Ben and Donnie spend the final hour with special guests Keith Stewart and Tom Vecchio to talk the PGA Championship as well as MLB and NBA action on Thursday!
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Your college performance does not relate to the National Football League. It never does. Played side by e with each other. And he wasn’t as good as Quinn Ewers. That’s an issue. That’s a major issue. The best quarterback they’ve ever got to Texas. It wasn’t that he wasn’t as good as Quinn Ewers. It was Quinn Ewers program, which Steve Sarkisian. Why would it be Quinn Ewers entirety, the entirety of the time that Arch Manning was in Austin? So for you to argue that because yours is a seventh round pick, Quinn was not that good and not deserving of being first overall is asinine. It is wrong. It is incorrect. He’s going to be number one overall. My whole thing was I’m buying your thing. Now. When you double down on not doing that, the best quarterback prospect to ever hit college football can’t play. He’s not a seventh round pick who didn’t even play good quarterback in the history of the sport. When you played Ohio State, he couldn’t even play Ohio State. Quinn Ewers, go look it up. The early line only on sports grid. We’re going to go through every single thing. And I’ve got a great team behind me that’s going to help me get the job done. I want this to be the place that people come to. There is going to be an energy to game time decision that you will feel night in and night out. We are going to hit every single one of those markets that you need to know about. We will have everything at our disposal and we will use that to our advantage. There is not going to be a better place, I promise you, than game time decisions. I’m Kevin Walsh. Tune in to game time decisions weekdays on Sports Grid. Welcome to our number three, our third and final live right here on this Thursday morning on the early line on Sports Grid. He is Donny I am Ben. In this third and final hour, we check in live from Charlotte at Quail Hollow, the site of the 2025 PGA Championship, golf’s second major of the year that is now underway. A quick look at the live leaderboard. We’ve got a tie at the top. We’ve got oh how many eight guys. Eight guys three under par early including Luke Donald, Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Keegan Bradley. Four other guys there as well. Not to discredit Ryan Fox or Nico Echevarria or Stephen Jaeger or Rasmus Hojgaard, all those guys in the fold as well. But an early start. Doctors at the 2025 PGA Championship. With some big names already out there on the course, including Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler alongside Xander Schauffele and their trio, their group that teed off on ten to start their opening round. They have played about five holes officially recorded as of this moment. All three guys in that group, doctors even par to begin. Yeah. By the way, the asterisk against the holes. Ridiculous, man. Everybody starts on one. Everybody finishes on 18. Let’s knock the nonsense off. So you have to do quick math in your head exactly where they’re at at this point in time. But also, how about the brothers out there, Rasmus and also Nikolai. Nikolai all under par at this point. Now they have to be related. They can’t just be two countries. They are right. They got to be related. I think they’re twin brothers. I think they’re twin brothers, Nicolai Hojgaard and Rasmus Hojgaard. Yeah, the Big Danes, I think they played together in the Zurich in New Orleans. That’s kind of fun, right, a brotherly pair. I think they’re twins, though. If they’re not twins. Wow. A super strong family resemblance. Family resemblance in the Hojgaard family race off to a better start. He is three under par. Nicolai. He is one under par. Are they playing together? I don’t know if they are playing together. I think they’re just a group apart, but I guess. What’d you say? Yeah, they’re, they’re look like they’re a whole apart ones on five, ones on six. But like, let’s just say like you are a twin brother golfer, right? It’s like, hey, my brother’s not as good as I am. I already qualified for, like, the US open. Let me just go play for him in the qualifier to get him in the US open. And nobody would ever know the difference, man. But they got. But right now it’s pretty clear though they both are pretty good equally. Yeah, I don’t think that’s really been an issue for the Hogan family. Man. Can you imagine if you had a twin brother who’s better than you? But he would just qualify for whatever you needed to do. What a tremendous like like what a what a great thing a brother would be able to do for his other brother here, man. Tremendous stuff. Why hasn’t Brooks done that for Chase? They’re not brothers. Hold on. Hold on. Yeah. Go ahead. Let’s take it into the early line. Now, this would be crazy. Like, I don’t know wt this world would be. You, boy doctors had a identical twin. I mean, get out of town at that point where, like, you could just say. Hey, man. Hey, brother, fill in for me this morning. And Ben’s like, man, he sounds a little off this morning. You get your sleep last night. You know what I mean? Like, you never know the difference. Like just a twin was stepping into the moment. Also, I understand there’s still like. You see. Yeah. You see the videos out here in the streets and it’s like, you know what? Like what happens if you had, like, twin kids and the kid, like, walks in the room? It’s like, for sure. I don’t know who that actually is. Identify yourself over there, man. What a crazy world, man. Oof! The early hours with Ben Stevens and Ronnie. Left side live every morning at 8 a.m. Eastern time. Ronnie. Left side. That’s like Matthew Liberatore. Anyway, we’ll talk about that at another time. Doctors, we want to hear from the people on a great sports debate. Now that might carry over for the next few years. Of course, a historic and sweeping decision on Tuesday afternoon made by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to remove Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson, among others, from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, pretty much saying at the time of their death they are off that list as they can no longer harm the reputation of MLB, which sets the stage for guys like Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson to maybe be considered for Cooperstown once again. What say all of you? Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame? That was the question. And fade the public. Oh. Dress. If it was up to the fade. The public poll at Sports Grid on Twitter, there really wouldn’t be a debate for the Historical Oversight committee, where 12 of 16 votes is necessary for Pete Rose to get into Cooperstown, because more than 80% of the public says that, yes, Pete Rose should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Doctors, I know you’re feedg the public. No, actually, I didn’t fade the public. I went with the public here. Like being in the Hall of Fame, telling the totality of the tale. I don’t agree that Pete Rose should have gotten the Hall of Fame if he was actually still alive, because you do have to have penalties opposed to, you know, just doing whatever you want and not paying attention to Major League Baseball protocols throughout your playing career and also post-playing career, where you just put a thumb up to Major League Baseball repeatedly at that point. So I did vote yes at the 80%, because you do have to sell the story of Major League Baseball with Pete. So I didn’t fade the public. I went with the public. That confuses me, though. Yesterday you said he does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, that you do not want him in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, he doesn’t. But. But he will be voted into the Hall of Fame. That’s. Should Pete Rose be? I used to use this as. Will he get into the Hall of Fame as opposed to. Here’s what I think is going to happen. That’s why I played it out. Because theoretically, if you break the rules, you shouldn’t be in there. But I voted with the public because technically he should be in because of what he did. And he will get inte Hall of Fame. So that’s why I use the poll itself for myself at that, at that spot, I didn’t use it as mine. I almost got yeah, I didn’t read it like all the way through, as I should have trouble reading the public poll. Man. He will raising the signs. The yeah, the letters, the figures, the symbols are really confusing you this week. Yeah. Like he should be in the Hall of Fame. I voted yes because he will be in. So that’s how I took it. As opposed to he won’t be in the Hall of Fame because I don’t want him to be in the Hall of Fame, if that makes sense, I think. Will Pete Rose be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? I would agree the reality more than likely that is going to happen, but I think should kind of is asking for personal judgment. What? Yeah. Who is this? The normal baseball writers, just like some like old crew that gets it, like the NFL sometimes has. Like, hey, you didn’t get in your first 60 times. Let the, the old timers put you in. So if Joe saying it’s the older it’s interesting this like how who actually get in because baseball writers are the worst. Like they’ll hold a grudge and be like well nobody got in unanimously. I don’t want him to get in. So we have to hold up that standard. Like, well they’re like, well, he’s he’s dead. Like he’s not watching. You’re not penalizing him anymore. So theoretically he’s there in or out like valid number one. Right. We’re not holding like let’s make him wait five years. He’s not even here to wait. What are we doing? So it first has to go to the historical oversight committee, where Pete needs to pass with a majority, 12 of 16. And then I believe he would go to the overall baseball writers. I’m not entirely sure where you would need, I think, 50 vote on Hall of Fame Hall of Fame candidacy each and every year. So the earliest the peak can be inducted into Cooperstown would be winter of 2027. Thus the delay. You can’t do that, man. Donnie, I need you to. I need you to lead into the. Come on. Look at that. Come, Danny boy. Come on, man, come on man. You know that’s posthumous Pete right there. Come on. 256 career hits, 17 time All-Star, three time World Series champion, the NL MVP in 1973. And I saw an article where he was saying that his rookie year, Ben made seven GS for the season. How about that? That’s a bargain. Not on his bets, by the way. That was later in his career. Come on. When did you know? When did you know we were going black and white for the post? Humorously Pete Rose board. When did we know? Because that’s ugly. That’s ugly. Tt let your host know that and let him off guard by that back in Cincinnati. Looks like that’s not young Pete, I think so, yeah. That’s old. He was a 17 time all star. He was an all star at the age of 44. In his second season with Cincinnati. Crazy. Couldn’t get the MLB all time hits leader. All right, we go to Keith Stewart in Charlotte next. Enter into the magical world of com. Or even the smallest of spins can win real cash prizes. Adventure into over a thousand of the best Vegas style slot games. So what are you waiting for? Unlock your free welcome offer today. Join the fun where winners play and players win. Get two guys that can do it all. It’s too much electricity this morning. This is a good time. We’re having a lot of fun. I had to do a triple take. Why? Because of parody? I didn’t mean to offend. Yeah, it’s not going to happen. Vote management is a dirty word. Let him rip. You know what circumstances provide the results? What? How do you do this one? Oh, Johnny, you got such a good show there. A network that is booming. The early line only on sports grid. The game is on. The stakes are high, but the action isn’t just on the field. Rearranging that rhythm. Get it inside. Sports grids in game live. Your ultimate second screen experience. Couple one and a half point live line. Every prop, every play, every day. Anything can happen. It’s complete chaos. Ha ha. It’s smarter to be on sports grid. We’re going to go through every single thing. And I’ve got a great team behind me that’s going to help me get the job done. I want this to be the place that people come to. There is going to be an energy to game time decision that you will feel night in and night out. We are going to hit every single one of those markets that you need to know about. We will have everything at our disposal and we will use that to our advantage. There is not going to be a better place, I promise you, than game time decisions. I’m Kevin Walsh. Tune in to game time decisions weekdays on Sports Grid. Did you know sports books tend to draw a tighter bet lines for events that get even more bettors, like championship games or major matchups? My tip? Try betting on less popular sports. You might have a better shot at beating those odds. Now go get lucky. See you in Las Vegas. Let’s get lucky. Golf’s second major of the season, now officially underway in Charlotte. It’s the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, which means we check in bright and early in the opening round on this Thursday morning with Keith Stewart, who is there on the sites of Quail Hollow Club for the beginning of the 2025 PGA. Keith, as always, we appreciate the time. Thanks for being here on tell Ben. Donny good morning. Here. Things are about to heat up down here in Charlotte. Literally at the water’s coming out of the ground. The temperature, the humidity and the pressure that these guys feel. This is a lot of fun. We’ve got eight guys tied for first place right now at three under par. The guys are having at it pretty good competition so far guys. The opening round underway. And as Keith alluded to, eight guys tied for the top of the leaderboard all at three under. Keith. One of the stories entering this week, the remarks about Quail Hollow as a course and a host site as well, but also just the amount of rain on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday kind of dampening literally practice rounds and preparations. But as you said, it’s starting to dry out. What have you seen of the course conditions early in the opening round on this Thursday? Ben, it’s a great point. They’ve gotten five inches of rain in the last five days, and the PGA of America