Wednesday was mostly a day of catching up on some errands and chores around the house as we’re getting it ready for Peyton’s graduation party on Saturday.
But it all led up to the opening game of the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals with our Best Bet of the day on the Rangers + 105 vs. the Lightning. It was a surprisingly sweat-free game as the Rangers scored on their first shot and had an answer for each time the Lightning pulled even on the way to a 6-2 victory. We lost out two MLB dog plays on the White Sox and Reds, but it always feels great to win the top play of the day.
Let’s recap the rest of Wednesday’s betting results and try to stay on the winning track with the resumption of the NBA playoffs on Thursday.
Wednesday’s recaps
NHL: Rangers routed Lightning 6-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The ViewFromVegas is they did it after closing as + 110 home underdogs. The game went Over the betting total of 5.5 goals). Rangers also won their 7th straight home playoff game.
More NHL: Faves/dogs are 1-1 so far in the conference finals round. Faves dipped to 48-27 overall. Home teams have started this round 2-0 and lead 46-29 overall. Overs start this round 2-0 and lead 42-31-2 (57.5 percent) overall, though Unders led 13-9 in the 2nd round.
MLB: Faves went 9-5-1 on Wednesday night with the Twins-Tigers game closing pick-’em. The biggest upset for the 3rd day in a row was by the Pirates (+ 225 in 8-4 win at Dodgers). The other upsets were by the Orioles (+ 128 vs. Mariners), Cardinals (+ 115 vs. Padres), Marlins (-102 in Game 1 at Rockies) and Cubs (-101 vs. Brewers). Home teams went 10-5. Unders led 8-7.
More MLB: Faves lead 445-291 SU (60.4 percent) on the season with 15 games closing pick-'em (faves usually win about 59 percent, so faves ahead of that pace). Home teams lead just 389-362 (51.8 percent, usually closer to 54 percent). Unders are 376-337-38 (52.7 percent), way down from 60 percent just over a month ago.
NBA: No games since Sunday, but want to post this for those interested heading into the NBA Finals. Faves finished 8-4 SU and ATS in the championship finals round, and lead 54-27 SU and 47-34 ATS (58 percent) overall in the playoffs. Home/road teams split 6-6 SU and ATS in the last round, while home teams lead 49-32 SU and 42-39 ATS (51.9 percent) overall. The zig-zag went 7-3 ATS in the round, improving to 37-30 ATS (55.2 percent) overall. Overs 7-5 in round, but Unders lead 48-33 (59.3 percent) overall.
Thursday’s Takes
Celtics + 3.5 at Warriors: As we wrote yesterday, we’re already pot-committed with our play on the Celtics + 145 series price and + 3.5 in Thursday night’s opener. Our only concern is that we’ve seen this become a very public dog since Sunday night and we usually prefer to be contrarian. But, hey, the Rangers were a fairly popular dog on Wednesday night, so sometimes the public is right, too.
Oilers-Avalanche Under 7 + 120: The public was also on the right side with the Over in Game 1 of this series and we were on the wrong side in the 8-6 win by the Avalanche, but we’re willing to fade the public again, especially with the books adjusting even higher to a betting total of 7 (and it’s being juiced so high that we might be able to get Under 7.5 before game time).
MLB dogs: I really don’t like any MLB dogs on Thursday. I would love to fade the Nationals’ Joan Adon, but the Reds are laying -135. The Angels are tempting at + 110 with Ohtani starting against the Yankees, but they’re on a six-game losing streak. Any other dog I’m considering just seems to be too short of a price, so I’m just sticking with NBA and NHL on Thursday.
Good luck today (and every day!).