Monday's Picks

The numbers for Monday's games:

Cleveland -6 @ Washington 190.5

Utah +6 @ Houston 184

San Antonio -2 @ Denver 191.5

First things first, you might as well parlay any bet made tonight with Cleveland to win. The Wizards have no desire to get on a plane and fly to Cleveland. They got a great game from Jamison on in Game 3 and still lost, so expect the whole team to pack it in and get ready for the fishing trip.

That said, two important games follow Cleveland/Washington tonight. Utah/Houston has been the home series and looks to be turning into the 7 game series everyone expected. As in game 1 and 2, I like Houston to win and cover. I expect Utah spent all the energy tying up the series and not be able to hang with Houston late. One important number, Utah is 2-11 ATS in the last 13 road games.

In the late game, Denver faces a virtual must win. Like everyone else, I want Denver to win this game, make this a series and ultimately unseat the Spurs. Unfortunately I just don't see it happening. The Spurs are a strong bet at -2, although I'll put one caveat on this pick. Iverson was always good for 1 monster game in the playoffs as a Sixer. I can see George Karl calling AI into his office, taking any handcuffs he might have had off of Iverson and hoping he can win one on his own tonight. One other note about tonight's game, Under is 22-7-1 in the last 30 meetings.

Thus the picks for tonight are CLEVELAND to win parlayed with everything, HOUSTON, and SAN ANTONIO. Id also look into Iverson OVER 28 points and assists (-150), as I expect a big game. Lock it in right now and get ready to make it RAIN.

That Just Happened! : Weekend Wrap-Up

Eastern Conference

Florida was hit by Hurricane Legitimate East Teams this weekend, with the Pistons and Bulls finishing off sweeps of the Magic and Heat. The Cavs put the Wizards on the ropes, beating them despite 38 points from Antawn Jamison. Sorry Wizards fans, that's about as good as it's going to get. If you've been watching the Playoffs at all, none of this should be too surprising. From the gate it looked as if all these teams were going to walk away with these series, and getting them done with quickly bodes well for some good match-ups next round.

Meanwhile, I haven't seen momentum swings like the Nets-Raptors series since I dated a schizophrenic in college (attn Psych majors: a clinic for college cheerleaders is a million dollar idea). On Sunday, the Nets gave the Raptors the business, 102-81. Now are they going to stick with the Nets we saw on Sunday and wrap this one up, or are they going to go flat again when they get back to Toronto. If my experience in college holds true they'll probably ignore me until I start talking to another girl, then try to stick their hand down my pants in the middle of a party.

Western Conference

The Nuggets' defense continues to fall apart after a promising start to the series and now that San Antonio seems to have woken up on the defensive end, the Nuggets' look completely out of sync. Things look to be heading in the same direction with the Houston Rockets. In this match-up of big time defenses who guessed that Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams were going to be out pacing McGrady and Yao. If Houston's defense can regain composure they can pull this series together. On the other hand, if the Nuggets don't get a monster game out of Iverson and Anthony in game 4, the Spurs will close them out quick.

With the Suns getting right back on track and out-pacing the Lakers, the only big story out of the West came late on Sunday night.

Being from the New York area, I can only dream (and I mean that literally, there's no chance) of what it would be like to be in the shoes of a Golden State Warriors fan. Just in case you've been watching with the volume down, go over to 100% Injury Rate or Golden State of Mind to understand the absolute insanity going on in the Bay Area right now. It's completely contagious too; I was yelling on the couch, the announcers were screaming to be heard, and everyone on the Warriors was screaming because... well, because a lot of those guys are pretty crazy. With Golden State looking like the only basketball Cinderella story this year (college or pros), I'm just going to put on some quiet shoes and see if I can tiptoe my way onto the bandwagon without anyone noticing I'm late. I mean there's gotta be some way for me to get on, what with the blog name and all.

Today's Schedule: 4/28

Detroit @ Orlando & Cleveland @ Washington

Let's cut right to the chase (cut to the chase? what are you, Joe Hollywood?)... These series are both completely terrible. I find it hard to believe that anyone outside of the teams' home cities are even watching. Actually, I think it's safe to assume that all the Magic and Wiz fans have completely given up. The curse of Le Bullets continues.

They'll both be sweeps. Let's leave it at that.

