Miami Heat @ Indiana Pacers – Game Three
Was it the injury to Chris Bosh that cost the Heat game two, or was it LeBron James disappearing yet again in a critical playoff situation? There is a lot of evidence to suggest that it was one or the other, and there is just as much evidence to suggest that it was a little bit of both. The sportsbook experts were wondering how LeBron James would respond as the playoffs entered the second round, and it has been hit and miss. With the injury to Bosh, most of the perimeter shooting duties fall to James as Dwyane Wade spends time in the paint. But that did not work in game two and many people are wondering if it will work in game three as well.

The Indiana Pacers are not going to light up the scoreboard with three-pointers all night long. Many Pacers fans realize that Indiana was the provident recipient of a bad night from LeBron James in game two. But the Pacers now have confidence, which is something that LeBron James is sorely lacking as game three begins. It is not out of the question to see Indiana prolong its momentum into a win on its home court.
Pick: Indiana Pacers

Los Angeles Clippers @ San Antonio Spurs – Game Two
It would be a mistake to underestimate the Los Angeles Clippers at any point in the playoffs. The San Antonio Spurs have the experience to know this and that is why the Spurs are playing the Clippers very carefully. Both Los Angeles NBA franchises are in trouble in the second round of the playoffs, but there is at least some feeling that the Clippers can pull out of it and win a game or two in its series with San Antonio.

The best sports betting sites give all of the odds to the Spurs in this series, but the Spurs display a steady confidence that seems to be overridden by the Clippers’ swagger. The fact that the Clippers has been able to maintain its swagger in the face of a 108-92 game one loss is a testament to this team’s confidence. But, at some point, Los Angeles will have to figure out a way to get through the San Antonio defense. The Spurs were able to shut the Clippers down in the fourth quarter of game one and Los Angeles will need to find a way to counteract that if it wants to get back into this series.
Pick: San Antonio Spurs

This Saturday afternoon at Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore is the 137^th running of the Preakness Stakes, which is the second jewel in the Triple Crown racing series. An expected field of 12 of the top three-year old thoroughbreds are set to compete in the 1 3/16 mile run on dirt for a total prize purse of $1 million. The post time for the Preakness is slated for 6:05 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on NBC.

The following is a brief look at our top favorites, contenders, and longshot for Saturday’s race.

Favorites

Bodemeister 3/1

This three-year old colt was the odds-on-favorite to win the Kentucky Derby at 4/1. Despite running one of the best races of his career he ended-up a length and half back in second-place after leading right out of the gate for most of the way. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Mike Smith, Bodemeister did not run competitively as a two-year old but burst onto the scene with a second-place finish in the grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in early March and followed this up with an impressive victory in the grade I Arkansas Derby on April 14 at Oaklawn.

I’ll Have Another 5/1

The winner of the Kentucky Derby will try and keep his Triple Crown hopes alive as the second-favorite to win the Preakness. With one of the most stunning and exciting come-from-behind victories in Derby History, this three-year old chestnut colt extended his current winning streak to three in major stakes races after winning the grade II Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb.4 and the grade I Santa Anita Derby on April 7. Trained by Doug O’Neill and ridden by Mario Gutierrez, I’ll Have Another first gained notoriety as a potential Derby contender in 2012 as a two-year old with a second-place finish in the grade II Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar.

Contenders

Went The Day Well 6/1

This three-year old colt finished just out of the money in the Kentucky Derby by taking fourth after rallying from 17^th place way back in the pack of 20 contenders. His only major stakes race victory was in the grade III Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 24. After spending the early part of his racing career in England, he was purchased by Barry Irvin as part of Team Valor and is now trained by H. Graham Notion and ridden by John Velazquez. Went The Day Well is always remains a threat to win and offers solid value at these odds given his proven ability to close gaps with his blazing speed down the stretch.

Creative Cause 8/1

Finishing right behind Went The Day Well in fifth place in the Kentucky Derby, this three-year old colt established himself as a legitimate contender to win the Preakness with solid closing speed as well. Trained by Mike Harrington and ridden by Joel Rosario, he amassed an impressive resume as a two-year old. Creative Cause won the grade I Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita and finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. He opened the 2012 season with a victory in the San Felipe Stakes followed by a second-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby as part of his Derby prep race campaign.