came out with a huge statement last night. It said we are playing the ball down, which means no preferred lies, which means no lift, clean and replace. Right. And it’s a major championship and that’s what they should do. And thankfully, through this morning wave so far, everyone’s out on the golf course. We haven’t seen any issues with mud balls or anything like that. Now the story coming into this was going to be the green complexes and the putting, and it’s already treacherous. You can see it on TV and in the coverage that the guys are being very respectful, but the greens are so pure that if you are a good putter, you can make some. I look forward to the afternoon wave, which has some big names that these guys, these greens, are going to get a little crusty every afternoon, and they’re going to be a lot of fun to watch. These guys go nuts. Either make some putts or miss. Some have that ball roll out those testy three footer to save par. It’s going to be a lot of entertainment. We’ll take a look at the odds market right now. As you said very competitive early and often right now. You could probably go after those flags and those pins which you might not be able to do a little bit later this week once the greens do dry out. Rory McIlroy through six holes, he is under par, but still Scottie Scheffler. We talked yesterday was a 4 to 1 price or so. He’s at plus 360 right now. Rory McIlroy at plus 850 there waiting for Scottie Scheffler to do some damage this weekend down in Carolina. Well there’s no doubt about that Donny. The big three are out on the golf course right now. They’re out. They started on the 10th hole. They’re in the middle of their back nine. And you know Scotty, he’s hitting the ball everywhere. He’s chipped in for birdie. And then he also putted it in from off the green for eagle. So he’s two under par. And he hasn’t really played like the number one player in the world. These guys just hang around. They are that good Rory McIlroy the same way under par. And he’s been a little bit loose with the driver is Andrew Schauffele. He’s actually looked the most steady and right now he’s trailing both of those guys in that power group. When you look at that power pairing, Keith and that group off early, Xander Schauffele, the reigning PGA champion. Of course, Rory McIlroy victorious and finally completing the career grand Slam at Augusta earlier this year. And Scottie Scheffler, who just eagled the par five 15th, their sixth hole. As Keith alluded to, they started on the back nine. Jon Rahm fourth best price entering this week at Quail Hollow 18 to 1 pre-tournament. He’s two under par so far in the early going at the PGA Championship. But Keith the guy you gave us yesterday early leans on the early line. Bryson DeChambeau third best price. Only a couple of bucks behind both Scottie and Rory to begin. Remains at that 7 to 1 pre tournament number. You talked about the course conditions and the guys that will go off a little bit later on this Thursday in Charlotte. How favorable will DeChambeau find the course today at quail. Oh Bryson’s going to love this setup today because he’s a great putter. And the crustier the greens get. That’s going to give him an advantage and allow him to separate appointment viewing. Boys at 1:47 p.m. This afternoon, you’ve got to have Bryson, Victor and Gary Woodland and that whole afternoon wave. It’s loaded. It starts with JT and Collin right around 115 and group after group right in that little section you’re going to have some. You’re going to have some awesome, awesome golf to watch. And Bryson is going to be the star. You can see it already how Rory’s distancing himself from even Scotty and Xander off the tee, and the advantage that he has. And for Bryson, it’s going to be the same exact thing. These guys hit mid irons where the other guys are hitting long irons into greens. It’s just such an advantage. And if you can roll the rock, which is going to be the true test for four days, it Bryson’s got to be licking his chops right now because the golf course is soft where he’s going to land and the greens are pure, and those are the two things he needs in order to differentiate himself from this field. Now real quick, one of the tee times this morning that I thought was really interesting was Captain Keegan Bradley was paired with Matt McNealy and Andrew Novak, two, two guys that would be rookie selections for the US Ryder Cup team. And you know the PGA of America. They run the US team putting that pairing together. That was no coincidence. Now all of a sudden the first tee time of the day the guy that led off the tournament was Luke Donald, the European captain. Keegan now right. He’s out there with those two guys. He’s supposed to be watching them. Keegan is leading the tournament alongside Luke Donald. You have both active Ryder Cup captains out there leading the golf tournament right now. It’s a really cool thing for the PGA of America. Only five times in history has it has an active Ryder Cup captain shot around in the 60s at the PGA Championship, and both guys have a chance to do it today. Keith, answer me this question too, because so many times we look at like an event like the US open, you’re just trying to hang on over the weekend. Don’t make double bogey and don’t make bogey. But if you are 4 to 5 shots back, like you say on Saturday late aftern, is this golf course going to be set up where you can go out there and really put together a string of birdies or possibly eagles to get you back in and win this thing? Donnie, there’s two parts to that. There’s two answers to that question on holes one through 15. Absolutely. Go attack. Make as many birdies as you can. You get to the green mile 16, 17 and 18. We’re going to see a lot of fluctuation in score. It’s going to be super entertaining. You got to get the ball in the house. And so early on in your round attack, attack, attack late, put both hands on the steering wheel and hold on for dear life. It is going to be a great weekend in Charlotte. Keith, quickly, what do you think that finishing score is for PGA champion? Just how low will they go at Quail Hollow? Ben it’s going to be right around the mid teens. I take 15 right now and you probably be in a playoff 16 or so. You win 1314 maybe you know runner up. It’s a really good point as well. And for all of you betting round leaders three balls all that stuff. Par 71 in Charlotte. Do not forget Keith Stewart. We appreciate the time as always. We’ll keep checking in from Charlotte all week long on Sports Grid. More on the early line up next. Did you know sports books tend to draw up tighter bet lines for events that get even more bettors, like championship games or major matchups? My tip? Try betting on less popular sports. You might have a better shot at beating those odds. Now go get lucky. See you in Las pages. Let’s get lucky. They’ve won seven in a row. They’ve been dominant at Citi Field. Linda’s been insane. Pete Alonso’s been raking. You know Griffin Canning David Peterson. Those guys have pitched really, really well. And when you put it together with that lineup, especially like you said, Linda’s been great. You know they’ve got they’ve got the makings of something