This Week in Sports Betting A-Z 1/11/2018

by Ricky Dimon - 1/11/2018

A. Andy Murray . The former world No. 1 and three-time major champion withdrew from the Australian Open last week, and he will be withdrawing from a lot more than that after undergoing hip surgery on Monday. Murray, who last played at Wimbledon, hopes to return during the grass-court swing this summer.

B. Big Baller Brand . LaVar Ball has taken his talents-if you can call them that-to Lithuania, where the professional careers of his two non-Lonzo sons are underway. He somehow managed to create his own Lithuanian league sponsored by the Big Baller Brand, prompting his sons' team to leave the league in which it had previously been playing. Unsurprisingly, LaVar has still found time to bloviate about how the Lakers no longer want to play for head coach Luke Walton. Los Angeles is a +1 home underdog against San Antonio on Thursday, per BetOnline Sportsbook.

C. Chelsea . Chelsea has not scored a single goal in its last two matches. Fortunately for the Blues, neither have their opponents. While they are still alive in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup competitions, the English Premier League is all but over (Manchester City leads by 15 points).

D. Devils . No team in the NHL is more bipolar than the Devils right now. They won five in a row from Dec. 15 through Dec. 27 but have now lost five straight-including three in overtime or shootouts. Four of their five recent setbacks have come by one goal, a stretch that was touched off by a 4-3 OT loss to Buffalo on Dec. 29. The Sabres are +125 home underdogs against Columbus on Thursday, according to Bovada Sportsbook.

E. Evaluation . Spurs' guard Kawhi Leonard had his shoulder strain evaluated earlier this week, and while the news is not terrible, he remains sidelined. The two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year will miss Thursday's game against the Lakers.

F. Fromm, Jake . If you said that a freshman quarterback would lead his team to the National Championship on Monday, Georgia would have started walking to the podium to accept the trophy. After all, Alabama started a sophomore in Jalen Hurts. But head coach Nick Saban replaced Hurts with freshman Tua Tagovailoa at halftime…. The rest is history.

G. Gruden, Jon . Gruden is off our Monday night TV sets and Spider 2 Y Banana is in the Raiders' playbook. This is going to be fun-and perhaps even more fun when they move to Las Vegas.

H. Harden, James . Harden suffered a strained hamstring on Dec. 31 and has not played since. There remains no timetable for his return, but the initial diagnosis called for an evaluation after two weeks. Houston is 4-2 during this stretch without him and has currently won two in a row over Chicago and Portland. GT Bets has the Rockets at +450 to win the Western Conference.

I. Interception . Is there anything more fitting than the Buffalo Bills season effectively ending with a Nathan Peterman interception? Absolutely not. Such was their final offensive play in a 10-3 wild-card loss at Jacksonville.

J. Johnson, Dustin . The rest of the PGA Tour actually has a chance this week, because Johnson is not playing the Sony Open and presumably has opted to spend some alone time with Paulina Gretzky. Who can blame him? Johnson won last week's event in Kapalua by eight strokes.

K. Kristaps Porzingis . Porzingis said last week that he is "tired" and that his legs need more rest. Maybe he is just tired of a losing record and the Knicks being 2-8 in their last 10 games.

L. Lamar Jackson . The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner declared for the NFL Draft last week following his junior campaign at Louisville. That's a savvy move by Jackson, knowing that he is not going to be taken by the Cleveland Browns.

M. Marcus Mariota . Marcus Mariota threw his first career playoff touchdown pass to…wait for it…Marcus Mariota. That fluke play sparked Tennessee's rally from a 21-3 halftime deficit as the visitors stunned Kansas City 22-21 last Saturday.

N. New England Patriots . There have been well-documented reports that trouble is brewing in paradise. All parties in the Patriots' camp are, of course, denying it. How about something that won't give New England any trouble? That would be none other than the Titans, who are somehow in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Patriots are +130 favorites at MyBookie.ag to win the Super Bowl.

