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Good morning,
Let’s dive in…
Developing Stories 📰
The Denver Nuggets look to win their first-ever NBA title tonight as they host the Miami Heat. As Denver has dominated this series, they now sit one game away from an NBA title. After a game one win by 11 points, they lost by three in game two. They shut down the Heat for two straight games. A 15 point win followed by a 13-point win places the Nuggets a game away from their first title. In the process of getting to the top, Nikola Jokic has been dominant. He is averaging 30.8 points per game so far in the finals, with 13.5 rebounds and eight assists Jamal Murray, has been everything the Nuggets needed after missing a full season with an ACL tear.
Jimmy Butler and the Heat are looking to become just the second team ever to come back from a 3-1 series deficit in the Nba Finals. Only the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers have made this comeback before. They did it over the best team in the league, the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. Golden State lost Draymond Green for game five due to suspension, and the combination of Kyrie Irving and Lebron James led them back to a title.
The Heat have to get more shots off and hit them. They only had 78 field goal attempts in their last game, and while they got 44.9%, it is not enough volume to win. In the playoffs when they have the shot advantage or are tied, they are 10-4. Without it, they are just 3-5. They cannot give the other team more possessions and more shots, which means they need to limit turnovers and make smart plays. Jimmy Butler needs to have a big game. He has improved in the last two games, with 28 and 25 points in games three and four. Butler also shot the best he had all seasons in those two games, but he has only scored over 25 points once in this series. He has yet to have a double-double and has yet to dominate a game. He needs to step up tonight to get the Heat the win.
The Nuggets should be simple, just keep doing what they are doing. It starts with Jokic. Jokic is averaging over 30 points per game in this series, while also averaging 13.5 rebounds. In game three, he has a triple-double, which was the second of the series, while also snagging 21 rebounds. If Jokic can hit 18 assists tonight in a Nuggets win, he would average a triple-double for the series. Jamal Murray is continuing his great play. His worst game of the series came in game four, where he shot just 29.4% and only scored 15 points. He still was a positive influence on the court though. He had 12 assists on the night, and is averaging 10.5 assists per game so far in the series. His 23.3 points per game in this series would be the lowest for him of any series thus far, but it would still be 3.3 points higher than his season average. His 10.5 assists per game is the big difference. Murray averaged just 6.2 assists per game in the regular season and has only had ten assists in a game once in the playoffs before this series. He has had over ten in each game so far this series.
It is highly unlikely that the Heat come back and win this series. The question is can the Heat even make it to game six? With how well the Nuggets have been playing, primarily from their two stars, it will not be happening. Jokic will have another triple-double, while Murray will be close. The Nuggets should close it out tonight and are the new NBA champs.
Headlines 🚨
Orioles Cal Ripken plays in 1,308th consecutive game to move past Everett Scott into 2nd place on the all-time list.
Novak Djokovic defeats Casper Ruud in 3 sets to win the 2023 French Open. Djokovic now has a record of 23 Grand slam titles.
New York Giants’ Saqoun Barkley Is not attending mandatory minicamp this week.
Pirates’ standout Andrew McCutchen collected his 2,000th hit in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Mets.
The Tigers have yet to win a game in the month of June.
The White Sox places Liam Hendriks on IL with right elbow inflammation.
Canadian Nick Taylor sinks 72-foot putt to win the RBC Canadian Open. He becomes the first player from Canada to win the Canadian National Open since 1954954.
The Carolina Panthers have moved Bryce Young to QB1 on the depth chart moving Andy Dalton to QB2.
The Toronto Raptors hired Darko Rajakoic as the franchise’s next head coach.
Golden Knights hold on to win Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final 3-2. They are one win away from capturing the Stanley Cup over the Panthers.
Trends 📈📉 via Oddsshark
⚾️ Braves at Tigers
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing on the road against Detroit
⚾️ Rockies at Red Sox
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Colorado's last 5 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Colorado's last 9 games when playing Boston
⚾️ Giants at Cardinals
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Francisco's last 5 games
⚾️ Angles at Rangers
The total has gone OVER in 6 of LA Angels's last 7 games when playing on the road against Texas
⚾️ Reds at Royals
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Cincinnati's last 7 games when playing on the road against Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Cincinnati's last 13 games when playing Kansas City
⚾️ Phillies at Diamondbacks
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games
⚾️ Marlins at Mariners
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 7 games
Public Money 🤑 via VSiN at 9AMCT
58% of bets and 80% of money is on SF -1.5
38% of bets and 82% of money is on UNDER 8
52% of bets and 74% of money is on UNDER 8.5 CIN at KC
63% of bets and 90% of money is on MIA +1.5 (
Future Odds 🔮 via Bovada Sportsbook
Injury Report 🏥 via ESPN
MIA (PG) Tyler Herro | Out - Hand
COL (C) Elias Diaz | Day-to-Day - Head
COL (DH) Charlie Blackmon | 10 Day IL - Fractured right hand
DET (RF) Matt Vierling | 10 Day IL - Back, returned to Detroit and could be reactivated today
LAA (RP) Ben Joyce | 15 Day IL - Elbow, MRI yesterday showed no ligament damage
Picks 🔒
Reds +100 | The Reds are on a 2-game win streak and the Royals have lost 6 in a row. the Royals are a much worse 9-23 at home. The Royals are 3-9 straight up as a home favorite, the worst win rate as a home favorite in the MLB.
Rays -2.5 +105 | The Rays have gone 7-3-0 against the spread over their past 10 games. Oakland has a win-loss record of 1-13 when favored by +218 or worse by oddsmakers this year.
Nuggets -8.5 | The Nuggets’ defense has proven to be able to stop not only the role players for Miami, but cause problems for the Heat stars as well. All 3 of Miami’s losses in this series are by double digits. The Heat are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games following a double-digit home loss and the Nuggets are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 overall. The Nuggets are also 28-10 ATS in the last 38 meetings overall and 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Denver,