This Week's Best Spot Bets
By Ben Burns
Covers.com
Spot bets are classic handicapping practices that have proven profitable no matter what sport you're betting. Whether it's a team looking past this week's opponent, one coming off a hard-fought victory, or a rough patch of schedule, bettors can find value picking their spots. Covers Expert Ben Burns points out his favorites:
Letdown spot
The Pittsburgh Penguins squeaked into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, finishing No. 8 in the Eastern Conference and lining up a date with the President Trophy winners, the New York Rangers, in the opening round. The Penguins run the risk of being “just happy to be there” as they head into Game 1 in Madison Square Garden Thursday.
Pittsburgh punched its postseason ticket with a 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the regular season finale – anything but a sure thing with the team stumbling into that game on a five-game losing skid. Now, after that close call, the Pens are set up for a letdown in Game 1 of this first-round series, especially after dropping three of their four meetings with the Blue Shirts this season.
Lookahead spot
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been counting down to the postseason since LeBron James announced he was on his way back home last summer. And for LeBron, the first round of the NBA Playoffs have been a formality. According to ESPN, James is a perfect 9-0 in opening round series for his career and is undefeated in each of those nine series openers. But while those career playoff stats are impressive, Cleveland could get caught looking past opening-round opponent Boston and to a conference semifinal showdown.
The Celtics have a young team and are outclassed when it comes to postseason experience. However, Boston enters its season finale with Milwaukee on a five-game winning streak, going 5-0 ATS, including two wins over the Cavs in that span – one with starters and one without. The Celtics are just young and dumb enough – 30-17 ATS as underdogs - to ride that confidence into this series, with heaping handfuls of points, and catch Cleveland with its guard down in Game 1.
Schedule spot
Spring in Chicago is a lot different than spring in San Diego. The change in temperature kick starts those famous Windy City gusts, which still have a leftover chill from winter. The San Diego Padres visit Wrigley Field for a weekend set, starting Friday, and they may want to pack their long-sleeve shirts. This will be the first time this season the Padres have left California.
Temperatures in Chicago are in the mid-40s while back home in San Diego, temps are peaking in the mid-70s. Friday’s forecast doesn’t look too bad with sun for this 2:20 p.m. ET start but things will cool off as the weekend goes on, with a chance of rain come Sunday. Last season, the Padres got to visit Chicago in July and avoided the cool spring weather.