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Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL, WNBA, MLB, Euro 2020 and Copa America Previews and Odds - 06/18/2021

by Big Al Staff

Friday, Jun 18, 2021

The Friday sports card features games in the NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA, the Euro 2020, and the Copa America.Two games are on the NBA docket. Philadelphia visits Atlanta on ESPN at 7:35 PM ET in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The Hawks took a 3-2 lead in the series with their 109-106 upset victory on the road as a 7-point underdog on Wednesday. The 76ers are a 3-point road favorite with a total of 221.5 (all odds from BetOnline).Utah travels to Los Angeles to play the Clippers in the second game on ESPN at 10:05 PM ET in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinals series. Los Angeles took a 3-2 series lead with their 119-111 upset road win as an 8-point underdog on Wednesday. The Jazz are a 1.5-point road favorite with an over/under of 219.The NHL playoffs continue with Vegas playing at Montreal in the third game of their semifinals series. The Canadiens evened this series at 1-1 with their 3-2 victory in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The Golden Knights are a -160 money line road favorite with a total of 5.Fifteen games are on the MLB slate. Cleveland travels to Pittsburgh at 7:05 PM ET as a -137 money line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5. Washington hosts the New York Mets as a -111 money line favorite with a total of 9. Oakland visits the New York Yankees. Toronto is at Baltimore. Atlanta plays at home against St. Louis at 7:20 PM ET as a -170 money line favorite with an over/under of 9.5. Minnesota visits Texas at 8:05 PM ET as a -153 money line road favorite with a total of 8.5. Miami is at Chicago against the Cubs. The Chicago White Sox plays at Houston at 8:10 PM ET as a -106 money line road favorite with a total of 8.5. Boston travels to Kansas City. Milwaukee plays at Colorado at 8:40 PM ET as a -187 money line road favorite with an over/under of 10.5.The Los Angeles Angels host Detroit at 9:38 PM ET as a -195 money line favorite with a total of 9. The Los Angeles Dodgers visit Arizona at 9:40 PM ET. San Francisco is at home against Philadelphia at 9:45 PM ET as a -125 money line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. Tampa Bay travels to Seattle at 10:10 PM ET as a -115 money line road favorite with a total of 7.5. San Diego plays at home against Cincinnati as a -185 money line favorite with an over/under of 8.The WNBA has one game on its schedule. Phoenix travels to Los Angeles on the CBS Sports Network at 10:30 PM ET.The Euro 2020 continues with three matches on ESPN. Sweden plays Slovakia at 9 AM ET at Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Swedes come off a 0-0 draw with Spain on Monday. Slovakia defeated Poland, 2-1, on Monday. Sweden is a -0.5 goal line favorite with a total of 2.25.Croatia goes against the Czech Republic at noon ET at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland. The Croatians lost to England, 1-0, on Sunday. The Czechs come off a 2-0 victory against Scotland on Monday. Croatia is a -0.25 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.25.England faces Scotland at 3 PM ET at Wembley Stadium in London. The Three Lions are a -1.5 goal line favorite with a total of 2.5.Two matches take place in the Copa America on FS1. Chile plays Bolivia at 5 PM ET at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, Brazil. The Chileans come off a 1-1 draw with Argentina on Monday. Bolivia lost to Paraguay, 3-1, on Monday. Chile is a -1.75 goal line favorite with an over/under of 3. Argentina plays Uruguay at 8 PM ET at the Mane Garrincha in Brasilia, Brazil. Chile is a -0.25 goal line favorite with a total of 2.25.

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NHL Hockey: Vegas Golden Knights vs. Montreal Canadiens Game 3 Preview, Odds and Prediction - 06/18/2021

