Jamal Murray helped the Denver Nuggets fight off the San Antonio Spurs, as two of three playoff series evened up Tuesday night. The Boston Celtics try to extend their lead against the Pacers, and the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees play the last of a two-game series tonight. Here’s a sports betting recap from Tuesday and a lookahead to Wednesday.
Jamal Murray Catches Fire in Denver
Jamal Murray scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to prevent the San Antonio Spurs from taking a commanding 2-0 lead over the No. 2 seed Denver Nuggets before making the trip to Texas.
Murray started off the night going 0-for-7 in the first half. Even by the fourth quarter, Murray only had 2 points. To Spurs (+7) backers disappointment, Murray couldn’t miss in the final 12 minutes and the Denver Nuggets fought back from a 19-point deficit to even up the series with a 114-105 win.
Murray wasn’t the only Nugget to contribute late in the game, as Denver outscored the Spurs 39-23 in the fourth quarter.
Like the Nuggets, the Toronto Raptors (-11) also rebounded after suffering an upset in Game 1. The Raptors didn’t have to make a comeback against the Magic in Game 2, though.
Instead, Toronto took an early 26-18 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.
Led by Kawhi Leonard’s 37 points, the Raptors outscored the Magic in all four quarters, beating the No. 7 seed 111-88.
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Celtics Try to Extend Series Lead
The Boston Celtics (-7.5, O/U 203.5) hope to match their defensive intensity that held the Indiana Pacers to just 74 points in Game 1. The stellar performance came without their workhorse on the defensive end, Marcus Smart.
With Smart sidelined, Boston still held the Pacers to just 8 points on 2-of-19 shooting in the third quarter.
Smart is out for the postseason with an oblique injury. One would think Smart’s absence would actually boost the Celtics offense, but Boston only won 84-74 Sunday.
Including the regular season, the Celtics have now beat the Pacers three times in less than three weeks. I don’t think the Pacers will flip the script anytime soon. The Celtics offense should pick up, and while I dont expect the Pacers to have an 8 point quarter tonight, I do think they’ll continue to be somewhat stagnant offensively. Breakfast Lean: Boston Celtics -7.5
Injury Report
Blake Griffin said if it was up to him, he’d be playing in the first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Unfortunately for Detroit Pistons fans, it’s not up to him and Griffin is likely to miss the remainder of the series. The Pistons were already huge longshots to beat the Bucks, who won 45 regular season games by double digits, but without Griffin, they’re drawing dead. If the Griffin-less Pistons win a game in this series I’d be shocked. Breakfast Pick: Milwaukee Bucks to Win 4-0 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Prop Shop: Giannis Antetokoumpo Over/Under 28.5 Points
The Bucks are 15-point favorites and this one definitely has a chance to get out of hand like the 121-86 smackdown in Game 1. MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo only played 23 minutes last game, though he still managed to score 24 points. The Bucks should be given the luxury of conservatively managing their starters’ minutes again. They won’t need 29 points from Antetokounmpo to win this one. Breakfast Pick: Antetokoumpo Under 28.5 Points.
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Temperature Meter: Heat Wave in Columbus
The Columbus Blue Jackets did the unthinkable Tuesday night, using a 7-3 win to complete the sweep over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the President’s Trophy and tying an NHL record 62 regular season wins. Columbus was around 3-to-1 to upset the Lightning before the series started and 50-to-1 to sweep at PointsBet. In total, the Blue Jackets outscored Tampa Bay 19-8 in the four-game series.
Columbus now waits for the winner between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs currently lead the series 2-1 and host the Bruins as -125 moneyline favorites (Over/Under 6) tonight.
Yankees Host Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees resume one of the greatest rivalries in sports Wednesday night at 6 pm ET, albeit briefly. Wednesday’s meeting is the second of only a two-game series.
Neither AL East team has met early expectations this season, as the Tampa Bays hold a healthy 5.5 game division lead over the Yankees, who are 7-9 after shutting out the Red Sox 8-0 Tuesday.
Some of the Yankees’ struggles have come from a plague of early season injuries. The Red Sox on other hand only have themselves to blame. At 6-12, the defending World Series champions have struggled offensively and defensively. Boston has yet to win series this season. Their pitching has been especially concerning, ranking 28th with a 5.93 ERA.
Much like the rest of their team, Wednesday’s projected starting pitchers J.A Happ and Nathan Eovaldi are off to rough starts in 2019.
Happ most recently gave up four runs in just four innings in a Yankees loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He’s had three starts but has yet to pitch into the sixth inning, giving up two losses and an 8.76 ERA.
Eovaldi has already given up twice as many home runs as he did the entire 2018 season.
If these pitching woes persist, these lineups shouldn’t find it difficult to go over the Total. Breakfast Spread: Over 9 Runs.
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