BSNblog

It goes beyond talent and depth to the experience of three straight Western conference championships and consecutive NBA titles. While superstar guard Kobe Bryant has continued to prove that he can dominate the game even when nagged by a variety of injuries, his supporting cast has developed to a level where they can consistently overcome adversity. While it didn’t help their cause in pursuit of the top spot in the west during the regular season, the injury to Andrew Bynum allowed them to play with Lamar Odom in the starting lineup and give their bench more minutes. That experience has added another element to their game, with arguably the best head coach in Phil Jackson the Lakers are rarely behind in terms of strategy, so much so that the MLB betting Dodgers’ staff can take a note or two on the lessons of Zen.

While Derrick Rose has dominated in an MVP-caliber season, Los Angeles has two of the game’s best defenders that they can match up against him in Bryant and Ron Artest. Unlike in the east where Chicago boasted one of the best groups of big men to dominate down low, the Lakers can matchup Bynum and Gasol against Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer and earn the edge in that category as well. The Bulls won’t get as many second-chance opportunities without the rebounds available, and that will put pressure on their pay per head scorers to perform.

With the Miami Heat lacking the big men and reserves to stop them and the Celtics slowed by fatigue after reaching two of the past three NBA finals with a veteran core, there wasn’t enough to slow them down in the Eastern conference. But a matchup against Los Angeles will represent an entirely different animal, one that the Bulls might not be ready for. Chicago’s success has had a lot to do with the fresh legs of their young talent, but that won’t make up for a serious lack of experience in the finals. The Bulls have laid the foundation for future success by surprising nearly everybody with their run through the eat, and will learn a valuable lesson about what it takes when they clash with the best team in the NBA. Like the Kentucky derby betting race there can only be one Thoroughbred that gets the job done, and this year it will be Los Angeles.

The Orioles were a +116 underdog in the MLB Picks win. The combined score dipped UNDER the total, which closed at 9.5.

Baltimore got 6 innings from Zach Britton, who gave up 1 earned run on 5 hits, while striking out 2. He earned the victory, while the Orioles got 2 RBIs from Adam Jones in the win.

Boston's starting pitcher Clay Buchholz worked 6 2/3 innings, giving up 12 hits and 4 earned runs while striking out 5 in the loss. They got 1 hit from Jacoby Ellsbury in a sports picks losing cause.

The battle of the bats favored Baltimore as they had 12 hits, while Boston only had 6.

Kevin Gregg pitched the final 1 inning for the save. He struck out 1 and allowed 0 hits in his outing.

If it helps the Montreal Canadiens feel any better, they were not expected to perform this well in their quarterfinal match-up against the Boston Bruins. As online betting for Kentucky Derby favorites heats up, the Canadiens are still in this series and could force a seventh game with a win in game six. NHL fans expected the bigger and stronger Bruins to dispatch the Canadiens in straight games. But Canadiens have been able to push back against the size and speed of the Bruins, and the result is a game six in Montreal.

The pay per head observers have noticed that the Canadiens seemed to have the Bruins’ number early in this series. Montreal won the first two games of the series in Boston, but then lost the next three games in a row. Through the fog of losing three straight, the Canadiens have the play of their goaltender Carey Price to fall back on. Price faced 51 shots in game five and willed the game into overtime. The Bruins eventually took game five in sudden death, but the Canadiens made it clear that they are not going anywhere quietly in this series. If the Canadiens can take just one game on home ice in this series, then it goes back to Boston to decide the winner.

Boston Bruins

It took two overtimes before Boston’s Nathan Horton scored his second goal of the playoffs to finally beat the Canadiens. Boston goaltender Tim Thomas turned away 44 of 45 shots which included a 14-shot third period onslaught by the Canadiens. The Bruins seem to be having some problems dealing with the speed of Montreal. While the Canadiens do not offer any threat in terms of size, the inability of the Bruins’ defense to keep up with the Canadiens has been causing problems. The Bruins’ offense, on the other hand, has been going back and forth with Montreal goaltender Carey Price all series long. Price was at his best in game five, but the relentless crashing of the Montreal net finally got a puck past Price. The Bruins will continue their physical play and try to slow the Canadiens forwards be grinding along the boards.

Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens are unable to push back against the Bruins when the Bruins decide to flood the Montreal zone. If Montreal can control of the puck in the defensive zone, then they are having decent success clearing the puck. But the challenge for the smaller Canadiens is wrestling the puck away from the stronger Bruins. Boston goaltender Tim Thomas has been surprisingly inconsistent in this series, but he was strong in game five. The Canadiens have learned that if they keep the puck moving around Thomas, then they can eventually find an opening. Thomas uses a very unconventional goaltending style that sometimes finds him out of position. The Canadiens need to exploit that to win game six.