Longshot

Daddy Nose Best 20/1

This colt brought a two-race winning streak into the Kentucky Derby with a victory in the grade III El Camino Real Derby on Feb.18 at Golden Gate and a first-place finish in the grade III Sunland Derby at Sunland Park in late March. After a solid start from the 10^th post, he got caught in the pack down the stretch to finish 10^th at Churchill two weeks ago. Daddy Nose Best is trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Julien Leparoux. In light of this horse’s overall resume, he offers tremendous value in the Preakness with a much less crowded field.

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The Sox are playing better ball right now, rolling off five straight wins coming into this series. That being said, this is a tough spot for them to be coming into, knowing that they are going against one of the best home teams in the game. It also doesn’t help that Clay Buchholz, who has largely been one of the worst pitchers in the game this year, is going to be on the bump on Wednesday night. Sure, Buchholz is 4-1 on the campaign, but he is only getting the job done because of his offense. The team has given him at least six runs of support in all but one start this year, including at least 11 runs three times (and the Sox are only 2-1 in those games!). Buchholz has more walks (22) than strikeouts (20), and his ERA only finally came down below 8.50 for the first time this season after his most recent start against the Cleveland Indians. Batters are hitting .337 against Buchholz this year, and as you would expect, his WHIP is just a dreadful 1.97.

With a 23-14 record through the first nearly two month of the season, the Rays have to feel pretty darn good about themselves. They are tied with the Baltimore Orioles atop the AL East, and they are also level with the Texas Rangers for the best record in the American League. The playoffs seem like a foregone conclusion for Tampa Bay this year if this keeps up, especially with the way that the team has played here at the Trop. On Wednesday, it will be youngster Jeremy Hellickson that gets the ball from Manager Joe Maddon. Hellickson really only has one bad start this year, but it came against these Red Sox when he allowed seven hits and five runs in five frames at Fenway Park back on April 14th. Since then though, he has allowed just a total of nine earned runs in five starts, and he is 2-0 to show for it. Of course, it would help if Tampa Bay gave him some more support. The team only has three runs in four straight games with Hellickson on the mound. Still, for the year, this righty is 3-0 with a solid 2.95 and a decent K/BB ratio of 29/16.

Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays Pick: In the end, the choice in this one is simple. We are going against “The Nation” for sure. The Rays have too much oomph for the Sox to stop them, even in the form with which they are playing.

Free Baseball Pick: Tampa Bay Rays

Money Line: New York +105     Toronto -115

Total Line: 8.5

The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays will look to squeeze-in a quick two-game AL East division set before the start of inter-league play this Friday. Wednesday night’s Game 1 is set for a 7:07 p.m. (ET) start from the Rogers Centre and it will be available on MLB.TV.

New York wraps-up a two game series in Baltimore on Tuesday after beating the Orioles 8-5 on Monday night as a 115 road favorite behind Ivan Nova. The Yankees are now just a game and a half behind both Baltimore and Tampa Bay for the lead in the AL East with an overall record of 20-15. They are 11-8 at home and 9-7 on the road. The total has stayed ‘under’ in 19 of their 35 games this year.

Hiroki Kuroda will get the start for New York in this one. Overall, the first-year Yankee has been respectable with a 3-4 record and 3.56 ERA, but has struggled on the road with a 0-3 start and ERA of 4.32 while throwing as many strike outs as walks (nine).

Toronto is in the midst of a two-game set with Tampa Bay and coming off a 7-1 pasting in Game 1 to fall back to 19-17 on the year and three games out of first in the division. The Blue Jays are over .500 at 11-9 on the road but an even 8-8 at home this year. The total has stayed ‘under’ in four of their last six games and is 17-17-2 overall.

The Blue Jays are ranked fifth in the AL in scoring with a 165 runs and fifth in team ERA at 3.75. They will go with Kyle Drabek as their starter against New York. The right-hander is 2-4 with a 3.66 ERA on the year but coming off a rough start against Minnesota his last time out. He gave-up three runs and walked four in the losing effort. He is 0-2 against the Yankees with an ERA of 6.89.

Betting Trends

The Yankees are 7-1 in their last eight series openers and 9-3 in their last 12 division games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in 11 of their last 15 games.

The Blue Jays are 0-6 in their last six AL East games and 2-5 in their last seven series openers. The total has stayed ‘under’ in four of their last six games.

This will be the first series between the two this season but New York is 6-2 in the last eight meetings and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of the last six games in Toronto.

