Matt Fargo’s NBA Handicapping Picks & ATS Predictions

This is a play on the SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS for our Monday Free Play. San Francisco could not solve the Padres this weekend as it lost the first two games by a run followed by a 10-1 blowout loss on Sunday for its fourth straight loss. The Giants are now 22-18 and sitting in third place in the National League West, five games behind the Dodgers. They remain home where they are just 11-10 but have a good matchup here with an offense that has scored six runs or more in six of their last 10 games and they are still second in baseball in scoring, averaging 5.02 runs per nine innings and that increases marginally at home as they look to bounce back from a pair of one-run games from the offense. The Giants are 44-18 in their last 62 series opening games. New York took two of three in Colorado to make it four wins over its last five games and remains in full control in the National League East. The Mets scored only 10 runs in the three-game set against the Rockies so they come in with very little momentum against a team desperate to turn things around. David Peterson comes back into the rotation in place of Max Scherzer and will be making his first appearance since May 3 where he allowed three earned runs on four hits over five innings against the Braves and he has a 1.89 ERA in four appearances for the Mets this season. The Mets are 4-10 in their last 14 games following a win. Here, we play against National League underdogs hitting .255 or lower and with a starting pitcher with an ERA of less than 2.50 over his last three starts going up against a starting pitcher with an ERA between 5.20 and 5.70. This situation is 44-11 (80 percent) since 1997. Play (962) San Francisco Giants

NHL 13-7 postseason start! 373-325 +$21,291 record since 2018 while the NBA is 95-80 L175 Plays. Both are back in action on Monday as the postseason is heating up so do not miss a single play and grab a subscription! Baseball is ready for a big surge and we are expecting a big week following an Awesome 6-3 Run.

This is a play on the ATLANTA BRAVES for our N.L. East Game of the Month. Philadelphia avoided a sweep at home against the Dodgers as it won on Sunday 4-3 with a two-out, walk-off win in the tenth inning thanks to an error by Max Muncy that would have ended the game. The Phillies are still in a rut as they have lost five of their last seven games and are now 19-22 overall which is good for a tie with Atlanta for second place in the National League East, eight games behind the Mets. The offense has been producing well this season but they have struggled of late, averaging only 2.3 rpg during this recent seven-game stretch. Zack Wheeler gets the ball for the Phillies and while he has been solid of late, he has a 10.80 ERA and 2.16 WHIP in two road starts. The Phillies are 3-7 in their last 10 games against teams with a losing record. The Braves come into the new week with the identical record as it matches the Phillies as the most underachieving team in the division and possibly the entire National League. Atlanta is coming off a series win against Miami over the weekend and have been average by going 7-6 over their last 13 games with the offense remaining inconsistent with a chance to succeed on Monday. Over the past two weeks, the Braves starting rotation has been one of the best in baseball as they are ranked second in FIP and fifth in K/9 rate. Tucker Davidson will be making his second start of the season after allowing no runs on three hits in five innings against the Brewers. The Braves are 37-14 in their last 51 games following a loss. 10* (958) Atlanta Braves

This is a play on the BOSTON CELTICS for our NBA Eastern Conference Game of the Week. We have witnessed some awful basketball since the end of the first round in the NBA Playoffs. Of the 31 games played since the start of the Conference Semifinals, 25 games have been decided by seven points or more with 19 of those being by double-digits and those have been involving eight of the top teams in the league so that kind of disparity has been unwatchable. Game Three of this series ended up being a six-point win for Miami but that game was never in question as the Celtics never led and the Heat led by as many as 26 points. Each game is its own separate entity but it just shows these big spreads can be beat in the right spots. The Heat are 2-5 ATS in their last seven playoff games as an underdog. Boston had a scare with Jayson Tatum leaving the last game but did return and is listed as questionable but Celtics head coach Ime Udoka called the injury a stinger and said it is not serious so we can expect a big effort following his 10-point, six-turnover performance on Saturday. Boston is now 32-16 at home and this one has turned into a must win as a loss going back to Miami down 3-1 will be tough to overcome and the energy in TD Garden will be off the charts on Monday. The Celtics are 5-0 ATS in their last five games following a straight up loss. Here, we play against road underdogs of 3.5 to 9.5 points after having covered four or five of their last six against the spread, in a game involving two teams with winning percentages between .600 and .750. This situation is 64-27 ATS (70.3 percent) over the last five seasons. 10* (566) Boston Celtics

This is a play on the ST. LOUIS BLUES for our NHL Monday Breakaway. Colorado regained control of the series and is 27-14-3-0 on the road which is very solid but its numbers drop significantly on road ice as the scoring is down by close to a goal per game while the defense allows close to the same more on the road than at home. Colorado can score in bunches as we saw in Game Three and the St. Louis defense has to counter that in order to stay in this series as going back to Colorado down 3-1 will be nearly impossible to overcome. The Avalanche are 8-18 in their last 26 Conference Semifinals games. St. Louis got exactly what it wanted as it gained home ice with the two-game split in Colorado but did give it back in Game Three. The Blues are dangerous at home as they are 28-12-4-1 that includes a pair of wins over a tough Minnesota team as they clinched the series with three straight wins to close out. St. Louis has a significant +1.0 gpg scoring differential at home and special teams has led the way as evidenced in the first three games of this series. They lost goalie Jordan Binnington early in Game Three and that was a big loss. He is out for the series and while that is a concern, Ville Husso was great this season with a 2.56 GAA and being thrown into the fire was a tough spot but will be better off knowing he is the starter. Here, we play against road teams against the money line in the second half of the season with a winning percentage between .600 and .800 after having won four of their last five games, playing a team with a winning percentage between .501 and .600. this situation is 176-115 (60.5 percent) since 1996. 10* (54) St. Louis Blues