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Case of the Mondays: Dunk Contest a Dud as NBA Prepares for Stretch Run


by - 2/18/2019

bryce harper washington nationals

The Slam Dunk contest flopped and Team Giannis fizzled during all-star weekend, paving the way for the proverbial second half of the NBA season to begin. And it will begin without Dell Demps, who was fired last week as general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans. As for official offseason workouts in Major League Baseball, those are beginning without Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.

All odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook .

Dell Demps . After failing to deal disgruntled star Anthony Davis prior to the trade deadline, Demps got the boot from his GM role with the Pelicans last Friday. New Orleans reportedly trolled the Lakers to make them look incompetent, never intending to make a move unless it acquired basically L.A.'s entire organization-plus multiple first-round draft picks-other than LeBron James. But the final joke ended up being on Demps. The Lakers are +1100 to win the NBA title.

Slam Dunk Contest . In the third straight ho-hum Slam Dunk Contest since the 2016 showdown between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon, Thunder reserve guard Hamidou Diallo took home the trophy. Diallo delivered the only spectacular dunk of the night, leaping over Shaquille O'Neal and then sticking his elbow through the hoop. Dennis Smith Jr. was decent enough in the early rounds to get second place. Of course, it didn't take much to beat John Collins or Miles Bridges. Oklahoma City is a +150 second choice to win the Northwest Division; Denver is a -125 favorite.

Anthony Stolarz . The Flyers are the NHL's hottest team right now outside of St. Louis, but Stolarz won't be around to see it if they make a surprise run to the playoffs. Stolarz, who recently lost the primary goalie job to rookie sensation Carter Hart, was dealt last week to Edmonton for veteran netminder Cam Talbot. The Oilers are third-to-last in the NHL standings and have won only one of their last 11 games. Philadelphia is a +130 home underdog against Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Tennessee . The Volunteers had won 19 game in a row and were ranked No. 1 in the nation. Then a trip to Rupp Arena hit them like a ton of bricks. Tennessee (23-2, 11-1 SEC) trailed by seven points midway through the first half en route to an 86-69 loss to Kentucky. The Vols shot only 40.7 percent (28.0 percent from three-point range) and fell by 17 points even though the Wildcats missed 10 free-throws. "The things that we said we needed to do tonight, we didn't do," head coach Rick Barnes lamented. "We were a really poor, selfish team offensively. I told the coaches I don't know who I'm looking at, what I'm looking at, where to turn. Because we just didn't give ourselves a chance." Tennessee is a +750 second choice to win the National Championship; Duke is a +170 favorite.

Rob Manfred . Pitchers and catchers have reported to their respective teams in advance of spring training. That's a group that does not include Bryce Harper and Manny Machado-and not just because they aren't pitchers or catchers. Harper and Machaco remain conspicuously unsigned despite being two of Major League Baseball's most prized free agents in recent memory. Fellow players such as Justin Verlander are griping about the situation, which has dragged on for two months now. "I hate the negativity that surrounds the coverage of the game right now," commissioner Rob Manfred commented. "Probably the best antidote for that is to get out there and start playing the game. I think once we get out and start playing the game, the glow of positivity will reemerge." Philadelphia, which had been rumored to be close to a deal with Harper last week, is a +1000 fifth choice to win the World Series.

Kyle Busch . Busch's winless drought at the Daytona 500 extended to 14 appearances when he finished runner-up to Joe Gibbs racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Sunday. The No. 18 Toyota was leading before the penultimate restart with nine laps remaining, at which point Hamlin wanted to "race it out" instead of working together. Hamlin eventually took the lead heading into a final restart with two laps to go. At that point, according to Busch, Hamlin wanted to "go back into teammate preservation mode," which Busch called "kind of funny." The No. 11 Toyota held on for its second triumph at Daytona in the last four years. When the season began, Busch was a +450 co-favorite along with Kevin Harvick to win the 2019 Sprint Cup championship.

Justin Thomas . Thomas took control of the Genesis Open at Riviera with rounds of 66, 65, and 65 for the tournament's 54-hole scoring record. He took a four-shot lead with him into Sunday (well, Sunday afternoon to be exact; a third round delayed by rain and darkness wrapped up on Sunday morning), but J.B. Holmes quickly erased all of that deficit. Holmes fired a 1-under 70 in tough conditions and benefited from Thomas' disastrous closing 75 that included a trio of three-putts. "J.B. won; he played great," Thomas praised. "But it's always a bummer to hand him a tournament. I feel like I should have won that thing…. I really struggled putting in that wind out there. It's something that I've needed to get better at, and it unfortunately just kind of showed a flaw in my game." Thomas is a +900 favorite to win this week's World Golf Championship in Mexico.


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