Prediction

Along with the strong trends for the ‘under’ stuck with the Yankees to grind-out a win on Wednesday night behind Kuroda’s first solid performance on the road. New York 4    Tampa Bay 2

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The bottom line for the Devils is that they were totally outclassed over the course of the first game of this series. Defensively, the team played well, blocking a number of shots and really trying to make life as easy as possible on Martin Brodeur, but on the other end of the ice, there were just 21 shots, many of which weren’t really of the utmost of quality. This was odd for a team that really did well on the enemy’s side of the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers for the duration of that series. But then again, there’s a big difference between going against Ilya Bryzgalov and Henrik Lundqvist. Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk both had their chances, as did Zach Parise and several of the other members of the New Jersey offense, but no one was able to put the biscuit in the basket at any point over the course of the first 60 minutes of this series.

The Rangers really had to grit it out in Game 1, but there was definitely no surprise to the fact that they were able to get the job done. They were the better of the two teams, and it felt like every chance that the Devils had to get back in the game, including a slew of power plays, the team would get down and dirty and get the job done, often without bothering Lundqvist in the pipes. The Swede pitched his second shutout of the postseason with that victory, though he only had to face 21 shots on target. One figures that that will change in Game 2, as the Devils could fire back with 40 shots in this one, so Lundqvist needs to be on his game in a big time way. Offensively, the man of the hour was Daniel Girardi. One of the lesser known Rangers, Girardi came up with arguably the biggest game of his career on Monday night, scoring a goal in the third period to break a scoreless deadline, and then he assisted on the second goal that really put the game away. Chris Kreider scored that one on the power play after he set up Girardi’s goal 11 minutes earlier. Artem Anisimov was able to finish matters off with an empty netter with less than two minutes to play.

New Jersey Devils @ New York Rangers Pick: Second verse, same as the first? There was clearly a big difference between these two teams in the first game of this series, and we think that finally, the Rangers are going to start playing with that swagger that nearly led them to the President’s Trophy this year.

Free Hockey Pick: New York Rangers -130

Philly went 2-1 against the spread in those three wins over the Bulls and has gone 2-0 ATS in the first two games against the Celtics.  The 76ers are 7-2 ATS in the last nine meetings overall with Boston, including 4-1 in the past five.  They took the lead for good in Game 2 on an Evan Turner layup with 40.4 seconds remaining and then hit 6 of 6 free throws in the final 12 seconds to pull out an 82-81 victory on Monday.  Boston had rallied back for a 92-91 win in Game 1 on Saturday.

Philadelphia has won the last three home meetings with the Celtics both SU and ATS and need to continue to start fast to put pressure on them early on.  The 76ers led by 10 points after the first quarter in Game 1 and outscored Boston by 10 in the third quarter of Game 2 to put themselves in position to steal the game.

Philly point guard Jrue Holiday is a tough defensive matchup for Celtics star Rajon Rondo and needs to run the floor and keep him preoccupied throughout Game 3 like he has in the previous two.  Holiday scored a game-high 18 points in Game 2 and helped limit Rondo to eight points on 4 of 12 shooting from the field.  Another key for the Sixers is limiting Boston power forward Kevin Garnett, who exploded for 29 points and 11 rebounds in Game 1.  Garnett was held to 15 points and 12 boards in Game 2, and somebody needs to step up offensively for the Celts to be successful.

Boston small forward Paul Pierce has usually been the guy to shine, but he is clearly bothered by a knee injury that has kept him from shooting the ball well.  Pierce has made just 5 of 20 shots and totaled 21 points combined through the first two games after averaging 18 in seven games against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.  Without Pierce healthy, the Celtics are in dire need of a scorer, something that Rondo definitely is not and Garnett has not been for years.  That being said. Philadelphia head coach Doug Collins did an excellent job of exposing Chicago’s injures in the first round and will find a way to tire out this aging Boston team again in Game 3.

Free NBA Pick: Philadelphia 76ers -2

Both the NHL Eastern and Western Conference Finals are underway with the first game of each best-of-seven series already in the books. The following is a brief look at each series along with some current betting trends to help handicap the upcoming games.

Eastern Conference Finals- New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers

This Atlantic Division clash features two teams that are very familiar with one another in a rivalry that is always filled with bad blood. The Devils outlasted Florida in seven games and plowed through Philadelphia in five games to here, while New York needed the full seven games to knock-off Ottawa in the first round and Washington in the conference semifinals to earn its spot.