by Big Al Staff

Friday, Jun 18, 2021

NHL Friday NBC Sports Network Preview: Vegas Golden Knights at the Montreal Canadiens.Montreal evened their semifinals series at 1-1 with a 3-2 victory in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Joel Armia opened the scoring with a goal 6:12 minutes into the first period to give the Canadiens the lead. Tyler Toffoli added a goal at 16:30 of the first period. Paul Byron made it a 3-0 score at 17:45 of the second period. Alex Pietrangelo got the Golden Knights on the board with his goal a minute later. Pietrangelo added a second goal at 14:46 of the third period, but Vegas could not score a game-tying goal in the final five minutes. The Canadiens once again dominated the play in the first 20 minutes. They outshot the Knights, 12-4, in getting the two-goal lead. In Game 1, Montreal outshot Vegas by a 12-8 margin with a 7-1 edge in high-danger chances, yet they still were behind, 1-0, at the end of the period. The Canadiens have a 9-1 record in the postseason when scoring first. Carey Price made 29 saves in the victory. He has a 9-4 record in the playoffs with a 2.14 goals-against-average and a .930 save percentage. Tyler Toffoli leads the team with five goals, seven assists, and 12 points in the postseason. Nick Suzuki has scored four goals while adding four assists. Eric Staal, Joel Armia has eight points apiece from five goals and three assists. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 of the 23 shots. He has a 9-5 record in the postseason with a 1.92 goals-against-average and a .923 save percentage. Second-line center William Karlsson leads the team with 13 points in the playoffs from four goals and nine assists. Second-line right wing Reilly Smith has nine points from two goals and seven assists. Second-line left wing Jonathan Marchessault leads the Knights with six playoff goals. Pietrangelo is second on the team with 10 points from three goals and seven assists. The Vegas blue-line has scored five of their six goals in this series. In their last six games, the Knights' defense has contributed seven goals and 15 assists. Top-line center Chandler Stephenson was a surprise scratch for Vegas with an upper-body injury on Wednesday. He did not participate in today’s morning skate, with some reports indicating he did not make the trip to Montreal and is doubtful to play in Game 4. Center Tomas Nosek expects to be available for the first time in the postseason.These circumstances are the third-straight series in which Montreal has played a team that lost their top-line center after Game 1. John Tavares got injured for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Schiefele got suspended for his hit on Jake Evans. Evans remains questionable to return to the ice as he continues to go through the concussion protocol. Left wing Tomas Tatar is out indefinitely. Defensemen Jeff Petry and Jon Merrill returned to action in Game 2. Petry played 20:47 minutes and registered an assist. Merrill played for almost 13 minutes.Canadiens’ head coach Dominique Ducharme was sent home earlier today after irregularities from his COVID tests. He received his second vaccination shot on June 9th. Further testing this afternoon may clear him to be on the bench tonight. Colorado head coach Jared Bednar went through a similar circumstance in Game 6 in the West Division finals. After missing the morning skate, he got cleared to coach the team that night. Assistant head coach Alex Burroughs may be assigned the in-game coaching duties if Ducharme does not get cleared. Burroughs was promoted to the Canadiens on February 24th after being an assistant coach in the AHL previously this season.Montreal returns home to the Bell Centre with eight wins in their last nine games. The Golden Knights had their five-game winning streak end with the loss on Wednesday. BookMaker lists Vegas as a -165 money line road favorite with the total set at 5.Computer prediction:  Vegas Golden Knights 2 Montreal Canadiens 1

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Which NFL Team Will Take a Step Back in 2021?

by ASA, Inc.

Thursday, Jun 17, 2021

The Tennessee Titans finished last season with an 11-5 overall record winning the AFC South.  However, we feel they might just be a .500 type team in 2021.  Despite finishing with 11 wins in the regular season, the Titans point differential was just +52 which ranked them 7th in the AFC and 12th in the NFL.  Over half of their wins last year (6) were by 3 points or less or in overtime.  Tennessee was -13 YPG last season and right around dead even in their yards per play differential (+0.1 YPP differential).   The defense is not championship caliber as they allowed nearly 28 PPG last season and ranked 29th in YPG allowed and 25th in YPP allowed.  Offensively they were very good but can we expect QB Ryan Tannehill to duplicate his 33 TD performance from last season?  His previous high was 27 TD’s back in 2014.  He also threw just 7 picks in 2020 after averaging 11.5 interceptions through his first 7 seasons.  He did add WR Julio Jones to his weaponry, however, Jones has been in the league 10+ seasons and missed 7 games last year in Atlanta.  He may not make as big of an impact as some might think.  They obviously rely heavily on RB Derrick Henry but will his heavy workload (almost 700 carries the last 2 seasons) start wearing on him?  It’s highly possible.  On top of that, 7 of Tennessee’s 16 regular season games they will be facing a defense that finished in the top 10 last year in yards per carry allowed.      Their schedule is tough with 5 games vs division winners this season (KC, Seattle, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, & New Orleans).  That doesn’t include their 2 games vs AFC South rival Indianapolis who tied the Titans for the division title last year but lost the tie breaker.  Much can change as the season progresses, however with the full season lines already posted, the Titans are slated to be favored in only half of their games this year.  We think this team struggles to get to double digit wins in 2021.

