, or David Blatt, a guy who was on a brink of losing this Cleveland squad early in the year? I guess both are unproven still, but I’m willing to trust Stevens more as the job he’s done with the Celtics this year has been much more impressive than Blatt’, who inherited a stacked team. The line was -12 in game 1 of this series yet the Cavs barely covered. There’s an adjustment towards the Celtics in game 2 due to the ‘zig zag’ factor but it’s not large enough. I think Boston has a strong chance to stay within this inflated number tonight.
Dallas Mavericks +6.5
No ‘zig zag’ adjustment in this one, as the line actually increased by a full point here. I know part of that is due to Parsons missing shoot-around and being GTD for tonight, but he wasn’t a bit factor in game 1 and I believe the combo of Aminu and Jefferson should be fine. The bigger factor in Dallas’ favor is the improving health of Devin Harris, who only played 10 minutes in game 1. Hopefully he plays more as his ability to breakdown the defense and hit the outside shot is a huge advantage for the Mavs. Regardless, I expect a better showing from the Mavs in game 2. They lost by 10 in game 1 and the average margin throughout was only +8 Houston, so the game was fairly close, even though it might not have felt that way at times. Dallas only forced 13 TO’s in game 1, allowed 29 FBP’s, and got outshot at the FT-line by a 45 to 17 margin. These are all things that could be cleaned up for tonight and I think Dallas will. I expect a closer game today and will grab an extra point of ‘value’.
Boston Celtics +11
Boston competed pretty well in game 1 of this series with an average margin of only -6.3 throughout. This is the 3rd time these teams have met in the month of April (though one of the games was when CLE rested all of their key players) and by now there’s shouldn’t be too many surprises. The key to this game and series going forward are game-to-game adjustments. And who do you trust more with that, an up-and-coming NBA coach with an excellent game planning pedigree in Brad Stevens, or David Blatt, a guy who was on a brink of losing this Cleveland squad early in the year? I guess both are unproven still, but I’m willing to trust Stevens more as the job he’s done with the Celtics this year has been much more impressive than Blatt’, who inherited a stacked team. The line was -12 in game 1 of this series yet the Cavs barely covered. There’s an adjustment towards the Celtics in game 2 due to the ‘zig zag’ factor but it’s not large enough. I think Boston has a strong chance to stay within this inflated number tonight.
Dallas Mavericks +6.5
No ‘zig zag’ adjustment in this one, as the line actually increased by a full point here. I know part of that is due to Parsons missing shoot-around and being GTD for tonight, but he wasn’t a bit factor in game 1 and I believe the combo of Aminu and Jefferson should be fine. The bigger factor in Dallas’ favor is the improving health of Devin Harris, who only played 10 minutes in game 1. Hopefully he plays more as his ability to breakdown the defense and hit the outside shot is a huge advantage for the Mavs. Regardless, I expect a better showing from the Mavs in game 2. They lost by 10 in game 1 and the average margin throughout was only +8 Houston, so the game was fairly close, even though it might not have felt that way at times. Dallas only forced 13 TO’s in game 1, allowed 29 FBP’s, and got outshot at the FT-line by a 45 to 17 margin. These are all things that could be cleaned up for tonight and I think Dallas will. I expect a closer game today and will grab an extra point of ‘value’.
