by Vegas Writer
Monday, May 22, 2023Let's start off the week by talking a little WNBA, as the first weekend came to a close.
My immediate thoughts are that the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky have something to say about the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics being the Eastern Conference favorites this season.
Both the Sun and Sky opened 2-0, while the Mystics and Liberty are both 1-1.
While the Mystics knocked off the Liberty, the Sun then beat the Mystics on Sunday to send a statement.
DeWanna Bonner scored 21 points, Alyssa Thomas had 14 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead the Sun back from a 12-point deficit to beat Washington 80-74.
Bonner and Thomas are holdovers from last year's team that went to the WNBA Finals, and have looked just fine without Jonquel Jones and Courtney Williams. We're going to see just how good they are this week, as they now go to Washington for a return engagement with the Mystics, and then face the Liberty in New York on Saturday.
The Sky, meanwhile, opened with an 11-point road win over Minnesota Lynx on Friday before going into Phoenix and ruining Brittney Griner's home debut with a six-point win over the Mercury on Sunday.
The Sky and Sun are tied atop the league leaderboard with the No. 1 scoring defense among those teams who've played twice, allowing just 67.5 points per game.
Chicago has been fueled on offense by Kahleah Cooper, Elizabeth Williams and Alanna Smith, while the addition of Williams has given the Sky a feasible replacement for Courtney Vandersloot, who is now in New York.
No games on the card tonight, as the WNBA returns to action on Tuesday.
In the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights earned their eighth come-from-behind win of the postseason.
Another overtime winner for Vegas, which is now 3-0 in OT games, as it beat the Dallas Stars 3-2.
Dallas was pretty good for 50 minutes on Sunday, and led Vegas 2-1 in the final minutes. Then the Golden Knights remembered how good they can be.
Goals from Jonathan Marchessault with 2:22 left in regulation and Chandler Stephenson 1:12 into overtime put Vegas in a superior position as the series heads to Dallas for Games 3 and 4.
NHL Notes:
My immediate thoughts are that the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky have something to say about the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics being the Eastern Conference favorites this season.
Both the Sun and Sky opened 2-0, while the Mystics and Liberty are both 1-1.
While the Mystics knocked off the Liberty, the Sun then beat the Mystics on Sunday to send a statement.
DeWanna Bonner scored 21 points, Alyssa Thomas had 14 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead the Sun back from a 12-point deficit to beat Washington 80-74.
Bonner and Thomas are holdovers from last year's team that went to the WNBA Finals, and have looked just fine without Jonquel Jones and Courtney Williams. We're going to see just how good they are this week, as they now go to Washington for a return engagement with the Mystics, and then face the Liberty in New York on Saturday.
The Sky, meanwhile, opened with an 11-point road win over Minnesota Lynx on Friday before going into Phoenix and ruining Brittney Griner's home debut with a six-point win over the Mercury on Sunday.
The Sky and Sun are tied atop the league leaderboard with the No. 1 scoring defense among those teams who've played twice, allowing just 67.5 points per game.
Chicago has been fueled on offense by Kahleah Cooper, Elizabeth Williams and Alanna Smith, while the addition of Williams has given the Sky a feasible replacement for Courtney Vandersloot, who is now in New York.
No games on the card tonight, as the WNBA returns to action on Tuesday.
In the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights earned their eighth come-from-behind win of the postseason.
Another overtime winner for Vegas, which is now 3-0 in OT games, as it beat the Dallas Stars 3-2.
Dallas was pretty good for 50 minutes on Sunday, and led Vegas 2-1 in the final minutes. Then the Golden Knights remembered how good they can be.
Goals from Jonathan Marchessault with 2:22 left in regulation and Chandler Stephenson 1:12 into overtime put Vegas in a superior position as the series heads to Dallas for Games 3 and 4.
NHL Notes:
- Road teams are 43-34 in the postseason.
- Underdogs are 37-39 in the postseason, with a $100 wager on the pups turning a profit of roughly $1200.
- The Over is 40-36-1, but the Under has cashed 27 of the last 47 games.
- There have been 22 overtime games, and road teams are 15-7 in those games.
- NHL favorites higher than -150 are 14-32 on the puck line this postseason after Carolina's loss on Saturday.
In the NBA, I went 1-0 with the Miami Heay pushing the Boston Celtics to the brink on Sunday.
Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson chipped in with 22 and the eighth-seeded Heat cruised to a 128-102 win over Boston. Miami leads the series 3-0, and can finish off the sweep on Tuesday night at home in Game 4.
The Celtics have failed to cover four of five Conference Finals games, and are now mired in a 2-5 ATS slide. Miami has covered 10 of its last 12 and seven of its last eight at home.
The Heat were my NBA Side Winner # 29 of 44. I'm on an 83-65-4 overall run for $14,240 net profit since 4/17, including a 42-24-3 NBA run for $15,550. And part of that NBA win streak is a 29-15 run with side selections. Tonight I'm in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals with my NBA SIDE WINNER # 30 of 45.
On the MLB diamond, three of the 16 underdogs won Sunday, as the favorites dominated the day. No doubt about it the most notable was the Baltimore Orioles at +165 (DraftKings), as they crushed the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3. The Blue Jays have lost four in a row, as they've averaged just 3.0 runs per game since Thursday, while the pitching staff has been tagged for 24 runs (6.0 per game) in that same stretch while allowing seven home runs. The staff ERA the last four days is 4.85 ERA while the opposition is hitting .263.
On Saturday, I delivered my A.L. East Total of the Month, with the Orioles and Jays going Over the posted number. Tonight I have another DIVISION TOTAL OF THE MONTH, and I'm bundling it with TWO BONUS WINNERS. In addition to a very easy OVER in what might be the highest-scoring game of the night, I have a bonus total and a bonus side winner for you. Grab this DIVISION TOTAL OF THE MONTH with TWO BONUS WINNERS.
