This Week in Sports Betting A-Z 5/16/2018

by Ricky Dimon - 5/16/2018

A. Ayton, DeAndre . Will Ayton soon be a member of the Phoenix Suns? Phoenix won the NBA Draft lottery on Tuesday, and the former Arizona big man is a possible No.1 pick. Hey, at least it's not as bad as Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward, and Nick Chubb having to go to the Cleveland Browns. Not even close.

B. Barkley, Saquon . Barkley insists that he is "more than a running back." No wonder the Giants drafted him as they need help not only at running back but also at quarterback, receiver, tight end, fullback, guard, center, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, defensive end, linebacker, cornerback, safety, kicker, punter, long snapper…. GT Bets has New York as a +3.5 home underdog against Jacksonville in Week 1 .

C. Cano, Robinson . The Mariners' second baseman suffered a broken right hand when he got hit by a pitch in last weekend's loss to Detroit, and he will require surgery. Adding insult to injury, Cano was suspended for 80 games on Tuesday after testing positive for a banned substance. Well, the broken had is one way to make a long suspension relatively meaningless; he would have been out for a long time no matter what.

D. Dwane Casey . Toronto went 59-23 in the regular season, good for the best record in the Eastern Conference. For those efforts, Casey got fired last week. It's not his fault LeBron James hit that buzzer-beater….

E. Earned . Alabama earned the title; Central Florida did not. This isn't complicated, and Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban recently dropped some truth bombs to explain the situation regarding UCF's embarrassing, incessant National Championship claims. "I guess anybody has the prerogative to claim anything," Saban commented. "But self-proclaimed is not the same as actually earning it. And there's probably a significant number of people who don't respect people who make self-proclaimed sort of accolades for themselves." Preach! MyBookie.ag has Alabama as a +180 favorite to win it all again next season.

F. Fortnite . Boston left-hander David Price has insisted that the video game "Fortnite" is not to blame for his carpal tunnel syndrome. If you play so much "Fortnite" that you actually feel the need to go out and claim that "Fornite" is not the problem, it's probably safe to say that "Fortnite" is the problem.

G. Game 2 . After scoring a mere 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting in Game 1 against the Celtics, LeBron was expected to come out like gangbusters on Tuesday. He did. Forking up shots left and right and making most of them, LeBron scored 21 first-quarter points as the Cavaliers seized an early lead. It hardly mattered, and neither did his eventual triple-double of 42 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds. Boston ended up pulling away for 107-94 win and a 2-0 cushion in the Eastern Conference Finals.

H. Hook . Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, who compiled a 42-13-4 regular-season record to go along with a 2.31 goals-against average and .927 save percentage, didn't get just one quick hook in the Western Conference semifinals against the Jets. He got three. For the third time in the series, Rinne got pulled early after allowing two goals in the first period of Game 7 last Thursday. Just 10:07 into the contest, it was the quickest Game 7 hook for a starting goalie in NHL history. The Predators eventually lost 5-1. Winnipeg is a +115 underdog at Vegas in Game 3 on Wednesday, according to Bovada Sportsbook.

I. Ichiro . According to a recent report, Ichiro doesn't know who the [expletive] Tom Brady is. At least he didn't in 2017. In the spring of last year, Brady-after getting the Japanese star's number from Alex Rodriguez-sent Ichiro a text saying he would like to meet him and discuss his stretching routine. A coach asked, "What's the guy's name?" "Some guy named Tom Brady," Ichiro answered. "Who the [expletive] is Tom Brady?"

J. Justify . The Preakness is this Saturday, when Justify will try to add the second leg to his Triple Crown bid. He is a -260 favorite at BookMaker.

K. Kevin Durant . Houston, you have a problem-and that problem is Durant. The 2014 NBA MVP and reigning NBA Finals MVP went for 37 points on 14-for-27 shooting in the Warriors' 119-106 road win in Game 1. Golden State is a +1.5 underdog in Game 2 on Wednesday, per GT Bets.

L. Lindor, Francisco . Lindor went to bat with a wrong batting helmet (protective flap on the right side when he was hitting right-handed) when the Indians played against Kansas City last Sunday. It was a front-page story on ESPN.com. Slow news day?!?!

M. Matt Patricia . This is not the way Patricia or the Lions could have envisioned the start of his head-coaching tenure. A sexual assault charge from 22 years, which was eventually dropped 10 months after the incident took place, has resurfaced. The 43-year-old has denied any wrongdoing, but the court of public opinion could be damaging for both coach and franchise.