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Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, MLB, NHL, Copa America and Euro 2020 Previews and Odds - 06/17/2021

by Big Al Staff

Thursday, Jun 17, 2021

The Thursday sports card features games in the NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA, the Euro 2020, and the Copa America.One game is on the NBA docket. Brooklyn travels to Milwaukee on ESPN at 8:35 PM ET in the sixth game of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The Nets took a 3-2 lead in this series with their 114-108 win at home against the Bucks as a 1.5-point underdog on Tuesday. Milwaukee is a 5.5-point favorite, with the total set at 220 (all odds from BetOnline).The NHL playoffs continue with Tampa Bay visiting the New York Islanders on the NBC Sports Network at 8:08 PM ET in Game 3 of their semifinals series. The Lightning evened this series at 1-1 with their 4-2 victory at home on Tuesday. The Islanders had their four-game winning streak end with the loss. Tampa Bay is a -138 money line road favorite with an over/under of 5.Ten games are on the MLB slate. Baltimore visits Cleveland at 1:10 PM ET. San Francisco plays at home against Arizona at 3:45 PM ET as a -201 money line favorite with the total of 7.5. The New York Yankees is at Toronto (in Buffalo) at 7:07 PM ET. The New York Mets host the Chicago Cubs at 7:10 PM ET as a -134 money line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. Atlanta is at home against St. Louis at 7:20 PM ET as a -183 money line favorite with a total of 9. Houston hosts the Chicago White Sox at 8:10 PM ET as a -131 money line favorite with an over/under of 9. Milwaukee visits Colorado at 8:40 PM ET as a -157 money line road favorite with a total of 10. San Diego is at home against Cincinnati as a -167 money line favorite with an over/under of 7. The Los Angeles Angels play at home against Detroit at 9:38 PM ET as a -205 money line favorite with a total of 9. Tampa Bay is at Seattle at 10:10 PM ET as a -167 money line road favorite with an over/under of 8.Five games are on the WNBA schedule. Seattle travels to Indiana at 7 PM ET as a 15.5-point road favorite with a total of 165.5. Atlanta visits Washington as a 4-point road favorite with an over/under of 165.5. Connecticut plays at Chicago at 8 PM ET. Minnesota is at Dallas on the CBS Sports Network. New York plays on the road at Las Vegas in the second game of the CBS Sports Network doubleheader at 10 PM ET.The Euro 2020 continues with three matches on ESPN. North Macedonia plays Ukraine at 9 AM ET at the National Arena in Bucharest, Romania. North Macedonia lost by a 3-1 score to Austria in their opening match on Sunday. Ukraine comes off a 3-2 defeat to the Netherlands on Sunday. Ukraine is a -0.75 goal line favorite with a total of 2.25.Belgium plays Denmark at noon PM ET at the Parken in Copenhagen, Denmark. Belgium comes off a 3-0 victory against Russia on Saturday. The Danes take the field after the Christian Eriksen scare and a 1-0 loss to Finland. Belgium is a 0.5 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.25.Austria plays the Netherlands at 3 PM ET at Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam. The Dutch are a -1 goal line favorite with a total of 2.75.Two matches take place in the Copa America on FS1. Venezuela plays Columbia at 5 PM at the Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico in Goiania, Brazil. Venezuela comes off a 3-0 loss to Brazil on Sunday. Columbia defeated Ecuador by a 1-0 score on Sunday. Colombia is a -1.5 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.5. Brazil plays Peru at 8 PM ET at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Peru makes their debut in this Copa America. Brazil is a -1.75 goal line favorite with a total of 2.75.