The Rangers drew first blood in this series with a 3-0 shutout in Monday night’s Game 1 as 129 home favorites. The total stayed ‘under’ the five-goal line. It was the third series in-a-row New York managed to win the opener, but make note that it lost Game 2 at home to both the Senators and Capitals.

While the opening line for Wednesday night’s Game 2 has yet to be set, look for the Rangers to once again be favored at home with the total set at five. The key to this game will be New Jersey’s ability to finally get the puck past Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist. He stopped all 21 shots he faced, while his counterpart for the Devils, Martin Brodeur stopped 25 of New York’s 27 shots.

Game 2 Betting Trends

The Devils are 4-1 in their last five games overall and 11-5 in their last 16 games in the conference finals. The total has stayed ‘under’ in four of their last six games on the road

The Rangers are only 3-7 in their last 10 games after a win but 7-3 in their last 10 games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in seven of their last nine Wednesday games.

Head-to-head, the home team has won the last four meetings and Monday’s loss dropped New Jersey to 1-4 in its last five games in New York. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of the last five games overall.

Western Conference Finals- Los Angeles Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes

You are starting to get the feeling that nothing is going to get in the Los Angeles Kings’ way of winning this season’s Stanley Cup. They have already rolled through the top two seeds in the West with a five-game series victory over No.1 Vancouver and a four-game sweep of No.2 seed St. Louis. The Kings raised their record on the road in the postseason to a perfect 6-0 with a 4-2 victory over Pacific Division rival Phoenix in Sunday night’s Game 1 as 111 road favorites. The total went ‘over’ the five-goal line.

The Coyotes came into this series with their own head of steam after ousting Chicago in six games and rolling over Nashville in five, but if they do not find a way to match the intensity level of Los Angeles in Game 2, they will quickly find themselves in a 0-2 hole heading to the Staples Center for the next two games.

Los Angeles has been opened as 130 road favorites for Tuesday night’s game with the total set at 4.5. Both Jonathan Quick for the Kings and Mike Smith for the Coyotes have been incredible in goal so the ‘under’ is always a strong play despite the six goals scored in Game 1. The Kings have the edge on offense behind Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar, who have combined for 11 goals and 13 assists in just 10 games. Antoine Vermette and Mikkel Boedker have combined for nine goals and eight assists for Phoenix in 12 postseason games.

Game 2 Betting Trends

The Kings are 4-1 in their last five games as road favorites and 21-8 in their last 29 games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in nine of their last 14 games as favorites on the road.

The Coyotes are just 7-15 in their last 22 games as home underdogs but 13-4 in their last 17 games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in 11 of their last 18 games.

Head-to-head, Los Angeles is only 10-24-2 in its last 35 games in Phoenix, but 7-3 in the last 10 meetings overall. The total has gone ‘over’ in five of the last seven meetings in Phoenix.

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You don’t really need to look too deep into the stats in the first game of this series to tell that the Kings were the better team. Los Angeles was able to take a whopping 48 shots on goal in relation to just the 27 that the Coyotes took, and it was able to hold the Yotes down to that number of shots in spite of the fact that they had five power play opportunities on the night. Sure, Jonathan Quick gave up a bit of a cheap goal in the second period of Game 1, but in the end, he still got the job done and got picked up just a bit by his offense to get his ninth win of this postseason. Quick has now allowed two goals or fewer in six straight games, and he is averaging allowing just 1.5 goals per game in that stretch. The only game in which he allowed more than two goals was against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 4 of the first round. Los Angeles has now won all six of its games on the road here in the playoffs, and if that type of streak even remotely continues, the Kings are going to be impossible to stop on the road to the Stanley Cup.

The Coyotes knew that this was going to be a tough series, but we’re sure that they didn’t know that it was going to be quite this tough. Of course, the Kings played just about a perfect offensive game, putting all of the pressure in the world on Mike Smith in the biggest game of his career in Game 1 on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center. Smith really didn’t play as poorly as one would figure, knowing that he allowed three goals (the fourth was an empty netter), but he stood in the face of 47 shots and did well just to take care of those. Shots just weren’t being blocked at the rate that they were in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and it is quite questionable whether the Coyotes are going to be able to get up off of the mat even though they are only down by a single game in this series. Against a team as hot as the Kings are, that mountain looks very, very high.

