The Metro Report: Sports Betting in Philly , New York and Washington DC

The Eagles turn the page from Doug Pedersen and fired him on Monday. It was rumored that he would return along with GM Howie Roseman. Only Roseman remains with the team. Owner Jeff Lurie gave the reason as a difference in philosophy on what was needed to fix things. The approach is Lurie is looking at appears to be more long term. The person mentioned as a candidate to replace Pedersen is Todd Bowles. defensive coordinator  for the Tampa  Bay Buccaneers.

Washington Football lost to the Bucs in the opening round  of the NFL Wild Card Playoffs. The score was 31-23.The quarterback, Taylor Heinicke  played an excellent game. Coach Rivera indicated that settling the QB position would be an off season priority. Alex Smith wanted to wait a couple week before he decides his future about continuing to play. He is under contract for next season.

The Jets have two picks in the 1st round of the NFL Draft 2021. They have the 2nd, 23rd  and 34 picks. This bodes well for the Jets because this draft is deep in talent. If they plan to move on from Sam Darnold then a QB is the way to go with the second pick. If they still want to commit to Darnold, then DeVonta Smith ,Heisman Trophy receiver from Alabama would up grade the offense immediately.

The Sixers broke a 3 game losing streak last night by defeating the Heat 137-134. Joel Embiid played a monster game. He led the team with 45 points and 16 rebounds. The Sixers are still without the services of Tobias Harris, Shake Milton and Seth Curry due to COVID protocol. Sixers play the Heat again on Thursday. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic did not play last night. Butler has been ruled out for Thursday game. 

The Brooklyn Nets will be without Kyrie Irving for the balance of this week. He has cited personal reasons for his absence. The team is not commenting on the situation. There is a video that appears to show Irving not adhering to COVID protocols .Watch the video. If a player is found to miss games due to a violation , each game missed can result in a reduction of salary for each game missed. Nets are 6-6 and 7th in the conference standing. 

The Nets continued to stay in the headlines with the acquisition of James Harden from the Houston Rockets.It involved a 4 team trade to complete the deal. While the loss of Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince will decrease the depth of the team, having the multiple time scoring champion will make up for the point production. The Nets included 4 first round picks so they are all in.

The Wizards continue to be exciting but unable to win or defend. They have a record of 3-8.  Bradley Beal is the leading scorer. Russell Westbrook is continuing to get triple double numbers every night. Thomas Bryant suffer a torn ACL and is out for the season. Westbrook is out for a week due to a left quad injury.

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NBA Finals: Warriors & Cavs -Chapter Three

Everyone wanted this to happen. It was more of a foregone conclusion that the Warriors and Cavs would meet for the championship.  Once Kevin Durant signed with Golden State, it became finals or bust for them. He has improved their team with his rebounding and defense. This is a player that is always in the top ten in scoring but we recognize his overall impact on a team that has the best backcourt in the league.

We see LeBron playing the best all round game of his tremendous career. He is shooting well from the outside and making the 3 consistently. He and KD will cancel each other out. They will rotate people on James to limit his production.

Irving and Curry are the x factors. Whoever wins this match up will win this series. Most people think that the Warriors win in 6. I see the inside game being too much for the Warriors. Green gets the edge in his match-up with Kevin Love. Rebounding edge is with Cleveland.

Here are some VEGAS numbers.
Warriors favored by 7 in Game 1.
Warriors are -260 to win the series. Cavs are +220.
The over/under for game 1 is 225.

We are going with the Cavs in 6. KD is great but he will come up short again in the bright lights.

We will post the highlight of each game thru out the series. Stop back and see which play we select from Game One.

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NBA Finals Preview

This is the match up we wanted. Once the Spurs were eliminated, Cleveland against Golden State was the most appealing match up. Lebron James vs. Steph Curry. The best player in the game against the baby face assassin. The marquee players in the Finals.

 
                                               Let"s examine the teams and compare.

Guards - Curry and Klay Thompson vs. Irving and Shumpert .  Since Thompson has a concussion that brings the edge down due to his uncertainty. Curry is League MVP so Warriors have a distinct upside. Irving comes in questionable as well since he has leg and ankle problems. Advantage to Warriors

Center- Bogot vs. Mozgov. While Bogut is efficient as a passer and can score when utilize, Mozgov is showing superior dominance on the glass and blocking shots. Edge to Cavaliers.

