Friday Best Bets, Thursday Recaps
Thursday wasn’t as action-packed as Wednesday in and out of the Tuley’s Takes home office. It definitely had a “spring feel” to it as we followed the action at Augusta (I didn’t post any bets here, but I am in some Masters contests) and picked up my son after his high school band practice (after he finished the season with the Las Vegas Youth Orchestra on Wednesday night).
The lunch hour was spent following my Best Bet on the Giants First 5 Innings +115 at the White Sox. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, then 4-0, 6-2 and 8-3 to cash the F5 bet on the way to a 16-6 rout as MLB’s only winning underdog of the day (see full Thursday recaps below).
Unfortunately, my NHL bets didn’t fare as well. We did hit the first leg of our First-Period Over parlay as the Sabres’ led the Red Wings 3-2 after the opening 20 minutes, but the Blackhawks and Canucks failed to complete the parlay as the Canucks only led 1-0 after the first period on the way to a 3-0 victory to lose our separate Blackhawks +185 play.
Let’s get to our daily recaps of Thursday’s betting action and then look for better Best Bets on Friday.
Thursday Recaps
NBA: Faves went 3-2 SU on Thursday, but dogs led 4-1 ATS as the Nuggets (+13.5 in 119-115 loss at the Suns) and Blazers (+5 in 129-127 loss at Spurs) both covered in SU losses. The upsets were by the Cavaliers (+5.5 in 118-94 win at Magic) and Heat (+2.5 in 129-101 win at 76ers). Road teams went 3-2 SU and swept 5-0 ATS. Overs led 3-2.
More NBA: On the season, favorites lead 790-395 SU with 16 games closing pick-'em, but dogs improved slim lead to 582-577-26 ATS. Home teams lead 700-501 SU and 599-578-24 ATS (50.9%). In totals wagering, Overs’ slim lead improved to 601-582-18 (50.8%).
MLB: Favorites went 5-1 on Thursday (there were 4 postponements) with the lone upset by the Giants (+109 in 16-6 rout at White Sox. Road teams went 4-2 while Overs also led 4-2. On the season, faves lead 58-38 with 1 pick-'em. Road teams improved to 51-46; Overs improved to 53-39-5.
NHL: Faves went 10-3 with Sabres-Red Wings closing pick'-em in Sabres 7-6 shootout win. The upsets were by the Predators (+175 in 3-0 win vs. Hurricanes), Blues (+145 in 3-2 OT win vs. Rangers) and Canadiens (+140 in 6-2 win vs. Capitals). Home teams went 12-2. Over/Unders split 7-7.
Friday MLB Best Bet
Astros First 5 Innings +105 at Twins: We get the defending World Series champion as a short underdog here as the Astros are off to a 3-4 start while the Twins are 4-2. Of course, the Twins opened 4-0 vs. the Royal and Marlins (then lost their last 2 vs. the Marlins) and now take a step up in class. Houston starter Jose Urquidy gave up 3 runs in 4 innings to take the loss in his first start vs. the White Sox, but struck out 5 and I expect him to bounce back as well. Minnesota’s Sonny Gray threw the first 5 scoreless innings of a combined shutout of the Royals (tied for the worst start in MLB at 1-6), and should have a tougher time vs. the Astros’ lineup.
Friday NBA Best Bet
Suns +7 vs. Lakers: Let me first say that I’m lukewarm on this play (so take it with a grain of salt). The Lakers are in a “mini-anti-swagger” spot as they just had a 4-game winning streak snapped Wednesday vs. the Clippers in a game that LeBron James and Anthony Davis played at less than 100% because they were still hoping to get the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. As it stands now, they’re still trying to catch the Warriors for the No. 6 seed to avoid the play-in tournament while the Suns are locked in at No. 4 and the speculation is that they might rest players. That’s why the Lakers are so big of a favorite in the overnight line. Pass if you’re worried about that, but my initial thought is that the Suns aren’t going to just roll over for the Lakers; and, in fact, the players they do send out there would love to hurt the Lakers’ playoff chances. Monitor the news on this one, but I’m taking a chance on the Suns +7 (some books at +6.5 overnight).