very special in Queens. Farrell coast to coast only on sports grid. Derek Carr has called it a career after 11 NFL seasons. I think they knew before the draft that they had to make a move at this point. And by the way, Derek Carr did hava pretty good career. Made as many Pro Bowls as Eli Manning. So based on that, he should go to the Hall of Fame like Eli Manning. Eli Manning does have a couple rings at that point, but always wanted to take a shot at Manning, who should not actually be in the Hall of Fame, shouldn’t be questioned under 500 quarterback for his career. Stop the madness. The early line only on sports grid. The game is on. The stakes are high, but the action isn’t just on the field. Rearranging that ring. Get it inside. Sports grids in game Live, your ultimate second screen experience. A couple and a half point live wine. Every prop, every play, every day. Anything can happen. It’s complete chaos. Ha ha ha. It’s smarter to be on sports grid. A short Thursday slate around Major League Baseball here on the early line to break down for you. Only six games on the docket as of this moment. Doctors the hottest team in Major league Baseball. That’s the Minnesota Twins, winners of ten consecutive games. The twins becoming the first team this year in 2025, in the bigs to win ten games in a row. Now, can they make it 11 straight today as they wrap up their series in Baltimore inside Camden Yards against an Orioles team. That man 15 and 26. Now after getting swept in the doubleheader yesterday by Minnesota -132. The money line price for the O’s to avoid the series swep and to snap that Minnesota ten game win streak nine is the total. What do we see this afternoon? 12:36 p.m. Eastern Time scheduled first pitch in Baltimore, hoping to see some runs here, particularly the Baltimore Orioles, because again, their lineup still screams like they should be able to get base hits. They should be able to win baseball games, but it just hasn’t turned out in their favor over the past 30 days. Jackson Holiday today Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn all lining up as lefties should be able to do some damage against Chris Paddack. You take a look at Paddack today. Only 12 pitches that are listed on the card for me a 122 x minus and an X number of 4.95 with the E.R.A. That matches up in the high fours, but you also take a look at Paddack on the season. So far, 170 batters he’s faced a 155 ISO and a 302 weighted on base percentage, which isn’t bad. You take that now. For the last 30 days, 110 batters he’s faced. It’s actually a 130 ISO, which is improved and a 2.59 weighted on base percentage, which is improved as well. So now you’re looking at today the analytics side of it, which says he should be able to get hit versus the actual things that are happening on the field like ERA, which shows he has that underway or calming right now, 74 degrees, three mile an hour wind blowing out. I’m more likely to say over in this game, you take a look at Sugano on the mound for Baltimore. He’s got a 106 xfip, which is much less than Paddock’s 122 he also has an ERA of 2.72, but he does have that xfip number hovering around a 4.31. So he’s getting a little bit lucky at that point. The Minnesota batters today, first four in the lineup look pretty darn good. Buxton, Larnach, Jefferies and Lee all high ISO and weighted on base percentages. But again you’re looking at Sugano. What he’s given up on the season so far. ISIL power number slightly higher to lefties. But outside of that he’s really kept it down. The reason that gets him in trouble, Ben, which gets a lot of Major League Baseball pitchers in trouble. It’s not the walks which he doesn’t have, but the strikeout margin. 14% of the batters he faces strikeout, which means a lot of On these early games, but this game probably should go over. And by the way, Baltimore slightly to them as well. -132 on that money line price. The O’s need to stack up some wins. Let me ask you a question about Baltimore here as well. They enter 2025 right in the optimism of this young core, only behind the New York Yankees, with the second best price to win the American League pennant. Now 15 and 26, a 28 to 1 number, it is the fifth longest price in the American League. Is it too little, too late already this early in the season? In the middle of May? Or is there enough time for the Orioles to turn this thing around? There’s enough time to turn it around, but it’s not really like the batters will turn it around fine. They’re talented one through nine. They really are. And a coupf guys are coming back off the IL that they should get back, which would help. It’s just that frontline starting pitching like you no longer look at them and say, hey, they have 2 or 3 hammers up top like you get Corbin Burnes, like, okay, well now he’s gone. At this point it’s like, okay, where do we go from here? That’s where the struggles are. The hitting will be fine. The pitching is what we really worry about though. When we look at the rest of the games on the slate. The in-state rivalry starts today. A four game set in Arlington between the Rangers and the Astros. Really good pitching matchup in this one, at least on paper. Houston sends out its second ace, if you will, in Hunter Brown. Jacob deGrom, who has won three consecutive outings, gets the start for the Rangers. Texas has won five straight games. Doctors as they start this four game slate against the Astros. They’re a slight favorite at home. -122. What do you like? Yeah, taking a look at the lineups today and going up against Jacob deGrom who’s had a very good season a little bit leaky against left handed batters. But if you’re just looking for Houston Astros as a total like what I tell you, if Jose Altuve doesn’t match up as one of the worst batters in the lineup, you wouldn’t figure that. But over the last 30 days against right handed pitching, he hasn’t done all that well. But Pena parades Walker, Diaz, Caratini, Myers, Dicenzo all have elevated weighted on base percentages here against right handed pitching. And then you take a look at on the opposite side with the Texas Rangers. It is a good looking lineup there. But Hunter Brown looks like he’s been flawless this season. Weighted on base percentage, ISIL power numbers, high K , low walk rate. Number one on the card today with a 64 X fit minus and a 2.65 Xfip number. Astros for me today, baby. As a slight underdog. Our final game of this six game slate. The rubber match at the ravine. The Dodgers beat the A’s yesterday 9 to 3. Shohei hit a homer. Max Muncy hit a three run shot. Wait, doesn’t the other Max Muncy play for the Athletics? We’ll ask Tom about that a little bit later on. More on the early lineup next. Your college performance does not relate to the National Football League. It never does played side by side with each other. And he wasn’t as good as Quinn Ewers. That’s an issue. That’s a major issue. It wasn’t the best quarterback they’ve ever got to Texas. It wasn’t that he wasn’t as good as Quinn Ewers. It was Quinn Ewers program, which Steve Sarkisian made it be the entirety, the entirety of the time that Arch Manning was in Austin. So for you to argue that because yours is a seventh round