The Bottom Line

The Bruins are rolling and there does not seem to be much that Montreal can do about it. This game will be close but, in the end, the Bruins will move on to round two of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

BSNblog Pick: Boston Bruins

Oddsmakers at Bodog sportsbook currently have the Nuggets listed as 5-point favorites versus the Thunder, while the game's total is sitting at 207½.

Denver lost its last outing, a 106-89 result against the Thunder on April 20. The Nuggets failed to cover in that game as a 4.5-point underdog, while the 195 combined points took the game UNDER the total.

Oklahoma City:

Team record: 55-27 SU, 43-38-1 ATS

is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games

is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Denver

The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games

is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games on the road

When playing on Saturday are 3-7

Before playing Denver are 3-7

After playing Denver are 8-2

After a win are 8-2

Denver:

Team record: 50-32 SU, 44-34-4 ATS

is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games at home

is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Oklahoma City

The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Oklahoma City

is 9-2-1 ATS in its last 12 games at home

When playing on Saturday are 4-6

Before playing are 5-5

After playing are 6-4

After a loss are 6-4

Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers

Thursday April 21, 201 – 7:00 PM ET

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

Online Sports Betting Odds: Chicago Bulls - 200

The Pacers will look to regroup in front of the hometown crowd after pushing a Chicago team that won 62 regular season games to the limit on the road through the first two games. The problem is that there may be more Bulls’ fans on hand than those that actually support the home team for Indiana’s first home playoff game in five years. The franchise had a ton of tickets still available after game two, and that could lead to hundreds of fans making the trip.

NBA Betting Preview: Bulls

Rose and head coach Tom Thibodeau haven’t shifted their focus away from finding ways to improve despite clinching the first two games in the series. Although they can put a stranglehold on the series with a win at Indiana in game three, the team understands that there are still several areas for improvement. The All Star guard admitted to reporters that his team’s defense hasn’t been as strong as it was during the regular season, when it was a big reason for the Bulls’ fast break transition offense that was so potent. It could be a good thing that the team is headed on the road where it won’t face the pressure of not wanting to letdown its sellout crowd of supporters. Chicago has a young team that will continue to grow with the experience of every sports betting bonus game.

NBA Betting Preview: Pacers

Indiana has kept these games close down to the final minutes, but now the challenge becomes finding out what it takes to finally get over that hump and into the win column. The Pacers managed to keep up with Chicago even after point guard Darren Collison left with a sprained ankle, and will need to continue to rally without him as it now looks as though he could miss the rest of the series. Slowing down Rose will be the key to getting the job done, a task that’s much easier said than done. Indiana’s big men will also have to do a better job under the basket in terms of shooting after center Roy Hibbert and forward Tyler Hansbrough combined to shoot 5-for-19 in game two.

NBA Betting Preview: Outlook & Pick

The Pacers have thrown everything they have at Chicago and although they’ve been able to keep games close, it simply hasn’t been enough. That won’t change in game three, as the Bulls actually attack them with a more focused and relaxed demeanor to push Indiana to the brink of elimination. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks are barely hanging on in the NHL, and their two MLB betting teams haven’t looked like anything special, leaving the Bulls as Chicago’s team in 2011.

BSNblog Pick: Chicago Bulls - 20

The Chicago Blackhawks did what everyone expected them to do in game three of this series. They threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks. In the end, it was Luongo who slammed the door on the Blackhawks and brought Chicago sports fans one step closer to betting on MLB baseball. The NHL news the next morning included headlines that heralded Luongo’s amazing third period glove save that allowed the game to end 3-2 in favor of the Canucks. The Blackhawks kept on fighting, but they could not break through before time ran out.

The Vancouver Canucks, for their part, are playing very sound defensive hockey. It could be that one of the problems that the Canucks have had in the past is focusing too much on offense and leaving Roberto Luongo on his own in the defensive end. In this series everyone, including the Sedin twins, are coming back to play defense and keep the Blackhawks at bay. In game three, the Canucks only allowed a total of 16 shots on goal in the last two periods combined. The most telling stat is that the Canucks themselves also only generate 16 shots on goal in the last two periods. A balance between offense and defense with the Vancouver Canucks means problems for the rest of the Western Conference.

