This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z 4/9/2019

by Ricky Dimon - 4/9/2019

A. Antonio Brown . If you thought the Steelers' soap opera was over when they traded Brown to Oakland, think again. Now he and JuJu Smith-Schuster have gotten into a Twitter a war-because that's just what kids do these days.

B. Baylor . Brittney Griner wasn't walkin' through that door, but the Baylor women captured the National Championship on Sunday-surviving an 82-81 thriller against Notre Dame.

C. Clinched . This year's NBA playoffs are going to feature…wait for it…the Nets and the Magic. Brooklyn booked its ticket with Sunday's win over Indiana, while Orlando followed suit a few hours later by beating Boston. Milwaukee is a +160 favorite at Bovada Sportsbook to win the Eastern Conference.

D. Dwyane Wade . TNT not televising Wade's final home game is a bigger disaster than the Hindenburg explosion. Okay, maybe not. But it's bad. The Heat must win their last two games and get significant help from Detroit and Charlotte (the Pistons have to lose their last two; the Hornets have to lose at least one of two) in order to make the playoffs. In other words, they're done. Miami is a -5 home favorite over Philadelphia on Tuesday, per MyBookie.ag.

E. English Premier League . Arsenal had gone six English Premier League matches without a loss (5-0-1) before suffering a costly 1-0 setback against Everton last weekend. The Gunners gave up a goal in the 10^th minute and never recovered, thus squandering a chance to pass Tottenham on the EPL table. They are tied for fourth with Chelsea, one point back of Tottenham and 19 behind league-leading Liverpool.

F. Flames . The NHL playoffs begin on Wednesday, and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference belongs to none other than the Flames. Calgary compiled a 50-25-7 record, good for 107 points and second behind Tampa Bay in the entire league.

G. Giannis Antetokounmpo . Giannis in his last two games: 45 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks followed by 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocks in only 25 minutes. You know he and James Harden are good when a guy averaging a triple-double can't even get in the MVP discussion.

H. Hitless . No one has swung and missed this many times since Joel Embiid was pursuing Rihanna. Orioles first baseman Chris Davis isn't just bad; he's historically bad. Davis is 0-for-49 in his last 49 at-bats dating back to Sept. 12 of last season, including 0-for-28 with 15 strikeouts this season. On Monday broke the MLB record for consecutive hitless at-bats by a position player, previously held by Dodgers infielder Eugenio Valez (2011). Baltimore (Means) is a +141 home underdog against Oakland (Anderson) on Tuesday, according to BetOnline Sportsbook.

I. Izzo, Tom . Izzo has certainly overachieved by taking Michigan State to an incredible eight Final Fours, especially given that the Spartans had no business being in a few of those. This year's team upset No. 1 overall seed Duke, for example, en route to the Minneapolis. But Izzo owns just one national title, and he will have to wait until 2020 for another shot at number two after MSU fell to Texas Tech 61-51 last Saturday night.

J. Jon Lester . Adding insult to injury-or vice versa-when it comes to Cubs' 3-7 start, Lester left his team's home opener on Monday with hamstring tightness. Good news? Chicago hammered the Pirates 10-0.

K. Kyler Murray . Murray is visiting the Cardinals on Wednesday. He is already a massive favorite to be the No. 1 overall picks in next month's NFL Draft. Will this meeting seal the deal?

L. Los Angeles Dodgers . The Dodgers lost 4-3 to St. Louis on Monday, but they had previously won five in a row and are still an impressive 8-3. Are they still the beasts of the National League? 5Dimes Sportsbook has the Dodgers (Stripling) as -128 favorites at the Cardinals (Hudson) on Tuesday.

M. Masters . It's Masters week! Even non-golf diehards love those Masters pools, if only to cure their NCAA Tournament hangover. BookMaker has Rory McIlroy as a +725 favorite.

N. National Championship . This NCAA Tournament was so good from start to finish that no one wanted it to end. Thus, Virginia and Texas Tech prolonged it for five more minutes on Monday night, when then Wahoos triumphed 85-77 in overtime for their first National Championship.

