[URL="http://www.mcall.com/news/local/police/all-mc-bethlehem-pizza.7264397may07,0,6961907.story"]http://www.mcall.com/news/local/poli...,6961907.story[/URL]

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Police: Employee gambles, loses with Domino's $2,700

A pizza shop employee faces charges after police said he kept two days' worth of deposits and spent the money at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, police said.

Police said William Tilley, 37, of New Tripoli is charged with theft and receiving stolen property. He is free on $25,000 unsecured bail.

Police said Tilley worked for Domino's Pizza at 1353 Easton Ave., Bethlehem, and was responsible for depositing cash at the bank.

Instead of depositing two cash bags filled with more than $2,700, police said. Tilley took the money to the casino to gamble. Police said Tilley lost all of the cash.

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In a previous post I gave you the pick of the favored Boston Celtics to win the series over the Miami heat. This time im going with one of the biggest underdogs in the first round. I'm taking the Oklahoma city thunder over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers have really limped into the playoffs, and it goes back way before Kobe started sitting out games to rest. This is a team that at the beginning of the season looked like a sure thing to repeat. Now they are not even favored. This is a team with 2 great players in Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, and a lot of question marks on the rest of the roster. Lamar Odom could look like magic Johnson one game, and look like a total clown another game. He is a talented player, but is not a guy you want to have to rely on as your third option. Ron Artest is known as one of the best perimeter defenders in the game, and 5 years ago he was. He has lost more than a step and is no longer a stopper on the defensive end. He struggles with quick guys who can get around him. On the offensive end he takes too many jump shots and can really disrupt the flow of the offense at times.

On the other side we have the Thunder, a very very young team, and generally they don't fare well in the playoffs. But these are young guys that have nothing to lose going in. Not much is expected of them in this series so all the pressure is on the Lakers. There are w big mismatches they can exploit. Russell Westbrook their lighting quick and explosive point guard will be matched up with old man Derek Fisher. Fisher will have no chance of staying in front of him, and when a point guard gets penetration is opens up so many things for an offense. The other match up in their favor is Kevin Durant vs Ron Artest. Durant is too tall too quick and too explosive for anyone, but especially a guy like artest who wont get beat in the post up game but will have all kinds of trouble staying in front of him. As the scoring leader this season we know what Durant can do scoring the ball, he can win you a couple games on his own. With his height and shooting ability if he gets hot there is simply nothing you can do about it to contest his shots.

The lakers have the best player in the conference in Kobe Bryant and he wants another title. This wont be an easy series for the Thunder, but they have so match ups they can exploit. With such a Hugh number of +525 I think this is a great value bet on the thunder. They will be loose and all the pressure will be on the Lakers, especially the way they finished the season. Take a chance on this young team and get more than 5 to 1 on your money.

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Last night in Miami the heat rested Dwayne Wade, Jermaine Oneal, and Udonis Haslam. It appeared like they were trying to lose the game. A loss would have dropped them to the 6^th seed, but put them against the Atlanta Hawks instead of the Celtics. Problem for the Heat was they played the nets, who barley avoided being the worst team in the history of the NBA, and the Nets were playing like they didn't want to win either. It was an ugly game that went to 2 Overtimes, and the nets were running their offense with Chris Quinn in overtime, clearly seeing no reason risking anyone getting hurt right before the off-season. The heat ended up winning the game, but probably got the tougher match up.

Regardless of which team the heat had to play, they would be in trouble. They simply don't have enough firepower to contend with the top flight teams in a 7 games series. Other than Wade, they simply don't have anyone that can consistently get his own shots or good shots for teammates. The Celtics can get big games from any number of players on their roster. They have been a bit down this year, but this is a veteran team that much like the spurs did over the last several years, likely lost interest in the regular season. They feel like they can turn it on when the need to, and that should be enough for a first round win.

I think a major major key for the Celtics will be advantages in the individual match ups. Rajon Rondo should have his way with the heat's point guards. Mario Chalmers was promising as a rookie, but has fallen back to where he was projected to be. It leaves the heat without a starting type point guard. Another major problem the heat will face is that their 2^nd best player Michael Beasley is going to be a defensive liability in this series no matter where he plays. He is simply not nearly quick enough to defend Paul pierce at the 3, and if he were to move to the 4 spot, Kevin Garnett would have his way down low. Playoff basketball is all about match ups and what you can exploit over a 7 games series. The Celtics clearly have a lot of things they can do to the heat that will help them win, the Heat rely too much on Dwayne Wade. With the Celtics having so many threats, the heat wont have the luxury of keeping wade off a strong offensive player. He will be fatigued playing big minutes, and may see himself in foul trouble quite a bit. The Celtics have proved they are a very dangerous team at home in the playoffs, especially in a game 7, but I don't even think this one will get that far. I am predicting a Celtics win in 5 games, and looking at a series line of just -180 for a team with so many advantages seems like a good bet. Take Boston -180 to win the series.

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With the NBA season winding down and the majority of the games left on the card situations where 1 team is resting players or is just finishing out the last week of the season before going home. There are only a handful of games where both teams are fighting hard to win. It's not the best time to make NBA picks. I like to use this time to look to the playoffs, both at teams for individual games and teams that could win it all. Last week I posted the Spurs as a pick to win the title. This time I'm posting less of a long shot pick, the Orlando Magic, going off around +600 depending on the day you bet and at which book.