pick, Quinn is not that good and not deserving of being first overall is asinine. It is wrong. It is incorrect. He’s going to be number one overall. My whole thing was I’m buying your thing. Now when you double down on a table, I’m not doing that. The best quarterback prospect to ever hit college football can’t play. He’s a seventh round pick who didn’t even play good quarterback in the history of the sport. You played Ohio State. He couldn’t even play Ohio State. Quinn Ewers, go look it up. The early line only on sports grid. We’re going to go through every single thing. And I’ve got a great team behind me that’s going to help me get the job done. I want this to be the place that people come to. There is going to be an energy to game time decision that you will feel night in and night out. We are going to hit every single one of those markets that you need to know about. We will have everything at our disposal and we will use that to our advantage. There is not going to be a better place, I promise you, than game time decisions. I’m Kevin Walsh. Tune in to game time decisions weekdays on Sports Grid. One lone playoff game in the Association on this Thursday night. It’s a closeout opportunity for OKC on the road in Denver. It’s the Thunder. It’s the nuggets. It’s game number six of this second round series. The Thunder doctors up three two in this series. And a 4.5. Road favorite in game six a total that stands at two 17.5. We broke down this game earlier to end out our number two. We do so once again here in our number three to set the stage for this Thursday evening. Doctors, you’ve been pretty solidified in your stance that you think the nuggets can do enough to win this game on their own home floor to force a decisive winner take all game seven for a spot in the Western Conference Finals? If so, how does Denver get that done? Getting four and a half points at home tonight. It’s got to be the big boys, man. It’s got to be Nikola Jokic with a monster game. It’s got to be Jamal Murray stepping up. You got to gete Christian Browns of the world chipping in with you know double digit points here. Low teens. You got to get Russell Westbrook in that energy coming off the bench to give you one of those 12 six and six type performances through about 25 to 30 minutes here. You need all hands on deck. And also you need OKC to be a little bit off. Why. Because they’re the better team. Like if both of these teams bring their A game it’s going to be OKC B game see game. It’s going to be OKC. You need to play your A game Oklahoma City is playing your B maybe C plus type of situational game with Shay Gilgeous-Alexander. You tell me before the game starts Shay Gilgeous-Alexander is at 24 points. Yeah Denver’s going back for a game number seven at OKC. That’s the way I see it playing out. Now we look at the point spread in this right. We say to ourselves okay yeah you’re probably asking for Denver to win before enough is a big enough margin where late game heroics three point shot goes down. You know one 2 or 3 shot at the buzzer. You don’t make it. You lose by two I get that. But I am going to be hard pressed to say I don’t know if OKC can walk into Denver tonight. Should I say I’ll be surprised. And they win by double digits. If OKC wins 52468 points, that makes some sense. But for Denver to be at home tonight and get pasted by double digits, I just don’t see that. So that’s why I think the Denver Nuggets have a legitimate chance. And would I be surprised in the fourth quarter if the nuggets have the lead? No. That’s what the anticipation is. They had the lead in game number five of a pivotal game which you know, the winner of game number five is what like 80% of the playoffs. They end up winning the rest of that series. So upper hand OKC. But I think you get a great punch tonight. And I gladly take the points tonight with the Denver Nuggets. It’s a good point. Again four and a half is not the largest spread. You would think the winner of the game outright more than likely to cover the number tonight. However, outside of the 43 point route in OKC in game number two, the Thunder handling the nuggets to even this series at a game apiece every other game. The four others have been decided by single digits, even in OKC. In game five, the Thunder were a double digit favorite. They won by seven, which has benefited Denver as the dog. The nuggets four and one against the spread, an underdog of at least five and a half. Six points and all five games so far. So this four and a half point number in an elimination game tonight. Shortest spread we have seen in this series. Also the lowest total we have seen in this set at 217. And a hook again game number three. Not all that long ago in Denver. Pre game over under 232. Even in OT that game stayed well under our last three games. Games three through five have all hit the under. I wonder what that total looks like tonight in an elimination game where Oklahoma City is trying to prove its playoff might. And the nuggets understand this scenario as an NBA champion just two seasons ago. Again, as we mentioned it, the Thunder have been in Oklahoma City now as a franchise for 17 years. And the Katie Russ and even James Harden era, they had reached the Western Conference finals four times in a six year span, but not since Katie’s final year in Oklahoma City in 20 1516 for this young core under Mark Daniel coaching Shay Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, they have never been to the conference finals. They are one win away from doing so tonight. But with that opopportunity comes the pressure. We will see how the Thunder, who have handled these learning experiences, and it exhibited a ton of growth throughout this second round series. How OKC deals with that in Denver in Game six. You’re right. And that’s a big notion too. And also understand this. They’re already into the playoffs. It’s round number two. You say well how about their closeout situation against Memphis when on the road closer games John Morant was down. But they won game number three which then gave them the close out game number four which they won in Memphis. Oh you know what. Close on the road really hard. It’s easier to do it at home in game number five they handle their business. This is their first opportunity in round number two in a closeout game to handle their business once again on the road, which is a sign of a team that would be maturing. You tell me OKC enters into the playoffs as the number one overall seed. And we say yes. They’re the most talented team. They have the best regular season. But what have they done in the playoffs because they’re not used to being in this position. You know what gives me confidence moving forward. Closing out teams on the road in their own building. Just like a team like the Denver Nuggets. That will give me even more cause to back OKC moving forward in the Western Conference finals and into the NBA finals if they make it. But tonight again, it will be a big performance by the nuggets because they’re underdogs to win this outright. But this game will be competitive. No way, shape or form for me, which I could be wrong that there could be a blowout victory tonight for OKC on the