San Antonio @ Denver

After those lame appetizers are over with - we actually get some real basketball. Here's what I think about this series - I just can't see the Spurs losing. Dallas? yeah, I could see that considering their history. But Duncan and the boys? It's not on my radar. This has the feel of a big brother/little brother matchup. Sure, the big brother has aged a bit. He's been in college a few years throwin' down funnels and taking bong hits till 5am every weekend. But when he comes home for the summer - he can still handle the little brother one on one in the driveway. I hate giving "experience" that much credit. More often than not I think the talking heads on tv like to use that term instead of actually analyzing a given matchup (that's you, kornheiser).

Still- I'd love to see Melo and Iverson put Popovich on the ropes.

Houston @ Utah

Bottomline here - someone besides Tmac and Yao have to score. ANYONE! That game the other night was mindbogglingly (clearly not an actual word) terrible. It set "bench scoring" back about 35 years. I don't even know what that sentence means, but the rockets did it.

This series has "7 games" written all over it. That monkey on Tmac's back ain't getting any smaller.

That Just Happened! : Thur. April 26, 2007

You'll have to pardon the recaps today, I've been sleep deprived all week and I'll have to do my best to sum up my thoughts as I laid on the couch watching the games.

Detroit Pistons 93, Orlando Magic 77
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... wow, Dwight Shrute sure has been showing up a lot bigger than Dwight Howard the past couple weeks... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Utah Jazz 81, Houston Rockets 67
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZ... Wait, FOUR people on the Rockets scored???? How long have I been asleep? Did they do away with the shot clock again???? This next game better be the best goddamn game I've ever seen.

LA Lakers 95, Phoenix Suns 89
You got lucky NBA, real lucky. In all seriousness, Kobe turns in the best individual performance of the playoffs with 45 pts, 6reb, and 6ast. He shot 15-26 from the field, 2-3 from behind the line, and a perfect 13-13 free throws. The other big story was Kwame Brown waking up from a much longer nap than the one I took earlier and the Lakers finally showing up as a team to take care of the intangibles. The Lakers' commitment to playing hustle defense and rebounding managed to hold the Suns to 75 field goal attempts (compared to 92 in the previous blowout). This is the mysterious "dictating the pace" against the Suns that we hear so much about, even allowing them to shoot .480 from the field isn't devastating when you can limit their shots.
Henry at TrueHoop has an interesting look at a Lakers conspiracy theory that could rain on some parades however.

Best Of:

Police Academy: Kobe Bryant - 45pts, 6reb, 6ast. Gets the honor for not only turning in a great line, but for whatever he said that woke up the rest of the stiffs on his team.

Super Troopers: Kwame Brown - 19pts (8-14 shooting), 6reb, 2blk. Mainly for not rolling over for the rest of the playoffs after he hurt his ankle.

Car 54, Where Are You?: The five guys on the Houston Rockets who couldn't score one point. 5 men, 76 combined minutes, 0 points?? Really? Five guys personally just took the Rockets from legit contenders to possible victims of a first-round comeback.

Sam Cassell Quote of the Night: (on Kobe)"He's no Jordan, but he's definitely not Harold Miner!"

Thursdays Picks

The numbers for Thursday:

Detroit -2.5 @ Orlando o/u 183

Houston +4 @ Utah o/u 187.5

Phoenix -4 @ Los Angeles o/u 211


I have to say I am not wild about any of tonight's games but here are my picks for all three games.

Detroit -2.5 @ Orlando o/u 183 Pick: Orlando

Houston +4 @ Utah 0/u 187.5 Pick: Utah

Phoenix -4 @ Los Angeles o/u 211 Pick: Phoenix

For a detailed explanation of these picks see below where Der wrote essentially the exact same thing I would argue about all 3 games.

Tonight's Schedule

Not gonna lie... last night was a bit disappointing. But we did get the pleasure of seeing our man Stephen J. get ejected. Call me crazy... but the moment immediately after Jackson got ejected was definitely one of the more strangely riveting 3 minutes I've seen in a while. We all know what he's capable of. And when he gets that look in his eye?? holy shit- look out. I couldnt help but be somewhat frightened in my own living room - kinda like when tyson used to enter the ring.

let's get to tonight's card, shall we:

Detroit @ Orlando

Is anyone actually excited about this series? Frankly, I'm shocked that the Pistons are only laying 2.5 in this one. They were 28-13 ATS this year on the road, and were the only team with more straight-up wins AWAY from home than they had AT home.