Forwards- Barnes and Green vs. James and Tristan Thompson. Barnes and Green help when the defense double teams the penetration of Curry and are capable of pushing the ball on the fast break. James is playing at optimum level right now. He is averaging close to a triple double every game. Thompson is a beast on the boards and as a shot blocker.  Advantage to Cavaliers.

Bench - J.R. Smith, Dellavedova, Jones, Miller Marion and Perkins  vs. Iguodala, Lee ,Barbosa, Ezeli  and Livingston  . Scoring and energy from Smith, Jones and Dellavedova  is matched against defense and all round play from Iguodala. and Livingston.  Iguodala does not shoot fouls well and that will be critical. Lee is not used consistently so his contribution may be limited by coach's decision. Golden State is deeper. Cavs have more experience. I expect impact from both benches. Slight edge to Cavs.

Coaching- Kerr vs. Blatt. Kerr has taken a good team and made it better. They won 15 more regular season games then they did a year ago. They won 51 last year. They play great defense and take you out of what you want to do. Blatt got the Cavs to buy in at the mid way point of the season. They are 46-11 since then. Does give the impression that he acquiesces to Lebron in key moments. Kerr comes across as the more polished of the two. Advantage to Warriors.

Why Warriors will win?  Curry and Thompson are dominant from outside. Home court record is awesome. Team is capable of going on extensive offensive runs while shutting the opponent down defensively.

Why Cavaliers will win?  Lebron James is one of the few people playing that can make his team win. He impacts the game in every category. When the game enters the fourth quarter he has the ability to contain Curry. When they double he will find open shooters. More like Magic Johnson than given credit.

The Pick - Odds makers have Warriors as the favorite. Defense wins championships. Offense sells tickets.The Cavaliers are allowing just 92.6 points per game this postseason while the Warriors are allowing 96.3.  If I can get Lebron and Kyrie at a good price, I can't resist.  Cleveland in 6.

Join me and my co host https://twitter.com/KeshisCuties on Twitter for #GTLivechat. during the NBA Finals. #GTLivechat is a conversation that is conducted via Twitter with followers around the world. What makes us unique is that we make picks prior to the game and then get a poll of which team is the popular choice We will select the #NBAFinals games individually and give the consensus of what you think. Fun. Easy and Free.  This blog will be updated with the play of the night after every game.

Top plays from NBA Finals Game 1 are here.

Top plays from NBA Finals Game 2 is up and here.

The 5 top plays from +NBAFinals Game 3 are right here.

Top plays from +NBA Finals Game 4 are here.

Top 5 of Game 5 is  here.

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NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers odds about to take a turn.

The past 24 hours have not been good for the Cavs. First, Kevin Love injured his shoulder and is expected to be out 2-3 weeks. The injury did look premeditated on the part of Kelly Olynyk, the player from Boston.  See for yourself.

Then in the 2nd half , J.R. Smith hits Celtic small forward Jae Crowder with a backhand, closed fist that knocked him down and out of the game. Crowder also suffered a knee injury on the same play. This looks like a suspension to me of at least 2 games.  How many games does it look like to you?

 

 

If the Bulls take care of business against the Bucks Thursday, these teams will meet at the end of the week. Cleveland will be shorthanded two men in the rotation. Even with Irving and James that would be a difficult task against Chicago and Derrick Rose.

 

The addition of Gasol along with the emergence of Jimmy Butler make Chicago a force even if Rose is less than 100%.  The defense is solidified by Noah and will attempt to surround Lebron.

 

 I am sure the odds of Cleveland winning the title and the eastern conference have shifted. They were a 11-5 and 5-11 during the season to win the championship and conference finals. I predict they go to 13-5 and 5- 8. Bulls will shift slightly from 12-1 and 5-1 respectively for the same plays to 10-1 and 4-1.   The price of picking Lebron or Kyrie Irving in a daily fantasy league should increase due to more anticipated minutes and shots. Let's see if I'm right.

 

 

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