Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#928) Philadelphia Phillies | ML | . 

Slade Cecconi (3-4, 5.16 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (3-0, 1.99 ERA) . 

While yesterday, my 11-0 MLB run finally got snapped because of the Phillies, I'm not shying away from playing on them again to make up for it on Saturday. Philadelphia did have a dominating pitching performance in that game from Sanchez, and I expect the same today from Zack Wheeler. Both of these guys are putting up Cy Young numbers to begin this season & I'm all here for it. 

On the other hand, Cleveland's now won seven consecutive games. But, Cecconi has been pretty poor all season long. He's also gone winless in two starts against the Phillies in his career. This looks like a spot to snap the winning streak of the Guards. Hammer Philadelphia, even at this expensive price. 

Burns' Prediction: 7-1 Phillies.

(#633) Minnesota Lynx | ATS | . 

Obviously, Lynx superstar NaPheesa Collier would help in a game like this. But, Minnesota shouldn't be worried all that much about not having her for this matchup against Chicago. The Lynx have done a great job already this season of navigating through games without her, and have won both of their games played on the road. 

Chicago lost Angel Reese in the offseason & although that might help the Sky in the long-term, I don't think that they got enough in return to be successful right away (this season.) The Sky do have a winning record as well. But, they just lost by double digits at home against Dallas. Give me Minnesota in this one. 

Burns' Prediction: 88-77 Minnesota.

(#201930) Getafe CF | ATS | . 

Over all of Europe, Spain's top flight's final day will probably be the most exciting. We've got an epic battle between Girona/Elche to practically decide who's going down and who's staying up. Talking about Elche (who ranks 17th,) it's just six points behind Getafe (my selection here,) who ranked #7. There's going to be plenty of movement with these results & a lot of teams will end up on the wrong end of things. 

For Osasuna, it's battling for its "life" up here in the La Liga too. With the matchup between Girona/Elche is taking place, it's hard to see Osasuna going down barring any disasters in this match. Therefore, I don't expect it to go for it all too much. Getafe has been elite defensively all season long, even with the slight dip recently. Getafe could drop in the standings, so not getting max points with be scary in its case. Both teams will go for it, and I'm expecting the home side to get the best of the away team here. But, even if a draw takes place, I wouldn't be mad with a push. 

Burns' Prediction: 1-0 Getafe.

(#923) Pittsburgh Pirates | ML | . 

Paul Skenes (6-3, 2.62 ERA) vs. Patrick Corbin (1-1, 4.23 ERA) . 

Paul Skenes did not look his best in his last outing, going five innings and allowing five runs in a 6-0 loss. That's not the Cy Young that we know. Having said that, he's allowed five runs twice before this season (not earned in one of them) and has responded dominantly in the next starts. As a matter of fact, in those two games, he pitched 13.0 innings while giving up one run. I expect another bounce back performance here against the Blue Jays. 

Although his numbers so far this season are slightly improved from what I'm used to seeing from Patrick Corbin, it has not been great lately. He's allowed 2+ runs in five consecutive starts. Most of the time, that's all Skenes needs in order to get the job done. Corbin last pitched against the Pirates in 2024. He gave up seven runs in that outing. Give me Pittsburgh on Saturday. 

Burns' Prediction: 6-2 Pirates.

(#554) Cleveland Cavaliers | ATS | . 

Game 1 was a bit odd as the Cleveland Cavaliers took complete control for the majority of the game. The Cavs, who were up 22 w/ less than eight minutes remaining, pretty much had the game sealed. Until it wasn't and the Knicks clawed all the way back and won that game. That definitely was not good for the Cavs confidence heading into Game 2 & New York took full advantage of it. 

Now, facing a 0-2 series deficit, this essentially turns into a "must-win" game for the Cavaliers. No team in NBA history has ever came back from down 0-3 in a series. Cleveland knows this. The good things is that road teams that have covered ATS in 8+ of their past 10 games, who have won 60-75% of their games on the season have gone just 27-57 (32.1%) ATS since 2022. That system applies to the Knicks in this one. 

Looking at this game a bit more, Cleveland has been significantly better here at home compared to on the road (33-15 instead of 27-23.) Same goes for the Knicks, who are just 26-20 in road games compared to 36-11 at home. No, I don't think that either team is going to be able to win a seven game series in the finals against either Western Conference team. But, I do expect this ECF to get quite interesting after this matchup. Give me Cleveland in Game 3. 

Burns' Prediction: 114-105 Cavs.