The Heisman Trophy is annually one of the toughest awards to predict prior to the start of the season. Nevertheless, with everyone’s attention turned toward playoff action and the early part of the baseball season, there may be some value to be found in these odds before the average bettor takes a closer look.
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series will take a break from its traditional oval tracks this week to run the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the road course at Sonoma Raceway. Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
Bruins Look For Stranglehold in Cup Final
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night was by far the least competitive game of the series so far – it was the only game that hasn’t needed extra time to determine a winner. The Chicago Blackhawks will be looking for a strong bounce back effort on Wednesday night when they try to even the Cup Final on the heels of a sound beating in Game 3 in every aspect of the game.
The PGA pros move to Hartford Connecticut this week after one of the most difficult, scintillating tournaments in quite some time. While TPC River Highlands is the second straight under 7000 yard course that the pros will play this week figures to be much, much easier that we saw in the US Open.
The Rangers have lost 7 of their last 10 games and they lost yesterday to the A’s, which dropped them 3 games behind Oakland in the AL West. MLB lines have the A’s as slight road favorites with a total of 9.5 runs.
The start of the NFL season may still be three months away, but with players participating in OTAs it’s hard not to feel excited about this upcoming season. Looking ahead to Week 1, here are 10 games worth watching once the regular year gets underway.
The NFL regular season is still a ways away, but with lines beginning to trickle in at various sportsbooks there is no better time to begin trying to identify value.
The Padres (36-34) have won 7 straight games and they are now only 1 game back of the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. The Giants are only 4-6 in their last 10 games, but they are still in the tight race 1.5 games back of the Diamondbacks.
You can be pretty certain that at no time this season did the Miami Heat players, coaches or front office think that come June they would be facing two consecutive elimination games at home.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals produced one of the most entertaining basketball games of the season. Each side’s Big Three came to play, and they didn’t disappoint. San Antonio’s win leaves Miami in the precarious position of needing to win consecutive games to claim their second consecutive NBA title. Here are five reasons why you can expect them to do just that:
Stanley Cup Final Moves to Boston for Game 3
The Stanley Cup Final makes its first appearance in Boston in two years Monday night when the Bruins, who evened the series Saturday night, look to take control over the hard-luck Chicago Blackhawks who had their chances but were unable to solve Tuukka Rask in Game 2.
LeBron James is LeBron James, and Tim Duncan is perhaps the most consistent big man in the last three decades in the NBA. So both the Heat and Spurs pretty much knew that their stars would bring the goods in these Finals.
NBA Finals
Miami Heat (2-2) at San Antonio Spurs (2-2)
Sunday, June 16
AT&T Center, San Antonio
8 p.m. EST
Spread – Heat -1.5
O/U – 188
[dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight!
Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s NBA Picks Today!
But the way series has shaken down, the spotlight has also shone brightly on other players.
Danny Green’s out-of-nowhere 7-for-9 shooting from 3-point territory in Game 3 gave San Antonio a huge boost a 2-1 series lead, then in Game 4 the Dwyane Wade of old emerged for the Heat – 32 points and six steals more than got the job done, and the Spurs had no answers as Miami evened things up with a 16-point win that wasn’t even that close.
Seems like everyone on both teams has had a breakthrough game that has impacted the series – everyone, that is, except Manu Ginobili.
Tne Spurs proved in Games 1 and 3 that they don’t need Ginobili firing on all cylinders to win, but SA coach Gregg Popovich hopes that he can get something – anything – for his top sub.
Ginobili did have 13 points and one turnover in the opener, but even then shot only 4 for 11 from the floor. He followed that up with a 2-for-5 (5 points) in the Game 2 loss, and in the two games in San Antonio is a combined 4 for 12 for 12 points. Ginobili has been sloppy with the ball as he often has to deal with the defense of James.
Fact is, Ginobili is 35 and he’s starting to realize that he can’t do the things that he once did on the court.
“That’s what it has been all year,” Ginobili said after Game 4. “I haven’t scored 30 points a game. I averaged 10. I wish I could score more, but it is not happening. I gotta try to do other stuff. I gotta move the ball.
If my shot is not falling, I gotta be sharp feeding the bigs and finding the shooters.
… I don’t have to force the issue.
[ad-6571516]
That’s not what I do.
That’s not what I am asked to do.”
Miami is hardly cooperating. When Ginobili is on the court and the Heat ramp up their defense, it’s not a pretty sight. In Game 2 Ginobili’s three turnovers came at times when Miami went into its frenetic half-court lockdown defense, helping fuel the Heat’s crazy 33-5 eight-minute run that breathed life into the series.
With Tony Parker’s hammie on thin ice, the Spurs are hoping against hope that Ginobili can turn back the clock for a few games.
We expected close games, and we’ve gotten three blowouts out of four as the losing teams’ adjustments have paid off. With the Finals reduced to a best-of-three, the series will now turn on whether James goes nuts in two of the three, or SA controls him (and Wade) somewhat and executes its offense at near-peak efficiency.
Liking SA to keep this game close and low-scoring, and get it done in the fourth period.
Play is on the under after two overs have bumped the number up a bit, to 188.
The 113th edition of the US Open returns to Merion Golf Club for the first time since 1981 this week. Golf`s biggest names will be after one of the four most prestigious prizes on the planet when they tee it up Thursday.
It may get a little claustrophobic at American Airlines Arena tonight, where the San Antonio Spurs have a golden opportunity to place the Miami Heat in a small box when Game 2 of the NBA Finals tips off.
To me the San Diego Padres are one of the most counfounding teams out there. With the names they have on their roster they should probably be among the worst teams in the Majors but they are hanging in there at just below .500.
San Francisco Giants (32-29) vs Arizona Diamondbacks (35-27)
The San Francisco Giants came into this weekend hoping to close the gap against the first place Arizona Diamondbacks but the best they can hope for now is winnning the series. They dropped the opener but came back yesterday winning a 10-5 victory.