road in Denver. And that’s my stance on that. The two 17.5, it is tough. If I had to lean towards the over I’d probably go that direction. But I think the side is a little bit better for me. Denver really brings it tonight, which I think you could say, Ben, you go full game, you go first quarter, you go first half. I’ll tell you right now like yes Denver down ten at the break could come back and win that game. But that’s not the game plan for the Denver Nuggets. Win the first quarter. Win the second quarter. Win the third quarter just like they did in OKC. But hey we’re at home now. We should be able to close the door in the fourt. OKC a two and a half point favorite for the opening half tonight in Denver. Two 17.5 doctors again nearly a 15 point difference from the last time we started things in Denver at altitude. In game number three. You would almost just think based on handicapping numbers. Is that too steep of a drop off based on what we are learning from the betting stats on FanDuel, 72% of the money in terms of the spread backing the nuggets as the home dogs, 68% of the overall bets backing the nuggets as the home dog. And yet, OKC remains a four and a half point favorite. Let’s talk about the superstars, of course on display tonight in the MVP battle, the guy that has won three of the previous four seasons, and the guy that is more than likely to win it for the first time in his career this year. That being Shay Gilgeous Alexander, 31 plus in three of the 531 exactly for SGA in that decisive game five win, 44 points and Nikola Jokic in Game five in OKC. He was great in game one. He was great in game five, pretty mediocre by his own lofty standards. In games two through four, the number that stands out most to me. Dress seven and a half assists not for Gilgeous Alexander but for Nikola Jokic. He has not come close to that number yet in this series. His high six assists. That is it. Whatever OKC is doing defensively against the Joker they are taking away his the his ability to distribute the basketball. Yeah that little simple handoff at the top of the key. That leaves a wide open jump shots which he steals like five assists a game. Certainly not looking forwao that or not letting that allow to happen. But also you’re still not getting a break on this. Hey Jokic doesn’t really get triple doubles. What is he up to attend to win price. No. It’s plus 2 to 1. Like it’s barely anything like you expect the assist and the rebounds to always be there. Because the ten points is just about a formality at that point but hasn’t happened a double double for Nikola Jokic, which he’s missed in this series, is -1400 at this point. If you want to go SGA for having a monster night 18 to 1 on the triple doubl, has he had a triple double in the playoffs yet? I don’t really remember him being a huge triple double guy, but hence the 18 to 1 price if he does that. If you’re just looking for MVP versus MVP to have a monster game tonight, he has not had a triple double in the postseason. Nikola Jokic should have three in that seven game series against the Clippers in the opening round. Yet to record a triple double here in the five games. In round number two Donny you highlighted Jamal Murray earlier his points prop 21.5. Is there a way the nuggets win outright to save their season and extend the series without a big night for Murray? Maybe. But that’s a key number tonight. Yeah I don’t think that’s going to happen. But by the way if Jamal Murray scores 14 points and the nus win, I might be running to the wagon right now to get on Denver for game number seven saying like what did Jokic do 5030 and 20. Like how would that be possible for Murray to have a terrible game and then win. Somebody’s got to step up. And also how about this little sneaky tidbit here Russell Westbrook over three and a half rebounds tonight brings that energy. That’s a plus 110 price here at the Fanjuls. You’re kind of a you’re kind of a sneaky big Westbrook fan. Yeah you really defend his all time. But he’ll get stats man. He’ll get that TV time next. But still underdogs at home on the road. And all of these games. It’s time for people to start understanding they legitimate team that has a chance not only to win the series against Cleveland, but also maybe even go all the way to the NBA finals. I think a lot of the focus has been on why the Cavs have not played particularly well. A lot of that is due to injury, of course, but I think that’s taking too much credit away from what the Pacers have done. Newswire only on sports grid. Malaysia. You guys know I am a huge fan. Has decided to switch allegiances and stay in league. Now she’s going to go play for Kim Mulkey, r Flossy Johnson in the backcourt. It’s going to be interesting to watch. You wonder sometimes when roster construction, maybe too much is not too good. Betting above the rim only on sports grid. Jayson Tatum underwent surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon that is obviously a season ending injury. And you you know that’s long rehab. You’re talking next year. That’s a year I don’t wish that on anybody I don’t I hate that Achilles knees and ankles I don’t like talking about them. I’ve said it a million times but screw the Celtics Farrell coast to coast only on sports grid. The two guys that can do it all. It’s too much electricity this morning. This is a good time. We’re having a lot of fun. I had to do a triple take. Why? Because the parody. I didn’t mean to offend. Yeah, it’s not going to happen. Road management is a dirty word. Let him rip. You know what circumstances provide the results? What? How do you do this one? Oh, Donnie, you got such a good show there. A network that is booming. The early line only on sports grid. Time for your prop perspective on this Thursday with the jack of all trades. The man of the hour. It’s TV Tom Vecchio of Sports Grid live right here on Sports Grid on the early line a game six tonight in Denver for Vecchio to break down for you. An early look at game number six back inside Madison Square Garden tomorrow night between the Knicks and the Celtics. And of course some action on the ice in two series clinching spots tonight in the Stanley Cup postseason. Vecchio, as always, thank you so much for joining us here on T. Thanks for having me. We have an awesome few days of sports coming up. I got to say, I am massively disappointed in Trey Turner. Donnie didn’t get hit for me in yesterday’s first game of the doubleheader, the first game of a doubleheader that is regardless of the points. But I’m ready to go for today. We have we have some awesome games coming up. Yeah, we certainly do, Vecchio. And it starts at altitude. The Denver Nuggets, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Thunder one win away from their first appearance in the Western Conference finals since 2016. The nuggets, a home underdog. And yet trying to stave off elimination tonight, four and a half point spread in favor of OKC. Shortest number in favf the Thunder so far in this second round series, and a total of two, 17.5. Becky, we often ask you to read the numbers and tell us what the odds are telling you about how this game is played tonight, so please do just that. What is