Daily tips for June 17

NBA Finals for June 17

NBA Finals game 5: Miami Heat @ San Antonio Spurs, AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX, Monday, June 17, 10.10am

There has been only one dramatic contest in the NBA Finals, which is now a best-of-three series with the San Antonio Spurs tied 2-2 with the Miami Heat heading into Game 5. The Spurs won a close game in the opener and put a 36-point drubbing on the Heat in Game 3, while Miami’s two victories have been by 19 and 16 points. Tony Parker’s hamstring is an issue for the Spurs, while the Heat crave another big effort from Dwyane Wade.

LeBron James had his best outing of the series with 33 points in Game 4 but his performance was just the third-most crucial behind those of Wade and center Chris Bosh. After a largely ineffective post-season, Bosh suddenly has three consecutive double-doubles and his 20 points matched his high of the postseason. He grabbed 13 rebounds and is averaging 14.3 points and 9.5 rebounds in the finals.

Veteran guard Manu Ginobili is struggling through a woeful series. The 35-year-old Ginobili has scored seven or fewer points in each of the last three games and is averaging 7.5 points and shooting 34.5 per cent from the field. Power forward Tim Duncan is doing his part with two 20-point scoring games and three double-digit performances and guard Danny Green is 19-for-28 from 3-point range while averaging 16.5 points.

The head-to-head market looks tricky given the L, W, L, W, etc trend of the Heat throughout the playoffs and their vast improvement in Game 4, and we have the margin pegged at fewer than 10 points either way. The better play looks on the total, with scores in this series increasing in each game (180, 187, 190, 202). Add in the fact that the over is 4-1 in the Heat’s past five road games, and 5-0 in the Spurs’ last five home games.

Suggested bet: Game total +188 (two units @ $1.91) WIN, Heat 1-10 (one unit @ $2.85) LOSE, Spurs 1-10 (one unit @ $2.70) WIN (104-114)

MLB for June 17

New York Yankees (37-31, 18-18 away) @ Los Angeles Angels (30-38, 17-18 home), Angel Stadium of Anaheim, CA, Monday, June 17, 5.40am

We’re almost back square betting the Angels after a horrible start to the season, and hope to be back in the back after the final game of the Halos’ series against the floundering Yankees. New York (37-31) opened their west coast trek taking three of four from Seattle, but has since matched a season worst with five straight losses. New York has also lost 27 of its last 39 regular-season games at Angel Stadium. 

Mark Teixeira, again, was the latest Yankee to fall to injury, exiting in the fourth inning of yesterday’s 6-2 loss with an aggravated right wrist. He had only been off the disabled list since May 31 after missing the club's first 53 games with a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist. The Yankees’ injury list already includes Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Kevin Youkilis. The Angels (30-38), meanwhile, rode their flourishing offense to a third straight victory.

They’re batting .352 with 20 runs during their winning streak after managing 12 runs and hitting .227 while dropping their four previous games. CC Sabathia (6-5, 4.07 ERA) will try to shut the Angels down, but his recent performances haven’t been encouraging with a 5.55 ERA over the last five starts. Opposing Sabathia is Jered Weaver (1-2, 3.77), who is 6-2 in 11 career regular-season starts against the Yankees despite a 4.97 ERA. He has been aided by an average of 8.1 runs of support.

Suggested bet: Angels WIN (1.5 units @ $1.65) LOSE, game total -7.5 (2.5 units @ $1.80) LOSE (6-5)

Other tips

IL: Nationals WIN $1.75 @ Indians LOSE (0-2)

AL: Royals WIN $2.20 @ Rays WIN (5-3)

AL: Tigers WIN $1.65 @ Twins WIN (5-2)

AL: Blue Jays @ Rangers -1.5 $2.05 LOSE (7-2)

AL: Mariners WIN $2.06 @ Athletics LOSE (2-10)

NL: Cardinals WIN $1.65 @ Marlins LOSE (2-7)

NL: Dodgers @ Pirates WIN $1.93 WIN (3-6)

NL: Giants @ Braves WIN $1.67 WIN (0-3)
NL: Giants @ Braves WIN -8 $1.83 WIN (0-3)

* Prices with thanks to Centrebet, correct at time of publication