Western Conference Semifinals on the Line Tonight

A berth in the Western Conference semifinals is on the line tonight when Dallas plays host to the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series. Dallas won Game 5 in LA to give the Mavericks the opportunity to end the series at home tonight. With a win, the Mavs would advance to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since the 2021-22 season. 

Dallas lost out on advancing to the Western Conference semifinals in 2020 and 2021. Both times, the Mavs lost to the Clippers. In the 2021 NBA playoffs, Dallas led that series 3-2 before the Clippers won the final two games of the series to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

Doncic Key to Berth in Western Conference Semifinals

Luke Doncic has been fighting through some issues. The average fan might not know that the Mavs leading scorer has a sprained knee and has been battling a cold. In Game 5, Doncic went off for 35 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. For the series, he’s averaging 33.9 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.2 rebounds per game. Interestingly, Doncic has scored 22 and 29 points in games in Dallas this series. He’s hit for 32 or more in games in LA.

With a spot in the Western Conference semifinals up for grabs tonight, you can bet Doncic and the Mavs will want to close out the series at home and get a few days off. Los Angeles will once again play without Kawhi Leonard. He has a knee issue as well. Leonard tried to play in Game 2 but had just 15 points and the Clippers lost 96-93. He’ll sit tonight. The Clippers are 7-7 without Leonard this season. 

The Clippers haven’t been to the Western Conference semifinals since the 2020-21 season. They advanced to the Western Conference semifinals the year before too. They lost to Denver that season. That was the same season in which Leonard was the All-Star game MVP.

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Now, not only do we have sports picks, but we’ve got handicappers that consistently deliver winning picks. Take yesterday as an example. Scott’s Picks was our top capper for Wednesday. Yesterday, he’s on the daily leaderboard at No. 2. Our own Computer Picks took the top spot yesterday. 

Just so you know, our Computer Picks have been hitting at a 59 percent clip for the better part of the last five years. Our top capper for the last month has profits of nearly $5000! When I say we’ve got consistent winners…well, we’ve got consistent winners…lots of them. They are the reason you should have a Sports Hub membership.

Here’s what our top handicappers did yesterday.

• Computer Picks: The computer pumped out four wins in four picks last night. 4-0 and $400 in profits for our Computer Picks last night. The Computer only chooses the best picks, those where there is a two-point difference between the actual betting line and the computer-generated line. That’s another reason you need to join Sports Hub.
• Scott’s Picks: Scott’s Picks is tearing it up this week. Yesterday, Scott’s Picks went 3-0 and profited $350. That puts SP No. 1 on the 3-day leaderboard and No. 2 on the 7-day leaderboard. Scott’s Picks is also our top MLB capper over the last seven days with $1271 in baseball profits.
• SWJ Sports picks: SWJ Sports is another Sports Hub exclusive capper that went 4-1 yesterday and also earned $350. SWJ Sports is our top NHL capper over the last seven days.
• James Acker picks: James put together a nice 3-0 day and took home $300. For the week, James has hit 12 of his 20 picks and is up nearly $400.
• Robert Ferguson picks: Robert rounded out yesterday’s Top 5. He went 4-1 yesterday and took home profits of $295. Over the last three days, he has earned $486.

It’s Playoff Time

Two NBA teams were eliminated from the postseason last night. One NHL team is hanging on and forced a deciding Game 7 on Saturday for a shot at the Western Conference semifinals. The NBA and NHL playoffs continue tonight. So does the 2024 MLB season. NRFI bets anyone?

Here’s what’s trending today.

• Bucks out: Milwaukee dropped a 120-98 decision to Indiana and, with the loss, has been eliminated from the postseason. Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play the entire series. Damian Lillard managed to play last night and score 28 points, but it wasn’t enough. The Pacers advance.
• Sixers done…again: Jalen Brunson poured in 41 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 118-115 win over Philadelphia last night. The loss eliminated the Sixers from the playoffs. Philly hasn’t made it past the conference semifinals since the 2000-01 season when Sixers G Allen Iverson was the league MVP.

• Toronto forces Game 7: The Maple Leafs beat Boston 2-1 last night to force a deciding Game 7 in their first-round playoff series. Last year was the first year in seven straight playoff appearances that the Leafs advanced past the first round. They’ll have to win in Boston on Saturday to advance again.

Friday Sports Schedule

We’ve got some potential elimination games in both the NBA and NHL playoffs tonight. A spot in the Western Conference semifinals awaits the Dallas Mavericks if they can take care of business tonight. The Vancouver Canucks can advance to their Western Conference semifinals with a win tonight. 

Let’s take a look at Friday’s sports schedule.

1. Game 6: There are two Game 6s in the NBA playoffs tonight. Cleveland plays in Orlando at 7:00 p.m. The Cavs have a 3-2 lead in that series. Dallas leads the Clippers 3-2 with a berth in the Western Conference semifinals on the line. The Mavs play host to Los Angeles tonight with game time set for 9:30 p.m.
2. More Game 6: There are also two Game 6s in the NHL playoffs tonight. Vancouver, which has a 3-2 lead, travels to Nashville and can advance to the Western Conference semifinals with a win. Dallas leads Vegas 3-2 and could also advance to the Western Conference semifinals with a win tonight on the road.
3. Weekend series: MLB’s weekend series start today. All 30 MLB teams are in action. The Brewers and Cubs start it off with the only afternoon game at 2:20 p.m. The day is capped off with the Braves and Dodgers, two favorites to win this year’s World Series. Game time is 10:10 p.m.

4. Warm up for the weekend: Weekend soccer is huge, but we warm up for this weekend’s schedule with a couple matches in the world’s top leagues. Luton Town plays Everton in the Premier League. Getafe faces Athletic Club in LaLiga, TSG Hoffenheim plays RB Leipzig in Bundesliga, and Torino takes on Bologna in Italy’s Serie A. There are also two Ligue 1 matches in France.
5. CJ Cup Byron Nelson: Matt Wallace shot a first-round 63 to take the lead in this PGA Tour event. Round 2 is underway today. Wallace tees off at 1:33 p.m.
6. Madrid Open: The highest remaining seed in the men’s Madrid Open is No. 7 Andrey Rublev. He will face No. 12 Taylor Fritz in one of today’s semifinals. No. 1 Iga Swiatek won her semifinal match today and No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka was ahead in her semifinal match.

Be sure to consult the best handicappers in the business before you place your bets today. Our top five handicapper over the last 30 days all have profits of at least $1300 and all have winning percentages of 57% or higher. Do you like wins? Check the members area before you open your sportsbook app today. Thank me later.