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NHL Hockey: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Islanders Game 3 Preview, Odds and Prediction - 06/17/2021

by Big Al Staff

Thursday, Jun 17, 2021

NHL Thursday USA Network Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning at the New York Islanders.Tampa Bay evened their semifinal series with New York with a 4-2 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday.Brayden Point opened the scoring for the Lightning with a goal at the 8:58 minute mark of the first period. Brock Nelson leveled the score with a power-play goal 5 1/2 minutes later in the period. Ondrej Palat gave Tampa Bay the lead again at 13:15 of the second period. Jan Rutta gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead with his goal at 2:16 of the third period. Victor Hedman extended the lead to 4-1 with a power-play goal at 9:17. Matt Barzal scored a final time for the Islanders at 16:44, but they could not draw the game any closer. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced on Tuesday. The Tampa Bay goaltender has a 9-4 record in this postseason with a 2.21 goals-against-average and a .933 save percentage.  The Lightning top-line of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat generated five points in Game 2, with Kucherov assisting on three goals. He leads the team with17 assists and 22 points in the playoffs. Point has scored 10 goals. Steven Stamkos has another five goals and nine assists centering the second-line.The Lighting had five power-play opportunities on Tuesday after getting only two chances with the man-advantage in Game 1. Tampa Bay scores only the one power-play goal from Hedman. With two power-play goals in seven opportunities in this series, the Lightning have scored 17 power plays goals in the playoffs from 43 chances for a 39.5% success rate. They averaged 3.3 power plays per game in their first two playoff series. New York goaltender Semyon Varlamov left Game 1 at 13:05 in the first period after a collision with Point. Ilya Sorokin came into the game trailing 1-0 and stopped all six shots he faced. Varlamov returned to the ice to begin the second period to play the rest of the game. He made 23 saves on the 27 shots he faced. Varlamov has a 5-4 record this postseason with a 2.64 goals-against-average and a .923 save percentage. In his last seven starts since taking over in Game 2 against Boston last round, Varlamov has stopped 222 of the 239 shots he has faced for a .929 save percentage. Sorokin has a 4-1 record in the playoffs with a 2.28 goals-against-average and a .936 save percentage. Jean-Gabriel Pageau leads the Islanders with ten assists and 13 points in the playoffs. Josh Bailey is second on the team with 12 points coming from five goals and seven assists. Kyle Palmieri leads with seven goals.Pageau is day-to-day with an injury that kept him out for the last 13 minutes of Game 2.New York returns home to Nassau Coliseum, where they 21-4-3 during the regular season. The Islanders are 4-2 at home in the playoffs. BetAnySports lists Tampa Bay as a -132 money line road favorite with the total set at 5.Computer prediction:  New York Islanders 4 Tampa Bay Lightning 3

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NHL Hockey: Vegas Golden Knights vs. Montreal Canadiens Game 2 Preview and Odds - 06/16/2021

by Big Al Staff

Wednesday, Jun 16, 2021

NHL Wednesday NBC Sports Network Preview: Montreal Canadiens at the Vegas Golden Knights.Vegas looks to take a 2-0 lead in their semifinals series with Montreal after taking Game 1 by a 4-1 score on Monday.Vegas opened the scoring at the 9:15 minute mark of the first period with a goal from Shea Theodore. Alec Martinez made it a 2-0 score at the 2:18 minute mark into the second period. Cole Caufield cut the score in half with a power-play goal at 12:05 of the second period. Mattias Janmark with a goal 53 seconds later to give the Golden Knights a 3-1 lead. Nick Holden added the final score at 10:06 of the third period. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced while making +3.6 saves above expectation in the game. He has a 9-4 record in the postseason with a 1.84 goals-against-average and a .927 save percentage. Second-line center William Karlsson leads the team with 12 points in the playoffs from four goals and eight assists. Second-line right wing Reilly Smith has nine points from two goals and seven assists. Second-line left wing Jonathan Marchessault leads the Knights with six playoff goals. Top-line forwards Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, third-line forwards Alex Tuch and Mattias Janmark, and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore have all chipped in eight points. The game on Monday was the first time that the Canadiens played in the United States since March 7th of 2020. With over 18,500 fans in attendance at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas strip, the contest was also the first time that Montreal had played in front of more than 2500 fans since March 10th of last year. Montreal responded to the environment by generating seven high danger scoring chances in the first period, all thwarted by Fleury. Vegas had only one high danger scoring chance in the first 20 minutes but still went into the locker room with the 1-0 lead from the Theodore goal. Carey Price made 26 saves in the loss. He has an 8-4 record in the playoffs with a 2.15 goals-against-average and a .929 save percentage. Tyler Toffoli leads the team with four goals, seven assists, and 11 points in the postseason. Nick Suzuki has also scored four goals while adding four assists. Eric Staal, Joel Armia, and Corey Perry all have seven points apiece. Injuries are taking a toll on the Canadiens. Top-line left wing Tomas Tatar is out indefinitely. Top-four defenseman Jeff Petry has missed the last two games with an injury. He is questionable to play tonight. Fourth-line center Jake Evans is questionable as he goes through the concussion protocol. Depth defenseman Jon Merrill, a trade deadline acquisition from Detroit, is questionable with a lower-body injury. Vegas is as healthy as they have been all season. They are unbeaten at home at the Fortress since COVID-related capacity guidelines got lifted. The victory on Monday extended their winning streak to five games. Montreal's seven-game winning streak ended with the loss.BookMaker lists Vegas as a -275 money line favorite with the total set at 5.