the spread the total telling you about this elimination game at altitude in game number six. So like you said you know shortest number that we have on OKC, I got to say that I don’t think we’re going to start off this game as we did a couple games ago where it’s what 19 to 8 in the first quarter. I don’t think we’re going to see that. I don’t think we’re going to see in the most recent game. It’s going to fall somewhere in betweeI think this game actually presents a lot of opportunities for live betting, where ultimately I think the Thunder are the better team. I think a lot of people would agree with that, and I’m hoping that the nuggets actually get out to a hot start because, you know, grabbing the Thunder at minus one or plus one somewhere close to even money, even on the money line. I think that’s a really, really interesting opportunity tonight. So I don’t like the four and a half. I want a minus one, minus one and a half in game. You know, for that early start from Denver, they come out with the crowd behind them and then you just grab OKC live. I frankly think there’s a way to play both. You can take Denver pregame. You get that four and a half or five number wherever it may settle. Then you grab OKC in game I think like tonight is a really, really interesting spot to do. So I think there’s a lot of also opportunity in when it comes to the secondary and tertiary players. I don’t want to be looking at SGA. I don’t want to be looking at Jokic. Let’s look to some of those other players where I think there’s some real value tonight. Yeah. Let’s take a look to it. SGA 29.5 as well as taking a look here also at Nikola Jokic 28.5. There are no discounts here. We’re expecting them to have big game performances tonight. And rightfully so. One’s a three time ♪former MVP. Ones looking to become an MVP for the first time in SGA. And you’re right OKC is the better team. So if we are looking at other props outside of the two top guns on each team. Tom, where are we going tonight in this game? Yeah. Let’s go to Chet Holmgren under 14.5 points. And I’m going to say he’s having a good series. That’s obviously not the easiest matchup for him. But you know shooting 40 or 43% from the field is good. He’s not knocking them down from downtown. It really comes down to a couple of things. A he’s been in a little bit of foul trouble in some of these games. Not every single game. And B we’re not seeing a massive volume of shots from him. Right. So seeing 40% from the field is great. But when we’re only seeing eight, nine, ten, maybe 12 field goal attempts, like he has to be really, really efficient and stay out of foul trouble in order for him to get to 15 or 16 points to push this over. So, you know, when we’re seeing, you know, four of nine, like in theory, okay, four of nine, that’s great. But that’s not getting us to the point where we need to be that we can rely on him to get to 15 points. So I see this game as a 205 kind of final score total. It’s going to fall the under and there’s not too many players doing a whole lot of scoring tonight. Three consecutive unders from game three on here in this series. Game three is total Vecchio 232. Even in that extra session in OT. Stayed well under big story for the Thunder and the Nuggets in Game four. Really both teams frankly atrocious. Offensively, SGA was the only guy in the starting five for Mark Daniel and company who scored more than ten points, much more balanced all five starters in game five, scoring at least 12 points in that decisive game that gave OKC the series advantage and an opportunity to win it tonight. The Thunder are a road favorite, even at altitude. Vecchio. So do you believe tonight it comes to a close. And if not if we see a game seven, what do you think the atmosphere would look like back in Oklahoma City? Because the oddsmakers telling us whether it’s tonight or in a couple days in a decisive game seven, the Thunder are going to win this series and get to the Western Conference finals. So I do think the Thunder get it closed. You know they close out tonight. However if they don’t you know what would be the course or what would be like the things play out for Denver. How do they get it done? I really think it comes down to Michael Porter Jr. And I’m not going to say rely solely on him because we’ve seen Aaron Gordon have a really strong postseason. You know we have Jokic. We have Murray. But Michael Porter Jr has been a player that’s been remarkably inconsistent 234 points in some of these games. Some of these games he’s up at 20 points I think it comes down to him knocking down threes because he’s going to have the time and space to shoot them. So Jokic obviously the defense is going to him. They’re going to worry about Murray. But if we look to PJ over 1.5 threes that’s sitting at like -106 thereabouts. If he can knock down some threes and provide some consistent secondary scoring for the nuggets I think they will have a shot. I’m not going to say like he is the determining factor tonight, but he is a big, big part of their offense. One single game in the NBA. Looking forward to tonight to see how it breaks down. But if we do rerack the NBA playoffs right now with the NBA finals odds here at the FanDuel sports book. Tom OKC heavy favorite even though they haven’t moved on yet at -140 price. And then you get those big dogs out there. The Knicks 6 to 1. The T Wos 6 to 1. The Pacers 7 to 1. The Celtics 15 to 1. Which again Tom you agree with me. Should be 275 million to 1 to win a championship because they never win anything without Tatum. Your thoughts please. I think the Pacers present the most value and a realistic shot at this point where the Knicks are a good team. But I will continuously say the same thing. These non Brunson minutes are such an issue for them. And the consistent scoring or the lack of consistent scoring is really, really tough when you’re going up against a team like the Pacers. So if the Pacers were to get past them, you get a 7 to 1 ticket. It does leave you some opportunity to hedge out. You can take the Thunder at that point, presuming that they do move past the Timberwolves, Knicks and Pacers Co-favorites in the East at plus 125. But is there some life for the Celtics quickly. Game six tomorrow night in MSG. What’s your favorite look for a decisive game inside the garden? It’s going to be going to Payton Pritchard. Over 14.5 points throughout the regular season. He was at 20 points per 36 minutes when Tatum was off the court. And he’s he can knock down some threes. So he’s going to come off the bench. He’ll take double digit attempts if he knocked down some threes. I think the Celtics can have a shot to force a game. Seven five triples for Pritchard last night. He had 17 points in that game five blowout of New York. We send Donnie to the money line. Have a great time doctors. Vecchio and I take a look at the Stanley Cup postseason next. Your college performance does not relate to the National Football League. It never does. Played side by e with each other. And he wasn’t as good as Quinn Ewers. That’s an issue. That’s a major issue. It wasn’t the best quarterback they’ve ever got to Texas. It wasn’t that he wasn’t as good as Quinn Ewers. It