Sports Picks & Predictions

FRANK’S CUTTING ROOM FLOOR FOR SATURDAY, 5/11:

My “Cutting Room Floor” plays are the situations I considered the closest to being worthy of investment but did not make the “final cut” for my official plays today for subscribers. The last play I cut for Saturday was with Over the Total in the game between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. Dallas (57-24) has won two of their last three games after their 5-3 victory on Thursday which evened this series at 1-1. The Stars have played 7 of their last 11 games Over the Total after a win by two or more goals. They have also played 25 of their last 43 games Over the Total after winning two of their last three games. Colorado (55-27-7) had their five-game winning streak snapped with the loss. The Avalanche have played 13 of their last 17 home games Over the Total after a loss to a Central Division rival. They have also played 15 of their last 20 games Over the Total after a game on the road where both teams scored three or more goals. Take the Over. Best of luck — Frank.

Frank Sawyer’s Hollywood Sports has CA$HED FOUR STRAIGHT NHL WINNERS this postseason after DELIVERING the Colorado-Dallas Over on Thursday to help fuel their 42 of 66 (64%) All-Sports run with featured 25*/20*/10* plays! Now Frank furthers his  20 of 31 (6%) Game of the Year/Month mark in All-Sports with his 25* NHL Divisional Game of the Year for Saturday night! DON’T MISS OUT!

FRANK’S CUTTING ROOM FLOOR FOR SATURDAY, 5/11:

My “Cutting Room Floor” plays are the situations I considered the closest to being worthy of investment but did not make the “final cut” for my official plays today for subscribers. The last play I cut for Saturday afternoon was with Over the Total in the game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks. Oklahoma City (62-26) saw their ten-game winning streak snapped in a 119-110 upset loss at home to the Mavericks as a 5-point underdog on Thursday. The Thunder have then played 17 of their last 23 games Over the Total after a straight-up loss. They have also played 5 of their last 8 games Over the Total with the Total set in the 210s. Dallas (51-31) has won five of their last seven games while evening this series at 1-1. The Mavericks have played 32 of their last 48 games Over the Total in the second round of the playoffs — and they have played 19 of their last 32 Game Threes in the postseason Over the Total. Take the Over. Best of luck — Frank.

Frank Sawyer’s Hollywood Sports made it FIVE STRAIGHT WINNERS this week to fuel their 42 of 66 (64%) All-Sports run with featured 25*/20*/10* plays by DELIVERING their 25* NBA Northwest Division Game of the Year on Denver last night! Frank is now on a long-running 92 of 151 (61%) NBA featured play run — and now he furthers his 6 of 8 (75%) NBA Game of the Year/Month sides mark with his 25* NBA Saturday ABC-TV Game of the Month today!

Frank has CA$HED FOUR STRAIGHT NHL WINNERS this postseason after DELIVERING the Colorado-Dallas Over on Thursday! Now Frank furthers his 20 of 31 (6%) Game of the Year/Month mark in All-Sports with a 25* NHL Divisional Game of the Year for Saturday night! DON’T MISS OUT!

At 7:10 PM ET on Saturday, we will be playing the money-line on the Carolina Hurricanes (54) versus the New York Rangers (53) in Game Four of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series. THE SITUATION: Carolina (56-24-10) has lost four of their last five games after their 3-2 loss in overtime at home to the Rangers on Thursday. New York (61-24-4) has won nine games in a row and has a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven series. 

