Sports Betting – A Look At Saturday’s Wagering Options

[Freddy Wills]

The playoffs tip off on Saturday night and they’ll take center stage, but there is tons of variety on the sportsbook slate as the NHL postseason begins their second round, there are a couple of baseball matchups to watch for as well as a title fight in boxing and NASCAR under the lights.

NBA Betting

76ers Bulls Odds (1:00 PM ET): Most would show that Chicago came out on top of the Eastern Conference, and they’ll open as 9.5-point home favorites over Philadelphia.

Knicks Heat Odds (3:30 PM ET): Miami is favored by 8.5 points at home against New York in what could be the best series of the first round.

Magic Pacers Odds (7:00 PM ET): Indiana will be favored at home against Orlando, who heads into the postseason without their star center, Dwight Howard.

Mavericks Thunder Odds (9:30 PM ET): Oklahoma City should be the home favorites against the defending champions from Dallas, who begin their title defense as a seventh seed.

NHL Odds

Capitals Rangers Odds (3:00 PM ET): Many players that work with systems didn’t expect Washington to beat Boston, but the Capitals took out the Stanley Cup champions and now will go into the first game of their series with New York as +154 underdogs.

Kings Blues Odds (7:30 PM ET): St. Louis is a -166 favorite at home to begin with their Western Conference series with Los Angeles in what should be a low-scoring affair.

MLB Betting

Red Sox White Sox Odds (7:10 PM ET): In this battle of the Sox, Chicago’s Jake Peavy will take on Boston’s Jon Lester in an American League matchup.

Nationals Dodgers Odds (9:10 PM ET): Washington’s Stephen Strasburg has to be an candidate for the National League’s Cy Young, and he’ll take on Los Angeles’ Chad Billingsley.

Boxing Odds

Hopkins Dawson Odds (8:00 PM ET): The first meeting between these 168-pounders ended in a controversial draw in October, and Chad Dawson is a -405 favorite in Atlantic City against 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins, who is recovered from a shoulder injury caused against Dawson.

NASCAR Betting

Richmond Odds (7:30 PM ET): Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are the co-favorites for the Capital City 400 in the first race of the season at Richmond International Raceway, but Busch could have the edge as he has won three spring races in his last seven starts at the 0.75-mile track in Virginia that drives like a 1.5-mile track. However, Hamlin always find a little extra something when behind the wheel in his home state, so JGR should be the focus of your thoughts on Saturday.