The Final Word: One would have to figure that the Coyotes would be the right side in this series at some point, especially at these ridiculous NHL odds. The Kings are great, and they might be the best team in hockey at this point, but there is no way that they should be -130 favorites on the road in the playoffs against a team that is as good and as gritty as the Coyotes. Go with the Yotes to level this series going back to Tinseltown.

Los Angeles Kings @ Phoenix Coyotes Pick: Phoenix Coyotes +120

Game 2- Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat 

Pointspread: Miami -7.5

Total Line: 185

The Indiana Pacers will look to even things up with the Miami Heat this Tuesday night as the two continue their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup at the American Airlines Arena in Game 2 of this best-of-seven series  The game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on TNT.

Indiana was extremely competitive for three quarters of Sunday’s series opener but by the end of the final quarter it found itself on the losing end of a 95-86 decision as an 8.5-point road underdog. This setback followed the Pacers five-game run against Orlando in the first-round of the playoffs. They are now 4-2 straight-up and 3-3 against the spread in six playoff games. The total stayed ‘under’ the 186.5 total in Game 1 and has stayed ‘under’ in four of their six playoff games.

If Indiana is going to have any shot at bouncing back in this game it is going to need a few players to step-up shooting the ball. The Pacers shot 40.3 percent from the field and was a dreadful 4-for-17 from three point range.

Miami was by no means in top form on Sunday with a 40.7 percent shooting performance from the floor and a 0-for-6 effort from beyond the arc, it still played well enough to win. Overall, the Heat are shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point range in the postseason; averaging 95.5 points a game while holding their opponents to an average of 83.3 points.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade held up their end of the bargain with a combined 61 points in Game 1. The third member of the Big Three, Chris Bosh, will most likely be sidelined for this game and possibly beyond after straining his lower abdomen in Sunday’s win. Miami is now 5-1 both SU and ATS in its six postseason games this year.

Betting Trends

The Pacers have gone just 6-13 ATS in their last 19 games following a SU loss and the total has gone ‘over’ in nine of their last 12 games as underdogs.

The Heat’s victory both SU and ATS moved them to 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 conference semifinal games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in 23 of their last 30 games at home.

Head-to-head, Miami won three of four games SU in the regular season and was 2-2 ATS. The underdog is still 24-10-1 ATS record in the last 35 meetings and the total has stayed ‘under’ in five of the last seven meetings in Miami.

Prediction

The loss of Bosh will hurt, but it will not be enough to keep this game close enough for Indiana to cover with the 7.5 points. The Heat once again rally late and stretch the margin to double-digits this time around. Miami 98     Indiana 88

The Clippers won Game 7 at Memphis 82-72 on Sunday to advance in the Western Conference playoffs for just the third time in team history and first since 2006.  They dropped two of the three meetings with San Antonio during the regular season, with each team winning on the other’s home court in the last two.  The biggest issue for LA is the health of its two star players, point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin.  Paul is dealing with a strained right hip that has limited his mobility while Griffin has been playing with a sprained right knee.  The duo combined for 27 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in Game 7 against the Grizzlies, but fortunately the team’s bench stepped up outscored Memphis, 41-11.

Griffin clearly was not as effective in the last two games of the series after spraining his knee in Game 5, as he totaled 25 points and nine rebounds total in Games 6 and 7.  He has vowed to play Game 1 and will be challenged inside by San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, who will have plenty of rest after playing an average of 30 minutes per game in the first round and then getting an extra week off following the series win over Utah.

Paul might be the bigger concern though because he leads the offense and defense and will be busy chasing Spurs point guard Tony Parker around.  Parker helped limit Paul to 9 of 29 shooting from the field in the two San Antonio wins over Los Angeles during the regular season, and he sat out the other meeting that the Spurs lost.  Parker also sat out the last two games of the regular season, and he responded by averaging 21 points and 6.5 assists against the Jazz.

San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich has done an outstanding job of managing his players’ minutes though, enabling the Spurs to finish with the top seed and earning him NBA Coach of the Year honors.  Popovich has already led his team to four NBA championships, so he knows what buttons to push and will have a huge coaching advantage in this series against LA’s Vinny Del Negro.  San Antonio will go for a blowout here right away in Game 1 in order to give the reserves some valuable playing time and save the legs of Duncan and the other starters for down the road.

Free NBA Pick: San Antonio Spurs -11.5