Sports Handicapper Joey Tron's Picks & Predictions

I am laying the points with the Nuggets at home against the Timberwolves. Conference foes have been the Timberwolves kryptonite all season and we saw that on display in Game 1. After a slow 1st quarter for Denver, they took off in the 2nd not looking back, outscoring them 93-72. The key for the Nuggets was getting to the line often and they did that 33 times, converting on 30 of them (91%). The T-Wolves had major problems containing both Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic as they combined for 55 pts as well as 18 Reb/Assists and Murray played a huge role at getting into the head of Minnesota and will be doing it again here in Game 2. Minnesota loses a huge piece of defense once of those two get double teamed and they have not found the answer to them in the regular season or post season as they are 4-1 against them in all games this season. Lay it with Denver here. —Joey Tron

I am taking Rays on the ML here at home against the Reds. Tampa returns home for a long 6 game home span and will be ready to get going after some time away. The Reds are on their 4th of 6 road game and are coming off a sweep over the Twins. Rhett Lowder takes the mound for the Reds and although he has a winning record, his offense bailed him out in those starts. He has been allowing plenty of contact with 13 hits across his last 2 starts which allowed 7 ERs with a 6:3 K to BB ratio. If the Reds offense struggles, this will be bad news for Lowder as the Rays have the 3rd highest batting average on the season have faired well getting on base against Interleague foes, with 106 hits in 12 games. The Rays are expected to start Jesse Scholtens who has back-to-back strong appearances with no runs allowed allowed 9.2 IP and surrendering just 5 hits. Play the Rays on the ML here. —Joey Tron

I am taking the Stars on the ML here against the Wild. The Stars were embarrassed in game 1 by a score of 6-1, and that will not happen again. The Wild found great success on their man advantage going 2-4 while the Stars struggled to get anything going, as they were 1-4 on the man advantage and generated just one goal all game. That is not like Dallas as they ranked 2nd on the man up and 1st in shooting percentage showing they have a very high ceiling. Prior to that Game 1 blemish, Oettinger had 5 straight wins and will be looking to get back into strong form with being on the verge of going to MN down 2-0. Jesper Wallstedt had 5 straight losses prior to his outbreak the end of March/April and his kryptonite all season has been division foes. This is a must win for the Stars and I expect them to come out firing off their biggest loss of the season on home ice. Take the Dallas Stars ML here. —Joey Tron