The NBA Finals have been decided as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 6 on Thursday night, and Stephen Curry earned his first NBA Finals MVP. But much is still at stake in various sports this week.
The U.S. Open has begun, and the Stanley Cup Final is in full swing. Here are online sports betting insights about the series the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning, the U.S. Open and a matchup between the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers.
NHL
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Colorado Avalanche
Saturday, June 18 | TV: ABC | Time: 8 p.m. ET
The Colorado Avalanche, who have been dominant during the postseason, took early control of the Stanley Cup Final with a narrow 4-3 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game 1. By doing so, they preserved home-ice advantage for the series.
Colorado has an NHL betting line of -160 to win Game 2 and Stanley Cup odds of -275 as of Thursday, June 16. The Lightning are at +225.
The Avalanche have had little issue getting to this point. They swept the Nashville Predators in the first round of the playoffs as well as the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals. Colorado defeated the St. Louis Blues in the second round after six games.
Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon are tied with odds of +150 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. Makar, a defenseman, has the edge with 22 points to MacKinnon’s 19 during the playoffs. But MacKinnon, a center, has 11 goals to Makar’s five.
Still, Tampa Bay is undoubtedly a worthy opponent. Right wing Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 24 playoff points and is third in Conn Smythe Trophy odds, while center Steven Stamkos and left wing Ondrej Palat are tied for the team lead with nine goals during the postseason.
Golf
U.S. Open
Thursday, June 16, through Sunday, June 19 | TV: NBC and USA Network
Going into the tournament, Rory McIlroy was the US Open golf odds favorite to win the event at +1100. After Thursday’s first round, he was still the favorite, but his odds were at +450.
The 33-year-old from Northern Ireland hasn’t won the U.S. Open since 2011. But he finished the first round at 3-under-par, just one stroke behind Adam Hadwin at 4-under. Hadwin’s odds to win were +2500.
But McIlroy was tied with four other golfers for second place. And none of those were in the top 10 odds to win.
“I’m in a good headspace mentally. I’m where I need to be.”@McIlroyRory is feeling good @USOpenGolf. pic.twitter.com/vUVNkn9Gcp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 16, 2022
Following Round 1, Justin Thomas had the second-best golf odds at +1100 while Jon Rahm was third at +1200. Both were tied for 14th at 1-under, two strokes behind McIlroy.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Dustin Johnson were both tied for seventh at 2-under after the first day. Fitzpatrick was tied with Rahm as his odds were also at +1200. Johnson had the fifth-best odds at +1600.
Collin Morikawa (1-under), Will Zalatoris (1-under) and Scottie Scheffler (even) were tied with the sixth-best odds to triumph at +2000. Justin Rose (2-under) was tied with Hadwin for the eighth-best odds to win at +2500.
MLB
Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers
Saturday, June 18 | TV: FS1 | Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
This is a matchup between two teams seeking to reverse their recent misfortunes.
Going into play on Friday, June 17, the Tigers were 24-39 and 3-7 in their last 10 outings. They were 12 games behind the Minnesota Twins for first in the AL Central. Their World Series odds were +50000.
The Texas Rangers are closer to a division lead but not by much. They were 30-33, nine games behind the AL West-leading Houston Astros. Texas was 5-5 in its last 10 contests. Their odds to win the World Series were +20000.
For Saturday’s matchup, Taylor Hearn of Texas and Rony Garcia of Detroit are scheduled to take the mound.
On the season, Hearn is 4-4 with a 5.37 ERA and 1.68 WHIP. In 55 1/3 innings, he’s allowed 65 hits, seven home runs and 28 walks with 50 strikeouts.
Garcia is 0-2 for the year. He has a 5.06 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 26 hits, six homers and nine walks with 36 strikeouts in 32 innings of work.
Corey leads all shortstops in homers.
⭐️ https://t.co/KVgxTOYndH pic.twitter.com/8khBCq2Ix8
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 15, 2022
Corey Seager has been the leading power hitter for the Rangers. He hast 13 home runs and 29 RBIs with a .222 batting average. Nathaniel Lowe (.276) paces the team in batting average while Adolis Garcia (41) leads the squad in RBIs.
Miguel Cabrera continues to set the bar for the Tigers in multiple ways. He has the best batting average (.294) and RBI total (21) on the team. Jonathan Schoop has a Detroit-best five homers.
Betting Online at the Sportsbook
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