was Quinn Ewers program, which Steve Sarkisian why would it be Quinn entirety the entirety of the time that Arch Manning was in Austin. So for you to argue that because yours is a seventh round pick, Quinn was not that good and not deserving of being first overall is asinine. It is wrong. It is incorrect. He’s going to be number one overall. My whole thing was I’m buying your thing now. You double down on not doing that. The best quarterback prospect to ever hit college football can’t play. He’s a seventh round pick who didn’t even play quarterback in the history of the sport. You played Ohio State. He couldn’t even play Ohio State. Quinn Ewers, go look it up. The early line only on sports grid. We’re going to go through every single thing. And I’ve got a great team behind me that’s going to help me get the job done. I want this to be the place that people come to. There is going to be an energy to game time decision that you will feel night in and night out. We are going to hit every single one of those markets that you need to know about. We will have everything at our disposal and we will use that to our advantage. There is not going to be a better place, I promise you, than game time decisions. I’m Kevin Walsh. Tune in to game time decisions weekdays on Sports Grid. Stanley Cup postseason rolls on with a doubleheader of action tonight on the ice, where each road team is up three one in their series with a chance to clinch on road ice to head to the conference finals. Each road team in their second round set, taking on the best team regular season record rise in that respective conference. We’ll get to those two spots in just a moment, but react to what we saw last night as well. Our first spot in the conference finals round, Becchio has been earned out west by the Edmonton Oilers. Scoreless in regulation last night in Las Vegas, Casparis or Casper? Yeah. Kasperi Kasperi Kapanen gets the winner for the Oilers in OT. Seven minutes in to that extra session. Edmonton knocks off the Golden Knights and wins this series in five games, one zero in OT. What did Edmonton do so well to win all three games in Sin City? To pull off the gentleman’s sweep? They certainly look better on defense, especially last night, and we saw some clear deficiencies from them in the first round against the Kings, giving up three four goals in some of the first periods. Same thing happened in the first few games of the night series. But you know they’re a team that again they’ve proven it. They did it last year. They went to the Cup finals. I still think they have their their defensive deficiencies overall, but they have the pieces to get it done. It may not be pretty at times, which is kind of what we saw in that first series versus the Kings and what we saw in the first few games against the Golden Knights. But when you have the experience and you have good depth, I’m not going to say it’s great depth, but when you have that depth overall, like those players will step up when a McDavid or Draisaitl happens to be a little bit quiet, just because obviously the opposing defense is doing what they should be doing and kind of marking them. So when you have good depth, I think they will shine eventually. I’m not going to say that they’re better than Dallas and we can get to that game now, but it is good to see them advance again. Well, one more spot. Becchio. That would be, of course, a similar theme. Sadly for those in the six, a playoff collapse out of the Maple Leafs. Now they had won both of their first two games in Toronto. The reigning Stanley Cup champs and the Panthers did return serve in sunrise, winning both games on home ice in Florida was a road ice favorite for game five last night in Toronto. I don’t think we were expecting A61 shellacking that the Panthers handed the Leafs. Are we going to see that similar theme continue for Toronto? Another early exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs? Same theme overall where they lose. It can’t be six one though, right? Like this is not a spot where the Leafs can lose a game and go down by 4 or 5 and all of a sudden they get one back. But it’s ultimately, you know, meaningless at a certain point. I think Florida wins this game. Let’s call it three one. You know, the two one. Maybe they get the empty net call, but it’s just the same story with the Leafs. The Leafs are the Cowboys. Like it doesn’t matter what happens in the regular season. Doesn’t matter who they add, who leaves, they’re just going to lose at a certain point. So you can’t keep running it back with the same thing. Like, you know, insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results, whatever it might be, right? Blow up. The team murders a free agent. He’s going to leave. Something needs to change. It doesn’t matter who’s the coach. It doesn’t matter who’s there. The team is just done. The Leafs have not made the Eastern Conference Finals or the conference finals round in over two decades. Two spots in the conference finals at stake tonight. Vecchio. The Carolina Hurricanes have been dominant against the Washington Capitals in this series. They’re up three one. They’re a road ice favorite at -170 tonight against the caps. The Dallas Stars up three one. They head to Winnipeg to take on the Jets. The only redeeming thing for Winnipeg. They are a home ice favorite here in game five. To extend this series and send it back to big D, I ask you this question first and foremost are both of the second round sets done tonight? I think so, definitely the canes. The canes have been so, so much better compared to the capitals this season or the season, the series overall, and they’ve really clamped them down on defense. They know what they’re doing. You know top to bottom. Again, they’ve done it before. They’ve been in conference finals. They haven’t pushed past them but they’ve been there before. I like Dylan Strome on the capital side of things. For two plus shots. He has to get it done. They have to get some offense outside of Ovechkin, outside of Tom Wilson, whoever it might be. When it comes to the Dallas and Winnipeg series, this is the spot where, again, I’ve said it time and time again, the Winnipeg Jets, they cannot give up the first goal. They literally cannot give up the first goal against Dallas, because we’ve seen the inefficiency from Hellebuyck overall, whether it’s at home or on the road. Like, yeah, they got a shutout the most recent game at home, but he still hasn’t looked amazing. Overall, they cannot give up the first goal and this game has to fall to the under. If that’s the only path the Jets to win, they cannot turn this into a shootout. I think Dallas wins four two final and I think the canes win 2 to 1, if not two zero. Five and a half the total tonight in Winnipeg. If the Jets are ousted that would be the 12th consecutive Presidents Trophy winner. Best regular season record in the NHL to not even reach the Stanley Cup Final. And only two of the 12, if Winnipeg is ousted tonight, have even made it to the conference finals as well. Tom Vecchio, appreciate you as always. Thanks for closing out this Thursday on the Early Line. Returns tomorrow on a Friday, 8 a.m. Eastern here on Sports Grid. An
