Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL and MLB Preview

by Big Al Staff

Monday, Sep 14, 2020
The NBA playoff doubleheader is the main attraction on the Tuesday betting card. The Eastern Conference Finals begin at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN with Game 1 of the Miami/Boston series. The Heat have won eight of their last nine games after taking care of Milwaukee in five games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That series ended last Tuesday which gave Miami a full week off while being stuck in the Orlando bubble. Boston outlasted Toronto to defeat the reigning NBA champions winning a climactic seventh game by a 92-87 score on Friday. The Celtics received three days off before starting this series so they should not be at a disadvantage when it comes to rest. These two teams played each other three times in the regular season with Boston winning the first two contests before Miami upset them on August 4th in the bubble by a 112-106 score as a 4-point underdog. The Celtics opened as a 1.5-point favorite at BookMaker with the total set at 211.5.  The over/under has been bet down at BookMaker to 209.5.

The nightcap features the unexpected but highly dramatic seventh game of the Western Conference semifinals series between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. The Clippers looked to be in command going into the weekend with a 3-1 series lead and a 9-point favorite in Game 5. Even after a 111-105 upset loss on Friday, Doc Rivers’ team still closed around a 9-point favorite for Game 6 on Sunday. Yet another second-half comeback for the Nuggets had them rally to upset the Clippers once again by a 111-98 score to force their fifth playoff Game 7 in the last two seasons. Given those circumstances, Los Angeles opened as a lower 7-point favorite with the total set at 211.5. Initial betting action pushed the Clippers up to a 7.5-point favorite with the over/under dropping to 207.5, as of this writing. ESPN will broadcast this game after the first game ends with the expected tipoff time being no earlier than 9 PM ET.

The Stanley Cup playoffs continue tonight with the fifth game of the Eastern Conference Finals. Tampa Bay took a 3-1 lead in this series on Sunday when they defeated the New York Islanders by a 4-1 score. The oddsmakers responded by installing the Lightning as a -165 favorite, and it now sits at -170 at BookMaker. The total is 5o -40. The broadcast will begin at 8 PM ET on the NBC Sports Network. 

Major League Baseball has a full 15-game card on tap for Tuesday. Three games begin the schedule at 6:40 PM ET with Washington traveling to Tampa Bay along with Boston playing at Minnesota and Pittsburgh at Cincinnati. FS1 has the Arizona-Los Angeles Angels game which will feature a pitching matchup between Madison Bumgarner and Julio Teheran. That game starts at 9:30 PM ET.

The playoffs start in the WNBA tonight as well with ESPN2 broadcasting a single-elimination doubleheader. Connecticut and Chicago tip things off at 7 PM ET with Washington and Phoenix following that up at 9 PM ET.

All photographic images used for editorial content have been licensed from the Associated Press.

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