Chicago Blackhawks

It is time for the Chicago hockey fans to face the facts. When players like goaltender Antti Niemi and forward turned defenseman Dustin Byfuglein were let go from the team in a salary purge after winning the Cup last year, much of the competitive edge also left Chicago. The Blackhawks are taking the majority of their shots from the outside with no real presence in front of Luongo to tip the puck or cause the screen. Patrick Kane no longer has any one to blaze a trail for him, so he is forced to create his own opportunities. Kane is capable of it, but it takes away much of his scoring touch when he has to focus on grinding to the net. Corey Crawford is a fine goaltender, but he is young and inexperienced. He is not the reason that the Blackhawks are losing the series, but he is also not one of the factors that will help Chicago come back.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks managed to completely change their game from last year to this year, and now it is paying off. Everyone is coming back to play defense, and the Canucks are no longer trying to use those long zone-clearing passes that would inevitably come back the other way. Vancouver has replaced flash and flair with hard work and determination. That will prove to be a good move by the time these playoffs are over.

The Bottom Line

Chicago just does not have the fire power to come back in this series. There are no more role players to help pin the Canucks in their own end or crash the net and make things uncomfortable for Luongo. In this game, the Canucks will focus solely on staying one goal ahead of the Blackhawks and playing a very disciplined game. That sort of game plan will have both teams lining up to shake hands when this one is over.

BSNblog Pick: Vancouver Canucks

Eastern Conference – Chicago

Everyone is pointing to the Bulls being a young team with not much playoff experience, but at this point, we’re not sure that it matters. Derrick Rose is, by far, the MVP of the league and he has reached the finals at every level he’s played at. Coach Tom Thibodeau has the Bulls playing defense, and they have a guy in Joakim Noah, who does all the dirty work (it also helps that he won back-to-back NCAA titles at Florida). Boston looks old and the loss of Kendrick Perkins was a killer, Miami is still struggling offensive late in games as anyone watching NBA scores will tell you, and Orlando, you have no idea what you’re going to get outside of Dwight Howard.

Western Conference – Oklahoma City

The Los Angeles Lakers may be going into the postseason without Andrew Bynum, and while they’re still great with Kobe Bryant, they’re not the same team without Bynum in the middle. San Antonio, even with 60-plus wins, can’t be trusted, especially if anything happens to any of the trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Ask your price per head bookie what they think of Denver and Dallas and you could get any range of answers. The Nuggets have been brilliant without Carmelo Anthony, but we think they’ll run out of steam in the playoffs, while the Mavericks are San Jose of the NBA: great in the regular season, comes up short in the postseason, and that’s what counts. So we’re left with the Thunder, and the pickup of Perkins really gives them a rock in the middle and a toughness they’ve never had. They also have a duo in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook who are as good as anyone in the league.

NBA Finals Pick

This is going to be fun to watch, but we’re giving a slight edge to the Bulls because of their defense, and even though we think the world of Durant and Westbrook, Rose has willed the Bulls to this point and he’ll continue to do so. The Bulls have the size to bang with the Thunder, and we also think that Thibodeau is a better coach than Oklahoma City counterpart (and last year’s Coach of the Year) Scott Brooks, by the slimmest of margins. Jump on Chicago’s odds in your online sportsbook.

The regular season baseball betting is getting started, which means the NHL playoffs are underway. The pay per head experts had no idea what every playoff series would look like until the last game of the regular season was played, and that is what makes the NHL playoffs so exciting. The Buffalo Sabres had no idea whether they would finish sixth or seventh in the Eastern Conference, and who they would face in the first round of the playoffs. When the standings all settled down after Sunday’s final games, the Sabres finished seventh and will face the second place Philadelphia Flyers.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers are made up of big and strong forwards such as Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, who can fight for the puck in the corner as well as power past defenses in front of the net. Smaller forwards such as Danny Briere are still excellent goal scorers with the ability to set up plays anywhere on the ice.

On defense, the Flyers are big with veterans like Chris Pronger watching the defensive zone. But the Flyers defense is a little slower than other top defenses in the league. They make their living with their size, but that may not be a good matchup against a fast Sabres team.

In goal, the Flyers look solid until their second to last game of the season against these Buffalo Sabres. It was obvious by the end of the game that the Sabres had figured out rookie staring goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It can be dangerous to head into the playoffs with a rookie goaltender, and that could be the biggest strike against the Flyers.

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres forwards have come to life since the team was purchased by new owner Terry Pegula, and the goals are coming a bit easier now. Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford are trying their best to make up for the loss of Derek Roy, and they are doing an excellent job. Rookie Tyler Ennis has had a great rookie campaign and needs to be a contributor in the playoffs.

The Sabres defense is just awful. Most of the time, the defense looks lost and confused. They are wildly inconsistent with their ability to shut down the middle of the ice, and they all have a bad habit of trying to clear the zone by passing the puck in front of their own net. The Sabres defense cannot keep opposing players out from in front of their own net, and the constantly attempt to make blind back passes to get out of their own end. All of that will be a huge problem against an aggressive offense like the Flyers.