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Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA and Euro 2020 Previews and Odds - 06/16/2021

by Big Al Staff

Wednesday, Jun 16, 2021

The Wednesday sports card features games in the NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA, and the Euro 2020.Two games are on the NBA docket. Philadelphia hosts Atlanta at 7:30 PM ET on TNT in the fifth game of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The Hawks evened things at 2-2 with their 103-100 upset victory at home as a 2.5-point underdog on Monday. Philadelphia is a 6-point favorite with a total set at 223.5 (all odds from BetOnline).Utah plays at home against the Los Angeles Clippers at 10 PM in the second game of the TNT doubleheader in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinals series. The Clippers made it a 2-2 series with their 118-104 win against the Jazz as a 5.5-point favorite on Monday. Utah is a 3-point favorite with an over/under of 222.The semifinals of the NHL playoffs continue with Vegas at home against Montreal on the NBC Sports Network at 9:08 PM ET. The Golden Knights won the opening game of this series with a 4-1 victory on Monday. The Canadiens had their seven-game winning streak end with the loss. Vegas is a -240 money line favorite with a total of 5. Fifteen games are on the MLB slate. Miami visits St. Louis at 1:15 PM ET as a -113 money line road favorite with an over/under of 8. Kansas City is at home against Detroit at 2:10 PM ET as a -142 money line favorite with a total of 9. Milwaukee hosts Cincinnati as a -146 money line favorite with an over/under of 8. The Chicago White Sox are at home against Tampa Bay as a -131 money line favorite with a total of 8. San Diego travels to Colorado at 3:10 PM ET as a -175 money line road favorite with an over/under of 11.5. Oakland plays at home against the Los Angeles Angels at 3:37 PM ET as a -120 money line favorite with a total of 9. Pittsburgh plays at Washington at 4:05 PM ET.The New York Yankees travels to Toronto (in Buffalo) at 7:07 PM ET as a -159 money line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Chicago Cubs play at the New York Mets at 7:10 PM ET. Cleveland is at home against Baltimore as a -150 money line favorite with a total of 8. Atlanta hosts Boston on ESPN at 7:20 PM ET. The Braves turn to Ian Anderson as their starting pitcher to face the Red Sox’s Garrett Richards. Atlanta is a -151 money line favorite with an over/under of 9. Houston plays at home against Texas at 8:10 PM ET as a -225 money line favorite with a total of 8.5. San Francisco is at home against Arizona at 9:45 PM ET as a -175 money line favorite with an over/under of 8. The Los Angeles Dodgers are at home against Philadelphia at 10:10 PM ET as a -145 money line favorite with a total of 7.5. Minnesota visits Seattle as a -119 money line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5.One game takes place in the WNBA. Phoenix travels to Los Angeles at 10:30 PM ET.Three matches take place in Euro 2020. Russia plays Finland on ESPN at 9 AM ET at the Gazprom Arena in St. Peterburg, Russia. Russia lost to Belgium, 3-0, in their opening match on Saturday. The Finns defeated Denmark, 1-0, in their first group stage match on Saturday. Russia is a -0.75 goal line favorite with a total of 2.25. Turkey plays Wales on ESPN at noon ET at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan. The Turks lost to Italy, 3-0, in the first group stage match on Friday. The Welsh earned a 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Saturday. Turkey is a -0.25 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.Italy faces Switzerland on ESPN at 3 PM ET at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The Italians are a -0.75 goal line favorite with a total of 2.25.

