Sports Handicapper ASA's Picks & Predictions

#42: ASA NHL play on Edmonton Oilers -166 over Anaheim Ducks, 10 pm ET - The Oilers allowed a total of only 5 goals in regulation time of their last 4 games. They have a potent offensive team even when Draisaitl is not available and that is likely the case here in Game 1. The Ducks allowed an average of 4 goals in going just 2-6-2 in their final 10 games of the regular season. Anaheim is certainly a quality team but they did have 20 regulation losses on the road this season while Edmonton lost only 14 in regulation time in home games this season. Oilers have a big playoff experience edge too as it has been 7 years since Anaheim was in the post-season. The Ducks could take some time to find 'their game' in a difficult post-season series like this and the more experienced side with the home ice edge will set the tone here in Game 1. Edmonton is a moderately priced favorite here but this money line should prove well worth it. We like the Oilers in this one.

#956 ASA PLAY ON Chicago Cubs +105 over Philadelphia Phillies, Monday at 7:40 PM ET - Rough spot for the slumping Phillies. They had the Sunday Night game yesterday at home and then had to fly to Chicago for this one. The Phillies just got swept by the Braves and have lost 5 straight games and now have to go face a red hot Cubs team at chilly Wrigley Field Monday evening. This is likely going to be Nola versus Rea for the pitching match-up and Rea got the better of Nola when these teams met last week in Philly. The fact is that this Philadelphia team is a mess right now while the Cubs have been hot and have won 5 straight games. The Cubs have hit .312 over the past week and that is #1 in the majors for this timeframe while the Phillies have hit just .224 over the past week to rank in the bottom third in the majors. Going further back and looking at the past two weeks of action the Cubs are averaging 6 runs per game and the Phillies are scoring only 3 runs per game. Nola continues to struggle for the Phillies as he consistently will cruise along for a few innings in a game but then is susceptible to the big inning and it is happening again this season just like we saw last year with the veteran hurler. As for Rea, the former Brewer is 25-13 since the start of the 2024 season (his last year with Milwaukee) and he had a quality spring and has carried that right into the regular season. The Cubs are available at a bargain price here at home and we will grab them Monday.

Portugal Primeira Liga: Rotation #206705/206706 ASA TOP PLAY ON Over 2.5 Goals (-110) – Estoril Praia at Moreirense, Monday at 3:15 ET - Goal-fest appears likely here. Estoril is on a run in which 8 of 10 matches have reached at least the 3 goal mark. Those 8 matches averaged 4 goals each! The last 5 meetings between these teams have averaged 4.2 goals per game. The clubs are right next to each other in the table so they will be pushing hard and not sitting back as neither would be content with a 1-1 draw here and we highly doubt a clean sheet for either side. Both clubs are dealing with multiple injury issues as well as suspensions and all of these are to defenders! The defense of each club is very impacted for this one. We are looking for a minimum of 3 or 4 goals here and adding to the value here is the fact we have a small price to lay in this one on the Over 2.5 goals! We are big on the 'over' here.  

ASA NBA play on Minnesota Timberwolves +7 at Denver Nuggets, 10:30pm ET - The Nuggets won the opener by 11-points but the game was closer than the final result. Minnesota actually shot better at 46% compared to 44% for the Nuggets overall, hit 32% from deep versus 28% for Denver, had nearly equal TO’s and rebounds. The difference was Denver making 16 more free throws. Minnesota went cold in the 3rd quarter when they missed 14 of their first 16 field goal attempts which is highly unusual considering they are the 9th best shooting team in the NBA, 6th best from beyond the arc. Not to mention the Nuggets defense is below average. We expect the Wolves All-Star Anthony Edwards to be better in the second game after looking rusty in Game 1 after missing time at the end of the regular season. Denver obviously has the advantage offensively ranking 1st in offensive efficiency versus the Wolves ranking 12th, but Minnesota is much better defensively in comparison to the Nuggets ranking 8th in dEFF compared to 21st. This is a solid rivalry and we expect a 6-game series similar to 2024-25 when they had an amazing 7-game playoff series. This will be a 1 or 2 possession game either way.