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Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL and MLB Previews and Odds - 04/22/2024

The Monday sports card features NBA, NHL, and MLB action.The National Basketball Association continues the 2024 playoff season with three games. The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Orlando Magic on NBA-TV at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series with their 97-83 victory as a 5.5-point favorite on Saturday. Cleveland is a 5.5-point favorite, with the total set at 202.5 (all odds from DraftKings). The New York Knicks play at home against the Philadelphia 76ers on TNT and truTV at 7:40 p.m. ET. The Knicks won the opening game of this best-of-seven series with a 111-104 win against the 76ers as a 4.5-point favorite on Saturday. New York is a 5.5-point favorite with an over/under 209. The Denver Nuggets are at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on TNT and truTV at 10:10 p.m. ET. The Nuggets claimed Game 1 of this best-of-seven series with their 114-103 victory as a 7-point favorite on Saturday. Denver is a 7.5-point favorite with a total of 223. The National Hockey League playoffs continue with four games. The Boston Bruins host the Toronto Maple Leafs on ESPN at 7:10 p.m. as a -135 money-line favorite with an over/under of 5.5. The Carolina Hurricanes play at home against the New York Islanders on ESPN2 as a -250 money-line favorite with a total of 5.5. The Dallas Stars are at home against the Vegas Golden Knights on ESPN as a -130 money-line favorite with an over/under of 5.5. The Edmonton Oilers host the Los Angeles Kings on ESPN2 at 10:10 p.m. ET as a -170 money-line favorite with a total of 6. The Monday card in Major League Baseball has 11 games on its schedule. The New York Yankees play at home against the Oakland A’s at 1:05 p.m. ET as a -238 money-line favorite with an over/under. Two MLB games throw out the first pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET. The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home against the Milwaukee Brewers as a -130 money-line favorite with a total of 8. The Philadelphia Phillies travel to Cincinnati to play the Reds as a -122 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Detroit Tigers play in Tampa Bay against the Rays at 6:50 p.m. ET as a -112 money-line road favorite with a total of 7. The Atlanta Braves host the Miami Marlins at 7:20 p.m. ET as a -238 money-line favorite with an over/under of 9. Two more MLB games start at 7:40 p.m. ET. The Toronto Blue Jays are in Kansas City against the Royals, with both teams priced at -110 with a total of 8.5. The Minnesota Twins host the Chicago White Sox on FS1 as a -180 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Arizona Diamondbacks visit St. Louis to play the Cardinals at 7:45 p.m. ET as a -112 money-line road favorite with a total of 8.5. The San Diego Padres play in Colorado against the Rockies at 8:40 p.m. ET as a -185 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 10.5. The Los Angeles Angels play at home against the Baltimore Orioles at 9:38 p.m. ET as a -120 money-line favorite with a total of 8.5. The New York Mets are in San Francisco to play the Giants at 9:45 p.m. ET.

Has the Golden State Warriors Dynasty Come to an End?

After losing to the Sacramento Kings last Tuesday, people from around the world chimed in on their thoughts about Golden State. Their disappointing results last year had many people believing that it was the end. Now, after experiencing another let down so early, is it safe to say that we’ve seen the end of the dominance of the Warriors? As a fan of the game, it’s always fun to watch the best teams go at it in the biggest situations. Golden State has been the “best of the best” for many years in a row now and it’s sad to see them go. Having said that, are they really done just yet? Well, Klay Thompson’s contract expires this offseason. Meaning that it’s time for the front office to make some decisions. His horrible performance in the Play-In game might be something that they use to help make that decision. Prior to that game, Klay had actually been playing very well. But, they’ll need to figure things out, that’s for sure. Golden State will also have to decide on other changes that could possibly improve the team's abilities. Draymond Green is somebody to talk about. Jonathan Kuminga/Andrew Wiggins/Moses Moody/Dario Saric will also need to be figured out. Maybe even another move for Chris Paul is in the cards for this offseason. There’s just one thing that is set in stone, to my knowledge. Stephen Curry will continue to be a Warrior until the end of his career. In fact, Curry might happen to be a part of the discussions in some of these difficult decisions. Obviously he’s played his entire career with the likes of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. If they can somehow keep the trio together for next season, I bet that they will. As much as everyone believes that they need a change, let’s not forget that all three of these guys are more than likely to be hall-of-famers when it’s all said and done. Having said that, it’s also likely that at least one of Klay/Draymond has to move on. If played correctly, the Warriors could very well trade away - EXAMPLE - somebody like Andrew Wiggins and get a decent amount in return. There’s no question that he struggled this season, from what he did last year at least. So, the question is still this. Will they continue to disappoint? Or will they snap out of it and make yet another run at glory? Everyone has their own opinions on this and I believe that a lot of people think that it’s over. But, as long as Steph Curry is still in that jersey, I find it hard to believe that the Warriors won’t be a threat, yet alone title contenders once again in the near future. 2024-25 Prediction: If the Warriors keep their trio together, I expect them to get back into the playoffs. They should be competitive (if they all stay healthy) against any team and could very well win a couple of series'. Having said that, if they are to rebuild, it could be another long season for Golden State fans.