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Is Novak Djokovic The Greatest Men's Tennis Player Of All-time? 

by Ben Burns

Tuesday, Jun 15, 2021

I've always been a tennis fan. My first racket was a wooden Dunlop, painted black with John McEnroe's signature on it. I thought it was the coolest. Back then, "Johnny Mac" had some epic battles with the likes of Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl. I was young but still remember pretty well. Björn Borg was a little before my time. Later, came the likes of Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Jim Courier. Andre Agassi was great but he arguably didn't have the career that Pete Sampras did. I remember thinking that "Pistol Pete" was indeed "The Goat." After all, when he retired, he had won 14 major titles, the most of anyone at the time. While he wasn't as dominant on clay, on any other surface, Sampras was an absolute beast. Lendl said this of Sampras' serve: “the ball just crumbled on your racquet.”One might have assumed that Sampras' record would stand for a long time. Yet, less than 20 years since he retired, three different players have broken it. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are tied at 20 titles each. At 19, Novak Djokovic is right on their heels. The recently finished French Open may ultimately play a role in determining the best ever. If Nadal, long the undisputed King Of Clay, could have won, it would have given him 21 Grand Slam titles. That would have been one ahead of Federer and three ahead of Djokovic. That didn't happen though, as Novak knocked off Rafael in the semis. In the final, Djokovic found himself down two sets. The world's #1 knew the historic significance of the match. Calmly, he dug deep, bounced back and won the next three sets. Instead of Nadal having a "commanding" lead, in terms of slam titles, he and Federer are only one ahead of Djokovic. Federer may not get any more. Nadal will have to wait a year for another crack at Roland-Garros. Yet, the way Djokovic looked Sunday, he may well add another by next month; Wimbledon starts in two weeks. So, when it's all said and done, Djokovic has an excellent chance of holding the most titles in the history of men's tennis. He's already held the World's #1 ranking for 325 weeks, more than any other player in history. Federer may always receive more love from the fans and the bigger endorsements. However, it's looking more and more likely that Djokovic will go down as: "The Goat." 

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NHL Hockey: New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Game 2 Preview and Odds - 06/15/2021

by Big Al Staff

Tuesday, Jun 15, 2021

NHL Tuesday NBC Sports Network Preview: New York Islanders at the Tampa Bay Lightning.Tampa Bay looks to even this series at 1-1 at home in their Amelie Arena before things move to Nassau Coliseum for Games 3 and 4. New York won the opening game of this semifinals series with a 2-1 victory on the road in Game 1 on Sunday. After a scoreless first period, Matthew Barzal opened the scoring at the 12:32 minute mark of the second period. Barzal has scored four goals in his last five games. Ryan Pulock extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:36 of the third period. Brayden Point got the Lightning on the board with 54 seconds left in the game with a power-play goal and a six-on-four advantage with goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy pulled. Tampa Bay failed to score a second goal to force overtime. Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced in the victory. Since taking over in the net for Ilya Sorokin in the second game of their second-round series with Boston, Varlamov has a .939 save percentage in his last six straight starts. He has a 5-3 record with a 2.43 goals-against-average and a .930 save percentage this postseason. Jean-Gabriel Page leads the Islanders with ten assists and 13 points in the playoffs. Josh Bailey is second on the team with 12 points coming from five goals and seven assists. Kyle Palmieri leads with seven goals. Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced on Sunday. He has an 8-4 record in the playoffs with a 2.23 goals-against-average and a .934 save percentage. Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay with 14 assists and 19 points in the playoffs. Point’s nine goals are tops for the team in the postseason. Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos have both added 13 points. The Lighting only had two power-play opportunities in Game 1. They entered the series with 15 power-play goals in 36 opportunities with the man advantage for a 41.7% conversion rate. They averaged 3.3 power plays per game in their first two playoff series. New York was the least penalized team in the regular season, with 153 penalties committed. Their 7:00 minutes of penalty minutes per game and 3:13 shorthanded minutes per game in the playoffs are the lowest averages of the remaining four teams. The Islanders lost to the Lightning in last year’s Eastern Conference finals in a six-game series in the Toronto bubble. Head coach Barry Trotz has 17 players back from that battle. They beat Pittsburgh in six games in the opening round of the playoffs this year before defeating the Bruins in six games last round. New York has won eight of their last ten games.Jon Cooper’s team defeated Florida in six games in the opening round of the playoffs in their endeavor to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. Tampa Bay beat Carolina in five games last round. The Lightning had won five of six games before the setback on Sunday.BetAnySports lists Tampa  Bay as a -190 money line favorite with the total set at 5.