O. Oracle Arena . The Warriors played their last-ever regular-season game inside Oracle Arena when they hammered the Clippers 131-104 on Sunday. But it's safe to say at least eight more games are in store for those fans. Golden State is a -225 favorite at GT Bets to win the NBA title.

P. Pearl, Bruce . Pearl isn't perfect (is any college basketball coach?), but he handled Auburn's 63-62 semifinal loss to Virginia about as well as possible after his team was victimized by a no-call on a UVA double-dribble (bad) and a foul call on UVA's last-second three-pointer (not as bad). "We weren't supposed to be here," Pearl said of his fifth-seeded Tigers. "This will be a memorable game, and I'd like it to be remembered for a great game. Let's not remember this game because of just how it ended; let's remember two teams that played really hard that only had 13 turnovers combined…. Give Virginia credit-they won the game. It's a 40-minute game. I don't want a couple of calls to be…defining."

Q. Quenneville, Joel . The Quenneville era in Chicago ended earlier this season, but he did not take long to find his footing. The Panthers hired the 60-year-old last weekend with a contract that will pay him more than $6 million annually.

R. Rafael Nadal . Clay-court season, which is underway, is reminiscent of that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark in which an enemy wields his sword in dramatic fashion before Indiana Jones nonchalantly shoots him dead. It's just not a fair fight between Rafael Nadal and everyone else. Nadal is a -120 favorite at XBet.ag to win the French Open.

S. Suarez, Luis . With his team needing a win over FC Barcelona to stay in La Liga contention, Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa was hit with a red card in the 28 ^th minute of last weekend's match for making a derogatory comment about the referee's mother. Madrid managed to remain tied until the 85^th minute, when Suarez struck for Barcelona. Lionel Messi added an insurance goal one minute later for a 2-0 victory. Barca now tops the table by 11 points.

T. Three-pointers . Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five…not 25, not 26…. No, the Rockets dialed in an NBA single-game record 27 threes during their 149-113 romp over Phoenix on Sunday. YouWager.eu has Houston as a -1 favorite at Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

U. UFC236 . Move over, Trae Young. With the NBA season ending, there will be a new main attraction inside Atlanta's State Farm Arena this weekend. Israel Adesanya will battle Kelvin Gastelum for a UFC title. MyBookie.ag has Adesanya as a -175 favorite.

V. Valero Texas Open . Corey Conners wasn't even in the Valero Texas Open field when last week began. But he qualified on Monday, and the rest is history. The 27-year-old Canadian eventually captured his first career PGA Tour title, capping off a 20-under performance with a 6-under 66 on Sunday. Augusta is calling.

W. Wild . Bad news for the Wild: they aren't going to the playoffs. Good news for forward J.T. Brown: he has plenty of time to party in the offseason. Brown was arrested for public intoxication last weekend and he was then sidelined from Saturday's finale against Dallas due to "illness." Welp, that's one way to say it.

X. Denotes clinched playoff berth . The final playoff race of this NHL season featured Montreal and Columbus, and it went the way of the Blue Jackets. They won their last two games to finish an awesome 7-1-0 in their last eight. Their reward: a date with the Lightning, by far the best team in the league. Tampa Bay is a -235 home favorite over Columbus in Game 1 on Wednesday, as indicated by Bovada Sportsbook.

Y. Yelich, Christian . Is it too early to hand Yelich a second straight NL MVP trophy? The Brewers' outfielder is batting .375 with five home runs and 13 RBIs through 11 games this season.

Z. Zdeno Chara . If experience is the deciding factor, the Bruins should be in business during these playoffs. After all, they have a guy (Chara) who is older than Tom Brady, way older than Roger Federer, and seemingly older than just about every head coach in the NFL these days. And they just signed the 42-year-old to an extension! Boston is a +900 third choice at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the Stanley Cup; Tampa Bay is a +200 favorite.

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