GAMBLING GUIDE

Bookie Busters: Some midweek plays on the NBA and soccer

Bookie Busters: Some midweek plays on the NBA and soccer
Ronaldo and Real Madrid should be money makers. Photo by Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Although the Astros had an abysmal performance Friday night, Bookie Busters still found a way to profit for the weekend

5-3-1

MLB 0-2

Astros-1.5 LOSS

Astros Total Runs over 5  lOSS

NBA 3-0

New Orleans Team Total Over 115  WIN

New Orleans 1st half -6  WIN

New Orleans  First quarter -3  WIN

UFC 0-1

Joanna Jedrzejczyk -112  LOSS

Soccer 2-0-1

Manchester Utd vs. Manchester City

Over 2.5 goals  WIN

Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid

Under 3  WIN

Roma vs. Barcelona

Over 3 -118 PUSH

NBA

Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves

Wednesday night gives NBA enthusiast everything you want out of a season finale, one game for postseason life, an NBA scheduler 's dream!

Both teams come into this matchup with familiarity as they faced off less than a week ago in a Denver 100-96 victory. On that night, the Timberwolves played a sound first half going into the intermission with a 54-51 lead. In the closing half, they only put up 42 points while ending the night shooting 25% from 3-point range. Denver is finishing strong down the stretch, having reeled off eight wins in the last ten games. On this steak they have ranked top ten in both offensive efficiency (7th) and defensive efficiency (8th). Denver, is a team known for its offensive pace and the way the team runs out in transition. But on this streak, they have slowed down the pace considerably, ranking 20th on the five-game run. Slowing the pace down has allowed the Denver interior players to be in optimal positions to rebound and this had translated to the third best offensive rebound percentage in the NBA in the small time frame.

The Pick

In the matchup on April 4 in Denver, the Nuggets were favored by 4.5 points. Now the line has changed 7.5  points with home court flipping, and I don't know if it's justified with the current form of these two teams. Yes, Minnesota has won its last two games but the competition was subpar vs. teams in offseason mode (Lakers, Grizzlies). Before that, they lost to a couple of potential playoff teams in the Nuggets and Jazz. Dating back to March 11, the Timberwolves have been on an odd streak off winning two games and losing two games consecutively. As mentioned earlier, they just won their last two games, so I guess we know what comes next. Denver, welcome to the postseason.

Denver +3

Thunder vs. Grizzlies

Oklahoma City needs to better its seeding with a win as their playoff spot is already clinched. In their path, a poor Memphis team that is gasping for air to make it to the finish line of the NBA season. Memphis is bottom 5 in the NBA in first-half points (51) while owning a -4.1 point margin in opening halves. The Thunder, average 54.7 points in the first-halves and carry a top 5 margin of +2.8 in the opening 24 minutes of games.  Look for the Thunder to come out fast and make a statement at home, this game gets out of hand, quickly.

The Pick

Thunder First Half -7

Thunder Team Total Over

*Projected line

Soccer

Champions League

Real Madrid vs. Juventus

The deciding leg in a two-way tie that sits at 3-0, the home team has the benefit of playing against a team that will be desperate and will be missing their best player Dybala. With 20 goals in their last seven matches attached to the space they will have in this game will be enough to get them on the score sheet a few times. Real Madrid, with a comfortable win.

The Pick

Real Madrid Money line

Real Madrid -1

Real Madrid Team Total Over 2

Ronaldo to score a goal anytime

For any questions or comments reach me  @JerryBoknowz on twitter

 

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The Astros' offense needs a reset. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.

The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. In the batter’s box he has often looked befuddled. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.

All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.

As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.

Familiar faces return

This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.

Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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