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Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA and Euro 2020 Previews and Odds - 06/15/2021

by Big Al Staff

Tuesday, Jun 15, 2021

The Tuesday sports card features games in the NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA, and the Euro 2020.One game is on the NBA docket. Milwaukee travels to Brooklyn on TNT at 8:35 PM ET in the fifth game of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The Bucks evened this series at 2-2 with their 107-96 upset victory as a 2-point underdog on Sunday. The Nets had won four in a row before that loss. Milwaukee is a 4-point road favorite, with the total set at 217.5 (all odds from BetOnline). Tampa Bay hosts the New York Islanders on the NBC Sports Network at 8:08 PM ET in Game 2 of their NHL playoff semifinals. The Islanders took Game 1 with a 2-1 victory on Sunday. The Lightning are a -195 money line favorite with an over/under of 5.Fifteen games are on the MLB slate. Washington is at home against Pittsburgh at 7:05 PM ET as a -157 money line favorite with a total of 8.5. Toronto hosts the New York Yankees at 7:07 PM ET as a -116 money line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The New York Mets play at home against the Chicago Cubs on ESPN at 7:10 PM ET as a -142 money line favorite with a total of 8.5. Cleveland is at home against Baltimore as a -163 money line favorite with an over/under of 9. Boston visits Atlanta at 7:20 PM ET as a -109 money line road favorite with a total of 9.Cincinnati travels to Milwaukee at 8:10 PM ET as a -106 money line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Chicago White Sox host Tampa Bay as a -109 money line favorite with a total of 8.5. Houston is at home against Texas as a -180 money line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. Kansas City plays at home against Detroit as a -139 money line favorite with a total of 9. St. Louis is at home against Miami at 8:15 PM ET as a -112 money line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. San Diego visits Colorado at 8:40 PM ET as a -220 money line road favorite with a total of 11. Oakland hosts the Los Angeles Angels at 9:40 PM ET as a -125 money line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. Arizona plays at San Francisco at 9:45 PM ET. The Los Angeles Dodgers are at home against Philadelphia at 10:10 PM ET as a -175 money line favorite with a total of 9. Minnesota travels to Seattle as a -110 money line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5.Two matches take place in the Euro 2020 on ESPN to conclude the first round of games. Portugal plays Hungary at noon ET as a -1.25 goal line favorite with a total of 2.5. Germany plays France at 3 PM ET in a pick ‘em match with an over/under of 2.25.Three games are on the WNBA schedule. Seattle visits Indiana at 7 PM ET. Chicago plays at Minnesota on ESPN2 at 9 PM ET. New York travels to Las Vegas at 10 PM ET.

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Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, NHL, MLB, Euro 2020 and Copa America Previews and Odds - 06/14/2021

by Big Al Staff

Monday, Jun 14, 2021

The Monday sports card features games in the NBA, NHL, MLB, Euro 2020, and the Copa America.Two games are on the NBA playoff docket. Philadelphia visits Atlanta on TNT at 7:35 PM ET. The 76ers took a 2-1 lead in this series with their 127-111 victory at Atlanta as a 1.5-point road favorite on Friday. The Hawks have lost the last two games of this series after taking Game 1, 127-111. Philadelphia is a 3-point road favorite with the total of 225.5. The Los Angeles Clippers host Utah on TNT at 10:05 PM ET. The Clippers come off a 132-106 victory at home against the Jazz as a 4.5-point home favorite on Saturday. Utah had won six straight games before that loss. Los Angeles is a 4.5-point favorite with an over/under of 223.5. Vegas hosts Montreal in the opening game of their semifinals series on the NBC Sports Network at 9:08 PM ET. The Golden Knights won four games in a row to defeat Colorado in six games in the West Division final. The Canadiens have won seven in a row after their four-game sweep of Winnipeg in the North Division finals. Vegas is a -267 money line favorite with a total of 5.5.Thirteen games are on the MLB slate. Washington visits Pittsburgh at 7:05 PM ET as a -118 money line favorite with an over/under of 9. Boston plays at home against Toronto at 7:10 PM ET as a -119 money line favorite with a total of 10. Baltimore visits Cleveland. The New York Mets play at home against the Chicago Cubs as a -107 money line favorite with a total of 9. The Chicago White Sox play at home against Tampa Bay at 8:10 PM ET as a -105 money line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. Milwaukee hosts Cincinnati as a -143 money line favorite with a total of 9. Kansas City is a -131 money line favorite with an over/under of 9.5. St. Louis is at home against Miami at 8:15 PM ET as a -155 money line favorite with a total of 8.5. San Diego plays at Colorado at 8:40 PM ET as a -151 money line road favorite with an over/under of 11.5. Oakland hosts the Los Angeles Angels at 9:40 PM ET as a -154 money line favorite with a total of 8.5. Arizona travels to San Francisco at 9:45 PM ET. Minnesota plays at Seattle at 10:10 PM ET as a -123 money line road favorite of 8. The Los Angeles Dodgers are at home against the Phillies as a -171 money line favorite with an over/under of 9.Three games take place in the Euro 2020 on ESPN. The Czech Republic plays Scotland in a pick ‘em matchup at 9 AM ET. Poland is a -0.5 goal lime favorite against Slovakia with the total at 2. Spain plays Sweden as a -1.25 goal line favorite as a 1.25 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.25. The Copa America begins the second day of their tournament with two matches. Argentina plays in Rio De Janeiro against Chile as a -0.75 goal line favorite with a total of 2.25. Paraguay plays against Bolivia as a -1.25 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.25. 