But since the Pistons haven't busted out the brooms since season 1 of the Simpsons (1990 - holy fuck, I feel old) that probably means that the magic will steal a game before this thing is over.

Houston @ Utah

This game is dangerous. It seems unlikely that this series is headed toward a sweep, and if Utah is gonna make it interesting - this would the time to put a notch on the 'ol win column.

Here's the numbers: Utah was 31-10 at home this year, but a pretty dismal 18-22 ATS. And if you're looking at RECENT trends, the Jazz closed the season 4-19 ATS (translation: that'd be a shit load of baseball cards to sign if Pete Rose was coaching this team).

Honestly, I see this game going inside the number (Houston +4.5), with the Jazz coming through with the W.

Phoenix @ Los Angeles

If you think the Lakers even have a CHANCE to win this game, then you're out of your goddamn mind. I don't even think Barbosa had his shot altered or challenged the entire time he was in the game. Phil Jackson looks like he's completely given up now that he knows he doesn't have the horses. Kobe has openly decided to tell everyone how terrible his team is:

"It's not like we have the best talent in the league, so we really have to pride
ourselves on playing hard all the time"

Frankly, I'm shocked the line is only 4. Unless the suns decide to take a night off for some reason, expect another blowout.

That Just Happened!: Wed. April 26, 2007

Pardon the late update, I was up all night arguing with the people from the Blood Bank. I've had it with these banks with their charges and hidden fees. From now on I'm just going to keep my blood in MY freezer, with MY MONEY!

Cleveland Cavaliers 109, Washington Wizards 102

Just what you'd imagine from this series. The big tease on Sportscenter for this game was the Wizards pulling within three points in the final minute. I have to imagine that even miserable Cleveland fans weren't pessimistic about that one. Lebron puts up big numbers (27pts, 8reb,7ast) and Drew Gooden shows some promise with 24 and 14. If these numbers for Gooden and Big Z are here to stay for the playoffs, and not just the series against the Wizards, this Cavs team could be enjoying a BIG upgrade, just when it counts.

San Antonio Spurs 97, Denver Nuggets 88

You can stop checking the backs of milk cartons for the Spurs' Big Three. All three made it to double digits in scoring last night and just looked back to normal in general. The Spurs controlled the game as the Nuggets had a poor shooting night all around at .386 from the field and .765 (compared to the Spurs .913) from the charity stripe. Not that it would have really helped, but George Karl had a legitimate beef when he wondered in the post-game press conference how Iverson could have taken 25 shots and not gotten to the line once. Probably a moot point with the way the Spurs were took it to the Nuggets, but it is questionable.

Dallas Mavericks 112, Golden State Warriors 99

On a lot of sports shows last night and this morning, people seemed to be saying that Golden State was closer than it looked when Baron Davis did everything he could to make sure he got kicked out of the game last night. Sorry, I just don't see it. The Warriors hung around for most of the first half, but just had the look that they were in the process of getting out-paced down the stretch. Dallas' starters showed up this game, shooting better and cutting down on turnovers. Golden State's starters tallied 17 personal fouls, 4 technicals, 2 ejections and 21 turnovers. You do the math. Of course this could be Don Nelson, knowing they didn't have a chance at taking two in Dallas, deciding to work Golden State fans into a frenzy by getting emotions all riled up. In which case, let me be the first to call him a genius.

The Best Of:

Zach Morris: Tim Duncan - 22pts, 7reb, 5ast, 5blk. Big game for a lot of people's pick for Champs, and their star player gets the job done, and then some.

A.C. Slater: Dirk Nowitzki - 23pts, 7reb, 2blk. Finding his shot again, going 7 for 15, hopefully getting his game straight for the rest of the playoffs.

Mr. Belding: Matt Barnes - 21min, 2pts, 6fouls. He was a spark for Golden State in game 1, now he's back to looking like, well, Matt Barnes. Could redeem himself by going with the Clubber Lang mohawk for Game 3.

Chuck's Quote of the Night: "Kenny, get Rosie O'Donnel on the phone, see if she wants Ernie's job"