N. Nadal, Rafael . Nadal had won 14 straight clay-court matches this season and 50 consecutive clay-court sets dating back to last year's French Open. That was until he faced Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals of last week's tournament in Madrid, where the Spaniard suffered a 7-5, 6-3 upset loss. Will the King of Clay be vulnerable at Roland Garros later this month? Let me help you out with that; in a word, no. Nadal is a -225 favorite at Bovada Sportsbook to win the French for an 11^th time.

O. Owner . Hedge fund billionaire David Tepper has agreed to buy the Carolina Panthers for approximately $2.3 billion. Commiserations, Stephen Curry!

P. Paxton, James . The Mariners' left-hander tossed a no-hitter against the Blue Jays last Tuesday. Paxton blanked Toronto while walking three batters and striking out seven in a 5-0 win for Seattle.

Q. Quiet Place . "A Quiet Place" was dominating the box office until "Avengers: Infinity War" came along, and it is still dominating on Rotten Tomatoes. Speaking of a quiet place, that's exactly what PNC Park in Pittsburgh has been in recent times. The Pirates' home attendance has dropped from 30,000 in 2015 to 27,000 in 2016 to 23,000 in 2017 and to 15,000 this season-despite a solid 24-17 record.

R. Rooney, Wayne . The English striker, who is currently controlled by Everton of the English Premier League, could be transferred to the D.C. United of MLS sometime this week. He should fit right in with the D.C. sports scene: a lot of talent, only a little success in the biggest events.

S. Serena Williams . Serena has not played since getting ousted from both Indian Wells and Miami early in those March tournaments. Despite recent withdrawals from Madrid and Rome, her coach says she will be ready for the French Open.

T. Trust the process . The 76ers may be out of the playoffs, but the process to legalize sports betting throughout the United States is alive and well. With the Supreme Court of the U.S. recently killing a prohibition on sports betting, the door has been opened for eventual-if not soon-legalization in all 50 states. Victory!

U. Undefeated . FC Barcelona was two matches away from completing an undefeated season in La Liga, which had not happened since 1931-32 (when the schedule was only 18 matches instead of 38 and Real Madrid accomplished the feat). From out of nowhere, though, Levante of all teams stunned Barca 5-4 last weekend. Levante had been-and still is-15^th out of 20 teams on the league table. Real is +121 at XBet.ag to beat Liverpool in regulation in the Champions League final.

V. Vasilevskiy, Andrey . Vasilevsky allowed two goals in the final 1:02 of the second period in Game 2 between Tampa Bay and Washington this past Sunday as the Capitals pulled away for a 6-2 victory and a commanding 2-0 series lead following two road games. But home ice proved to be less beneficial for the Caps, who lost 4-2 on Tuesday. Vasilevsky made 36 saves for the Lightning, who scored three goals in the second period. 5Dimes Sportsbook has both Tampa Bay and Washington at -105 for Game 4 on Thursday.

W. Webb Simpson . Simpson, you ruined everything! If not for him, Sunday at THE PLAYERS Champion would have been a raucous affair with all kinds of players challenging for the lead-including none other than Tiger Woods. Instead, they were all playing for second. Simpson went wire-to-wire at the TPC Sawgrass, taking a seven-shot lead into the final round and eventually winning by four.

X. Xander Schauffele . Tiger was not one of the three players who tied for second, four strokes behind Simpson. Schauffele, the reigning Tour Championship winner, was in that group. The 24-year-old American carded three rounds of 68 or better to finish T2 along with Charl Schwartzel and Jimmy Walker.

Y. Yu Darvish . Darvish gave up just one run on Tuesday and the Cubs beat Atlanta 3-2. Still, Darvish failed to get the win. He left after four innings due to a leg cramp and eventually watched his team score twice in the ninth to come from behind. Through seven starts in his debut season with the Cubs, the 31-year-old is 0-3 with a 5.56 ERA. Chicago (Chatwood) is -105 at Atlanta (McCarthy) on Thursday, as indicated by MyBookie.ag.

Z. Zero . That's how many outs Dylan Bundy got for the Orioles in his start last Tuesday. He gave up seven runs on five hits and two walks before leaving with no outs in the first inning. The Royals took the 25-year-old deep four times and eventually won the game 15-7. Bundy recovered by pitching seven scoreless innings in a 17-1 rout of Tampa Bay this past Sunday. That's the greatest comeback since Lazarus.

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