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Big Al's Daily Angle: NHL, NBA, WNBA, Euro 2020 and MLB Previews and Odds - 06/13/2021

by Big Al Staff

Sunday, Jun 13, 2021

The Sunday sports card features games in the NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA, and Euro 2020.Two games are on the NBA playoff docket. Brooklyn plays at Milwaukee on ABC at 3:05 PM ET in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Bucks won their first game in this series with their 86-83 victory against the Nets as a 3.5-point favorite on Thursday. The Nets had their four-game winning streak end with the loss. Brooklyn is a 2-point road favorite, with the total set at 228 (all odds from BetOnline). Phoenix visits Denver on TNT at 8:05 PM ET in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals series. The Suns took a 3-0 series lead with their 116-102 upset victory on the road as a 2-point underdog on Friday. The Nuggets have lost four of their last six games. Phoenix is a 3.5-point road favorite with an over/under of 222.The semifinals of the NHL playoffs begin with Tampa Bay hosting the New York Islanders on NBC at 3:08 PM ET. The Lightning advanced to the final four by defeating Carolina in five games with their 2-0 victory on the road last Tuesday. The Islanders have won three in a row after defeating Boston in six games with their 6-2 victory at home last Wednesday. Tampa Bay is a -188 money line favorite with a total of 5.5.Fifteen games are on the MLB slate. Philadelphia plays at home against the New York Yankees at 1:05 PM ET as a -124 money line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. San Francisco visits Washington. San Diego is at New York against the Mets at 1:10 PM ET as a -122 money line road favorite with a total of 8. Cleveland plays at home against Seattle as a -229 money line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. Toronto travels to Boston as a -120 money line road favorite with a total of 10. Miami is at home against Atlanta as a -128 money line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. Cincinnati hosts Colorado as a -150 money line favorite with a total of 9.5. The Chicago White Sox visits Detroit. Baltimore plays at Tampa Bay. Milwaukee is at home against Pittsburgh at 2:10 PM ET as a -200 money line favorite with a total of 9. Houston visits Minnesota as a -140 money line road favorite with an over/under of 9.5. Oakland hosts Kansas City at 4:07 PM ET as a -181 money line favorite with a total of 8.5. The Los Angeles Angels play at Arizona at 4:10 PM ET as a -126 money line road favorite with an over/under of 9.5. The Los Angeles Dodgers are at home against Texas as a -250 money line favorite with a total of 7.5. The Chicago Cubs play at home agent St. Louis on ESPN at 7:08 PM ET. The Cubs are a -135 money line favorite. Three games are on the Euro 2020 schedule. Croatia plays England at Wembley Stadium in London on ESPN at 9 AM ET. England is a -0.75 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.25. North Macedonia faces Austria at the National Arena in Bucharest, Romania, on ESPN at noon ET. Austria is a -0.75 goal line favorite with a total of 2.25. Ukraine plays the Netherlands at Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam on ESPN at 3 PM ET. The Dutch are a -1 goal line favorite with an over/under of 2.25.Four games take place in the WNBA. Seattle visits Connecticut at 2 PM ET. Washington plays at Atlanta at 3:30 PM ET. Dallas travels to Las Vegas at 6 PM ET. New York is at Phoenix at 6 PM ET.

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