Five Tips for Betting on Major League Baseball

Handicapping MLB can be extremely profitable. It’s basically, pick the winner. There’s no point spread per se and finding underdogs gives the smart handicappers extra profits. What could be better than that?Streaky Teams and PitchersAs a baseball handicapper there is nothing that annoys me more than streaky pitchers. They can look for a long time like they can’t possible lose, and then before you know it – and for seemingly no reason – they can forget how to pitch for several games in a row. I place more emphasis on streaky teams than pitching unless I have a bad pitcher starting and his team is on an 1-7 streak. It can be tough to figure out when a good period is going to start or end, and you can lose some serious cash trying to pick when that turn might come. You don’t want to avoid streaky pitchers entirely, of course, because when they are losing or winning several in a row you can really pay off. Ignoring Matchups and Special Circumstances One would have to be extremely lazy to ignore any matchup information and special circumstances that surround the current game. Not only do I look at home/away information, I consider righty vs lefty pitching and night vs daytime games. A pitcher’s effectiveness is determined to a large extent by the baseball team he is pitching against. Casual MLB bettors will address this in a very basic way – by assuming that a pitcher will struggle more against a very good hitting team than against a weak bunch of bats, for example. You need to go further than that, though. Sometimes the best pitcher could struggle against the weakest of teams if the team features a lot of lefties and he loses effectiveness against lefties, or if they are contact hitters and he is better against power hitters. A fly ball pitcher could do better playing in a big ballpark than a small one. In your baseball handicapping, you’ll need to look well beyond surface matchups to identify situations that actually significantly impact what is likely to happen. Does Location Matter?Home vs Away Games etc.The schedule might not be an issue because of who he is playing against, but because of where he is playing. Some pitchers are unhittable at home but terrible on the road, or vice versa. This can especially be an issue if the home field is a particularly generous park for pitchers. I looked at a pitcher today that had a huge difference in their dichotomy.  He has a 1.69 era at home but a 5.63 era on the road. His overall era is 3.76 so depending on where he’s pitching I can put a proper value on the game. Before you get too excited or frustrated about a streak, then, spend time looking at where he has been pitching lately, and compare his road and home key stats. Handicapping Pitchers ERA ERA is one of those statistics that gets a whole lot of coverage. It’s easy to understand and easy to calculate so the media relies on it heavily, and the public looks at it as a stronger indicator than it really is. There are several problems with ERA that make it a less meaningful stat for handicappers, though. The biggest problem is that there are a wide range of factors that are totally beyond a pitchers control that can have an affect on the pitcher’s ERA. A guy will likely have a better ERA over a short period if he faces particularly weak teams than if he had faced particularly tough teams, so he is at the whim of the schedule maker. This can particularly be a problem early in the season when the sample size is small. A pitcher can also be penalized by playing in front of a weak defense. In short, ERA is not a strong indicator of the actual performance of the pitcher, and better stats should be sought out by bettors who want to win.Zeroing in on K/BBStrikeouts are sexy…but not the only stat I look at first. I’m more interested in the strikeouts to walks ratio. If they show 65K’s but also 46 bb’s, then I will take a pass as the walks are more of a consideration than the strikeouts. Everyone loves a power pitcher who can blow the ball past guys, and a game full of big strikeouts is always going to get coverage. By themselves, though, strikeouts aren’t particularly meaningful for handicappers. A strikeout is useful for a pitcher, but more strikeouts don’t necessarily indicate a better pitcher. In so cases a pitcher is sacrificing other aspects of his game in order to get more strikeouts. Instead of allowing themselves to be seduced by strikeouts smart bettors know that it’s more important to look at Ks in ways that indicate how effective a pitcher really is – like K:BB ratio for example.Good Luck and Remember:Let me pinch hit for you for more information, more stats, trends and angles with proper research and analysis resulting in more winners. Baseball is a GAME OF MORE!

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