The NBA treated us to two exciting finals last night, as the Heat outscored the Nets 106-105 and in double overtime, the Suns outscored the Clippers 125-118. The Heat’s win eliminates the Nets (4-1) and the Suns’ win gives them a 3-2 lead in their series with the Clippers (resumes Thursday night in Los Angeles).
My free game for Wednesday is in the Min Twins over the Det Tigers at 7:05 ET. Got a gift from the “gods of the game” last night with the Suns, extending my playoff streak to 5-1 83% since last Wednesday. I’m ‘shooting’ Wednesday with an exclusive LEGEND Play (4-0 in this year’s postseason) plus another 15* Game 5 Showdown. My MLB for Weds will be available at 1:00 ET.
Both home teams won giving the home teams a five-game winning streak since Sunday night’s Suns/Clippers game. They are now 12-6 SU in the second round, going 8-10 ATS. Both games are over, as the high scoring continued into this year’s postseason. In the first round, nine of their last 10 games went over the total and in the second they went over 13 of the 18 games. The high rollers are now over 15.4 games, cashing in 78.6 percent of their ‘tickets’ in the last 28 playoff contests.
‘Players’ following the “Zig-Zag” theory have had a successful run to date in the second round as playing ‘in’ the loser SU from the previous game has them up 5.6 games to a 10-4 record. (71.4 percent). However, this can change quickly, as we saw in the first round. The “Zig Zag” theory opened the first round at 19-8-2 ATS but finished the round on a 0-8 ATS run, showing barely a gain (plus 1.4 games) for the effort.
In last night’s NJ/Mia game, the Nets trio of Carter, Jefferson and Kidd combined for 86 points (Carter and Jefferson had 33), but it wasn’t enough to lead the Nets past the Heat, who had six. players who scored in double figures (Walker led the way with 23). Miami, after losing Game 1 100-88, has won four straight games. Teams that have fallen behind 3-1 in a seven-game series are now just 8-156 all-time. Are the Mavs and Spurs listening?
In Phoenix, the Suns blew a 19-point lead in the third quarter and Cassell sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer for the Clippers. Then it was the Suns’ Bell who hit a 3-pointer late in the first overtime, before the Suns outscored the Clippers by seven points in the second overtime (for the cover!). Three Clippers played 50 minutes or more (Brand, Cassell and Mobley), while two Suns did (Bell and Marion).
Teams that win Game 5 of a seven-game series when tied at 2 have won 165 of 183 times in NBA playoff history. That’s a winning percentage of .855. Breaking down those numbers further reveals that the teams that won Game 5 at home are 118-10 (.922), while the teams that won Game 5 on the road are 47-18 (.723). Are the Cavs and Pistons listening?
wednesday games
The Cavs and Pistons kick off tonight in Detroit at 7:05 ET on TNT. The Mavs and Spurs will continue from San Antonio at 9:35 ET. The Pistons are favored by 11 points on 179 total, while the Spurs are favored by five points on 191 1/2 total.
The Pistons were scoreless in both losses in Cleveland, putting up just 77 and 72 points on 39.4 and 33.3 percent shooting. Detroit was completely stifled in the second halves of both games, scoring 35 points and 34 points, while being outscored in the fourth quarter of Game 3 (33-21) and Game 4 (21-13). Will going home make a difference? The Pistons have averaged 106.6 points per game in five playoff games at home, shooting 48 percent.
As for the Cavs, James played all 48 minutes in each of the last three games of this series and neither Ilgauskas (7.0-6.5) nor Gooden (7.0-5.5) were much help in Cleveland’s two wins. Hughes is likely to miss his third straight game (maybe not a big deal, since he only shot 31 percent in the playoffs). Can Cleveland players like Marshall, Murray, Snow and Varejao play as well in Detroit as they did in Cleveland?
The Mavs have won three straight games over the Spurs (113.3 PPG average) after losing Game 1, 87-85. Devin Harris has been a big reason, averaging 20.7 points per game on 58.3 percent shooting in the three games (he was inserted as the starter for Game 2). Nowitzki made just 10 baskets in the two wins in Dallas, but made 35-of-39 FT, leading the way for the Mavs who shot 125 FT in the three wins, hitting 102 (.816).
The Spurs have been one of the best defensive teams in the league for years (they ranked second in PPG allowed this year with an 88.8 average), but they haven’t been able to stop the Mavs from being aggressive (leading to the high number of of FT attempts). ) nor have they been able to force turnovers (Dallas has just 32 in all three wins). As mentioned yesterday, San Antonio is 0-5 in history when trailing in this series (since 1997).
MLB ratings
The Cleveland Indians ended the longest active losing streak in MLB last night (they had lost six in a row), when Travis Hafner’s two-run HR capped a three-run ninth, giving the Indians a 6-4 victory over the Royals. I’ll have to check the official record book though, as I’m not sure beating the Royals, who own the worst record in MLB at 10-26 (including a pathetic 2-18 road mark), really count!
San Francisco beat the Astros in Houston last night 14-3, following a 10-1 victory in Houston on Monday. Despite his team scoring 24 runs in two days, Barry Bonds extended his home run-less streak to 26 at-bats. Also noteworthy in this game was the fact that Jamey Wright got the win. Why the big problem? Wright entered the game 0-12 with a 7.35 ERA in 17 previous appearances against the Astros. He was betting on a 5-0 lead last night before taking the mound and pitched seven innings, allowing six hits and three runs.
The Rangers jumped on the Yankees early last night, taking a 9-0 (2nd) and 10-1 (3rd) lead. However, the Yanks won 14-13, matching the biggest comeback in club history. It was the fourth time in team history that the Yankees had won after being down by nine runs. The last time they did it was against the Red Sox (6/26/87), when Roger Clemens was Boston’s starting pitcher in that game! The two teams combined for 33 hits and 27 runs last night.
The Tigers own the longest active winning streak at five games (the Tigers are also the top “money makers” in the league at over $1,270) and host the Twins tonight. The pitching matchup is noteworthy as Johan Santana takes on Detroit phenom Justin Verlander. The Reds, who have lost four in a row (the longest active losing streak) are in Pittsburgh, which has the worst record in the National League at 12-27, as well as the worst burners in MLB (minus $1,468). .
All 30 teams are back in action tonight (15 games), with the first interleague games of the season just two days away.
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