News and Notes

Sunday, April 23, 2006

 

America’s greatest sports service the Dream Team at Godspicks.com undefeated in the NBA playoffs with Cleveland way under and a total blowout on the Spurs leading the way. The Devils on the puck line (laying the 1 ½ to get +170) makes us winning days both days in the NHL playoffs with our only losers being in 2 OT.

We have four NBA winners for Sunday including our first Wise Guy of the postseason.  We have three NHL and an MLB Wise Guy Dandy Dog. Dandy dogs are dogs of 140 or more in MLB.

The ENTIRE card  is just $17 at www.godspicks.com.  Alternate forms of payment are available. Godspicks is proud to be part of the Handicapper’s Sampler rundown of which sports services are hot and who has the big play at JoeDuffy.net

NBA

Pacers-Nets

Sports Illustrated/CNN

Some people, including Pacers players, still see the Nets as an up-tempo team with point guard Jason Kidd running the fastbreak to set up easy lay-ups on the offensive end.

That might have been true a couple of years ago when the Nets reached the NBA Finals with Kidd feeding Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles for easy baskets.The truth now is that Martin and Kittles are gone, and the Nets only go on the break when it’s available. For the most part, they have played a half-court game all season with Kidd running plays for Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and center Nenad Krstic. Carter didn’t want to get into a back-and-forth with the Pacers. He said the Nets can play any type of offensive game, noting opponents threw a lot of things at New Jersey during its recent 14-game winning streak. The one issue on which both teams seemed to agree was that there wasn’t going to be a lot of scoring in this series. The Pacers and Nets ranked fifth and sixth in the NBA on defense, respectively. Indiana gave up an average of 92 points. New Jersey allowed 92.4 per game.

Lakers-Suns

Columbus Dispatch

The Suns, seeded second in the Western Conference, have a 7-1 record against the Lakers the past two seasons in the Steve Nash era. The Suns averaged a leaguehigh 108.4 points this season, down from 110.4 last season, the highest average in the NBA in the past decade.

Bucks-Pistons

SignOnSanDiego

Flip Saunders is the only significant difference between this season’s Detroit Pistons and the team that came within a quarter of back-to-back titles last year. As a new coach with an established group, Saunders wisely chose to leave the Pistons alone on defense. But he turned an average offense into a good one with his shoot-if-you’re-open scheme. Milwaukee forward Toni Kukoc will not play in Game 1 because of back spasms and is day to day. Detroit won an NBA-high 64 games this season, the most in franchise history and the most in the league since the Los Angeles Lakers won 67 during the 1999-2000 season.

Grizzlies-Mavericks

Seattle Post Intelligencer

Dallas went 3-1 against Memphis this season. Grizz star Pau Gasol has been nursing a problem in his left foot but is expected to play.Mavs forward Josh Howard (back) and guard Darrell Armstrong (ankle) didn’t go through any contact drills Saturday as a precaution. Guard Devin Harris - who frees Terry of some ball-handling duties when healthy - remains questionable with a quadriceps injury that’s kept him out the last five weeks, except for a brief appearance late in the season.