Ryan Miller is healthy and ready for the playoffs. He came in during the Sabres’ second to last game of the season against the Flyers and pushed the team to victory. This has not be a typical Ryan Miller year, but with the defense he has had to work with, he has had a great season.

The Bottom Line

The Flyers have not played well at all in the last two or three weeks of the regular season, and the Buffalo Sabres have. The only question is whether or not that imbalance in momentum will be enough to carry the Sabres through this series. In reality, the Flyers offense is just way too much for the feeble Buffalo defense to handle. That will be the difference in this series.

BSNblog Pick: Flyers in 5

Favorite

Uncle Mo 10/1

The obvious favorite to win this year’s Derby is Uncle Mo, another Todd Pletcher-trained horse that will get its shot to give him a second consecutive Derby award after his horse Super Saver won the event a year ago. Pletcher has won four straight Eclipse Awards for the outstanding jobs he has done over the years, and has handled Uncle Mo through three first place finishes since last October, including this year’s Timely Writer at Gulfstream Park. A balanced horse that has the speed and endurance to rival any other horse in the competition, Uncle Mo has yet to run a 1 ¼ mile race, which is the only reason why its odds aren’t even better.

Next In Line

Dialed In – 35/1

The winner of this year’s Florida Derby instantly shot up the sportsbook promo charts in terms of odds for this year’s Kentucky Derby, and for obvious reasons. With two wins already in 2011, Dialed In appears to be exactly that after a breakout year in 2010. Owner Robert LaPenta and trainer Nick Zito have already teams up to send three horses to the Derby in past years, but have never finished higher than fifth in any of those races. That should change with Dialed In for 2011.

To Honor And Serve – 40/1

The horse in this pay per head race that was most appropriately bred to run the classic 1 ¼ miles, To Honor And Serve will be among the favorites to at least show at this year’s race. The Bill Mott-trained horse finished third behind Dialed In at this year’s Florida Derby, and could be primed for even more success at Churchill Downs. Mott won his first Triple Crown race with Drosselmeyer at last year’s Belmont Stakes, and will have another experienced rider to rely on in John Valasquez. The Live Oak Plantation hasn’t had a contender in the Kentucky Derby since 2005, but To Honor And Serve will not disappoint.

Dark Horse

Stay Thirsty – 125/1

A longshot to win it all, Stay Thirsty is another sports betting horse that has been trained by Todd Pletcher leading in to this year. A disappointing finish at the Florida Derby hurt its odds for this year’s Kentucky Derby, but with the 2010 Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Jockey on its back in Ramon Dominguez, there is no reason to think that Stay Thirsty won’t be in position to show if it draws a solid post position.

The Chicago Blackhawks are barely holding on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. As the online March Madness betting starts to wind down, Chicago is holding off ninth place Calgary by one point and 10th place Dallas by three points. The Blackhawks hit a sudden goal drought that has not been very helpful as the team tries to defend its Stanley Cup title in this post-season. The Montreal Canadiens are not the kind of team that is likely to give the Blackhawks much of a chance to get their scoring groove back.

The Montreal Canadiens have gone from battling the Boston Bruins for first place in the Northeast Division, to trying to fend off the Buffalo Sabres for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The sportsbook promo experts are wondering if the Canadiens will fold under the pressure that the Sabres are providing and relinquish their one-point lead in the standings. A 5dimes review of the Canadiens’ play in the past couple of weeks indicates that the Habs are up for the challenge and ready to defend their playoff spot.

Chicago Blackhawks

The NHL Western Conference has been a nightmare for fans of the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks. Those four teams have been swapping positions in the standings all season long. Right now, the Blackhawks hold on to eighth place in the Western Conference and have been playing good hockey. In the last 10 games, Chicago is 5-4-1. The Blackhawks are 19-12-8 on the road, and have been a very aggressive road team lately. There is still some concern about the goaltending in Chicago since Stanley Cup goaltender Antti Niemi went to San Jose in the off-season. But the Blackhawks are facing a situation where they will probably have to win both of their remaining two games to have any shot at making the playoffs.

Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens are slipping a little lately as the team has gone 4-6-0 in the last 10 games. But their last game was a win over the pesky New Jersey Devils in New Jersey. The Habs were able to outskate a very good defensive team and put three goals past legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur. The Blackhawks offer a similar challenge to the Devils in that the Blackhawks play a very tough defensive style of hockey. The Canadiens need to play another gritty game if they want to come away with the win. With only three games left on the schedule, the Canadiens need to put as much room between themselves and the Sabres as possible.

The Bottom Line

The whole feel of this game shifts towards the Canadiens. Montreal is 23-11-6 at home and just coming off a difficult road win. The Blackhawks are still having problems in almost every aspect of their game and they are not going to find the answers to their questions in Montreal.

BSNblog Pick: Montreal Canadiens