O. Olympics . Three-time national figure skating champion and bronze medalist in the team competition at the 2014 Sochi Olympics will not be going to South Korea. Wagner, 26, finished fourth at last week's U.S. nationals and the three skaters who made the podium were named to the American team ahead of her. "As an athlete, I'm allowed to be mad," she posted on Twitter following the decision. "As a senior competitor with over 10 years of experience, I'm allowed to question things." Bovada Sportsbook has the United States and Germany as +225 co-favorites to win the medal count.

P. Philippe Coutinho . For a cool £146 million, Liverpool shipped the 25-year-old Brazilian to FC Barcelona. He was named Liverpool's Player of the Year in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Q. Quinn, Dan . The Falcons' head coach made some inexplicable decisions during last weekend's wild-card game at Los Angeles. He called a timeout late in the first half that the Rams used to kick a field goal prior to the intermission, and he did not go for two while leading by 12 points with six minutes remaining. Luckily for the defending NFC champions, Quinn and company benefited from two fumbles by L.A. return specialist Pharoh Cooper en route to a 26-13 upset. 5Dimes Sportsbook has Atlanta as a -3 favorite at Philadelphia on Saturday. This is the first time in NFL history that a No. 1 seed is a home underdog in its opening playoff game.

R. Retiring . NFL referee Jeff Triplette announced last Sunday that he will retire. For Chiefs' fans, his retirement came one day too late. Triplette incorrectly ruled Mariota down by contact on a fumble that was recovered by the Chiefs and incorrectly explained the ruling on Mariota's Mariota-to-Mariota touchdown pass, among some other gaffes.

S. San Jose Sharks . The Sharks will have enjoyed five full days off by the time they take the ice on Saturday against Arizona. They should be itching to get back out there and start making up ground on upstart Vegas in the Pacific Division, because they have lost three in a row and are 12 points behind the Golden Knights.

T. Tiger Woods . Tiger announced last week that his first two tournaments of 2018 will come at Torrey Pines later this month and at Riviera in February. Get your popcorn ready. Tiger is +1600 at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the Masters.

U. Upset . Duke is now saddled with two losses this season, and both have come against underwhelming ACC competition. The Blue Devils fell at Boston College 89-84 on Dec. 9 and again at N.C. State 96-85 last Saturday. They at least managed to bounce back-easily-and destroy Pittsburgh 87-52 on Wednesday. N.C. State is a +4 home underdog against Clemson on Thursday, as indicated by GT Bets.

V. Valentine, Ted . In North Carolina's 81-80 setback at Florida State last week, Valentine turned his back on Tar Heels' point guard Joel Berry II while Berry was trying to argue a non-call with six minutes remaining. Valentine is getting so much flack for it that he says he is considering retirement. Say it ain't so, TV Teddy!

W. Williams, Serena . Williams, who won last year's Australian Open while pregnant, withdrew from the tournament last week. The 23-time Grand Slam champion gave birth to a daughter this past August and decided she is not yet ready to return to competition. Garbine Muguruza is a +640 favorite at BookMaker to win the title.

X. Xavier . The Musketeers started 15-1 and found themselves as high as No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll last week. They are now moving in the distinct wrong direction. Tenth-ranked Xavier has lost in succession to Providence and-more understandably-Villanova.

Y. Yangervis Solarte . The Blue Jays acquired the 30-year-old second baseman in a trade with the Padres last weekend. Solarte is a career .267 hitter who hit 18 home runs and had 64 RBIs during the 2017 campaign.

Z. Zach Line . How's this for a…well…line? One carry, one yard, one touchdown. That was Line's line in New Orleans' 31-26 wild-card win over Carolina last weekend. The backup running back gave the Saints a 21-6 lead with 43 seconds left in the first half before they just barely held on for victory. New Orleans is a +4.5 underdog at Minnesota on Sunday, per MyBookie.ag.

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