Heat favored as NBA Finals get started
The Miami Heat won and covered easily as a 7-point favorite in Monday’s 99-76 blowout win in Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers. With the win, the stage is officially set for a Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs NBA Finals.
This is Miami’s third straight trip to the NBA Finals and San Antonio’s fifth under head coach Gregg Popovich since 1998-99. The Spurs have won the championship in each of their last four NBA Finals appearances. Miami is 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS in its last four games against the Spurs, including an 88-86 win in San Antonio and a 105-100 win in Miami this season.
Game 1 will be played on Thursday night and Game 2 will be played on Sunday night, both in Miami. Miami opens as a 5.5-point favorite at 5Dimes for Thursday.
The Chicago Blackhawks are 11-4 SU in their last 15 games against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, including two games in this series to take a 2-0 lead heading to Los Angeles. The Kings will look to turn things around on home ice, where they are 14-0 SU over their last 14 games. Los Angeles is a -130 favorite over Chicago (+110) at Bovada in Tuesday’s Game 3. Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday, and Game 5 will be on Saturday if necessary.
Out East, the Boston Bruins crushed the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 in Game 1 and 6-1 in Game 2 in Pittsburgh. They’ll return home to Boston and look to keep things going in Game 3 on Wednesday and Game 4 on Friday. Game 5 will be back in Pittsburgh on Sunday if necessary.
Two of the American League’s top teams take to the diamond for a three-game series starting Tuesday when the Texas Rangers visit the Boston Red Sox. Texas is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games against Boston. Justin Grimm takes the mound Tuesday for the Rangers and is a +131 underdog at 5Dimes to Ryan Dempster (-136) and the Red Sox.
The Belmont runs Saturday with a field of nine horses including Kentucky Derby Winner Orb and Preakness winner Oxbow. Orb is the favorite and is expected to bounce back from a disappointing showing in the Preakness.