REASONS TO TAKE THE HURRICANES WITH THE MONEY-LINE: Carolina continues to not catch a break — their last eight losses in the postseason have been by just one goal. Three of their last four losses in this postseason have been in overtime including the last two games of this series. They have out-shot the Rangers in all three games of this series. I expect a visit from the Regression Gods — the underlying numbers indicate this has been an even series. New York holds the edge in expected Goals-For% — but with a narrow 50.7% clip. Carolina is not going to fold in the towel tonight — they have won 10 straight games at home after a loss to a Metropolitan Division rival. They have also won 18 of their last 22 games after a loss to a divisional foe — and they have won 7 of their last 10 games after a loss by one goal to a Metro opponent. Additionally, they have won 4 of their last 5 games after losing two or more games in a row by one goal. They have won 7 of their last 10 games after losing four or five of their last six games. Head coach Rod Brind’amour turned to rookie Pyotr Kochetkov in Game Three after Frederik Andersen logged in 87:24 minutes in the double-overtime loss on Tuesday. Kocketkov stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced — but he was mediocre with a -0. Goals Saved Above Expectation clip. Andersen was sensational when playing at home in the regular season where he enjoyed a 1.39 Goals-Against-Average and a .946 save percentage in ten starts. Carolina has won 28 of their last 42 home games with the Total set at 5.5. New York has won all seven of their playoff games this year — they look to become the first team in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs to win and sweep the first two playoff series since those rounds got expanded to seven-game series in 1987. Even the 1994 championship run for the New York Rangers led by Mark Messier did not see them win their first eight contests — that team’s first loss was the fourth game in the second round against Washington after a 7-0 start in that postseason. The Rangers have lost 15 of their last 20 games after winning three or more games in a row by one goal. The difference in this series has been on special teams. New York has scored four power-play goals in their 13 opportunities — and they have stymied the Hurricanes in all 15 of their power plays with the man advantage. The Rangers scored on a short-handed goal on Thursday which turned out to be a critical goal to force overtime where they won for the second straight game. 

FINAL TAKE: The Hurricanes have won 17 of their last 24 opportunities to avenge a same-season loss. They have also won 7 of their last 11 games when playing with double-revenge from two straight losses where they allowed three or more goals — and they have won 4 of their last 6 games when playing with the dreaded triple-revenge motivation. 25* NHL Metropolitan Division Game of the Year with the money-line on the Carolina Hurricanes (54) versus the New York Rangers (53). Best of luck for us — Frank.

At 3:40 PM ET on Saturday, we will be playing the Oklahoma City Thunder (505) plus the points versus the Dallas Mavericks (506) in Game Three of their Western Conference Semifinals series. THE SITUATION: Oklahoma City (62-26) had their ten-game winning streak snapped in a 119-110 upset loss at home to the Mavericks as a 5-point favorite on Thursday. Dallas (55-35) has won five of their last seven games while evening this series at 1-1. 

REASONS TO TAKE THE THUNDER PLUS THE POINTS: Oklahoma City has been playing great basketball this postseason — it is telling that the Mavericks’ 46.7% shooting percentage was the worst defensive performance in their last seven games. Head coach Mark Daigneault has some adjustments available to him. Look for the Thunder to be more focused on pressuring the Mavericks off the 3-point line and coaxing them to rely on Luka Doncic in the half-court. Doncic rebounded on Thursday by scoring 29 points on 11 of 21 shooting — but he remains hampered by a nagging right knee injury. Expect Aaron Wiggins to continue to get more playing time for Josh Giddey as well — Oklahoma City was outplayed by -20 points in the 13 minutes he played in Game Two. The Thunder have covered the point spread in 5 of their last 7 games after a straight-up loss at home. They had covered the point spread in four straight games before Thursday’s nine-point loss — and they have covered the point spread in 18 of their last 26 games after covering the point spread in three of their last four games. They should continue to benefit from all the time off they earned after sweeping New Orleans in the first round — and they have covered the point spread in 6 of their last 8 games when playing for no more than the third time in the last ten days. Oklahoma City has also covered the point spread in 23 of their last 37 road games as an underdog of up to six points. Dallas got a surprising shooting performance from P.J. Washington who nailed 7 of his 10 shots from behind the arc on Thursday. But Kyrie Irving’s 9 points from 2 of 8 shooting is cause for concern — especially when considering how important Game Two was for them with Doncic not 100%. As it is, the Mavericks have failed to cover the point spread in 9 of their last 12 games after an upset victory. And while that final score flew Over the 217.5-point Total, Dallas has then failed to cover the point spread in 27 of their last 40 home games after playing a game that finished Over the Total. 

FINAL TAKE: The Thunder have covered the point spread in 17 of their last 27 games when avenging a loss where their opponent scored at least 110 points. 25* NBA Saturday ABC-TV Game of the Month with the Oklahoma City Thunder (505) plus the points versus the Dallas Mavericks (506). Best of luck for us — Frank.