I think they Magic are in great shape to make the Eastern Conference finals, granted as a #2 seed they should be expected to. But when you look at the matchups they will have you notice a very favorable trend. The teams they will face in the first 2 rounds don't win road games. The team they are most likely to play in the first round, the Bobcats, are a miserable 13-28 on the road. The Magic would likely put them in a 2-0 hole and it would be near impossible for this inexperienced team to get back into the series. Now their real advantage of getting to the ECF is their second round opponent, with the 2 seed they avoid Miami or Boston and get the Hawks or a weak opponent that pulls an upset. The Hawks are a solid team, and a great team at home, but without homecourt advantage they are in trouble. We likely will see something similar to a few years ago when they took Boston to 7 games. It's a deep series, but they get blown out in game 7. If they are able to force a game 7, I see no way they could win in Orlando.

Assuming the Magic can get this far it's time to look at them in terms of the best teams in the league. They have what it takes to go all the way. A lot of people criticized the move of getting Vince Carter and losing Hedo Turkoglu, and the main reason in my opinion is lack of knowledge about Carter. Since he was in New Jersey he was one of the most consistent, effective, and durable players in the game. People seemed to believe he was still an injury risk like in Toronto. He gives them something they did not have last year, a guy who you can give the ball to and let him make something happen going towards the rim. Turkoglu was good at getting guys shots, but Vince can get layups, free throws, or easy shots for his teamates. He is more of a threat to get the ball all the way to the rim, and you need that guy in the playoffs. He can get 10-15 free throw attempts on any given night.

This is a year where there really are no great teams. The Lakers have been fading out west down the stretch. The Cavs have Lebron and a great record, but playoff time will change things. They don't have that second guy to help them. They key to so many champsionhip teams over the last decade has been dominant big man, dominant 2 guard, and terrific role players. That is what Orlando has and I think they can get it done come 2 months from now when the finals are actually going on after the marathon that is the NBA playoffs. Take the 6 to 1 odds and roll with Orlando to win the title.

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Tuesday afternoon Brian Bannister pitched a gem through 6+ innings and has a 5-0 lead againt the Tigers. In the matter of 1 inning the Tigers put up 6 runs to rip away a win from Kansas City. This is the second time early in the season the Tigers have had a major comeback, with the other being just a few days earlier against the Cleveland Indians in which they put up 3 in the bottom of the 9^th to win. Although the odds are not in favor of comebacks like this happening all the time, they are not flukes. They show two things. First of all is that the Tigers are a team that will keep fighting all game, with their offense they are always in a game, their 3 three/four combo of Maglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera are hitting the cover off the ball. The other thing it shows is that it's not a good idea to bet on teams with bad bullpens unless they have a starter that can go deep into a game. You need a closer and at least one other pitcher you trust to get outs late in a game. The Royals only have the closer..

Wednesday could be more of the same for the Tigers and Royals, if the Royals are even lucky enough to have a lead late in a game. The Tigers are listed at just a -180 favorite, which may not seem like such a short line, but when we look at all the advnatges the Tigers have, this line should be -240.

Detroit will send maybe their most consistant pitcher to the mound with Rick Porcello. He should bave success against a fairly weak hitting royals team. He is built to pitch in Comerica park, he keeps the ball down with his sinker and uses the big ballpark to his advantage. There is a clear afvantage for the Tigers in starting pitching and offense. Detroit has a lot of guys hitting well and should be in line for a strong season. Especially at home they seem to be a team that will always keep fighting and should have a lot of comeback wins this season.

As I talked about earlier, the Royals bullpen is a mess outside of Soria, while the Tigers has been strong. They have been able to move Joel Zumaya into a setup role and as long as he is healthy he is a very tough matchup. They have a solid closer in Valverde. When they get leads into the 7^th inning they should be in good shape.

I will continue to fade teams with bad bullpens, especially on the road like the royals are wednesday. They can't be trusted late in games, but tomorrow I dont think it will matter. I expact the Tigers to have success vs Davies, and Porcello is the kind of guy that wont dominate you but will consistantly give solid performances and with the strong offense behind him will rack up the wins. Take advantage of this line and take the Tigers -180, I have a feeling they wont be under 200 at home very often going forward.

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The New Jersey Nets have clinched the worst record in the NBA, but they are playing their best basketball of the season right at the time a lot of teams wish the nets were a free win again. Last week the Nets knocked off the Bulls in a double overtime thriller behind rookie Terrence Williams getting a tripple double with 27 points, 13 assits and 10 rebounds. That was a game that hurt the Bulls a lot because they need every win they can get for playoff position.

The Bobcats are in a similar situation as one of the teams fighing for playoff positioning. Surprisingly the Nets will be going for their 3^rd win of the season against the Bobcats. They have won 2 of 3 thus far, after blowing a 14 point lead in their first game against them back in November.

For years the Nets have been trying to get out of East Rutherford. First for a failed move to Newark, then a move the brooklyn that has failed for many year. Now they will be leaving for Newark before going to Brooklyn. Mondays game will be the last home game of the season and the last at the izod center they will play. You know they will be playing hard because of it, trying to have a strong performance more so to close out a miserable season and leave the fans that have supported them with a win.

This Nets team has been having a lot of fun finally winning games and playing in a lot more close games. They are getting contributions from a lot of players, and the rookie Terrence Williams has really gotten fans excited about what the team could do in the future. He can fill up a stat sheet and can flirt with a triple double on a nightly basis. Fans of the Nets are very familiar with keeping up with what a player needs for a triple double. We should see a strong effort from the Nets monday night.

However, the Bobcats are unlikely to give the Nets a break. Even if the Heat beat the Knicks Sunday, they will be only two games up on the 'Cats for sixth place with two games to go. So, hope remains for Charlotte. If they win both their final two games over the Nets and the Bulls and the Heat lose theirs to the Sixers and the Nets the Bobcats will sneak into sixth. They own the tie-breaker, a 3-1 series advantage over Miami.

I think we will see another close game between these two teams, similar to what we saw between the Nets and Bulls the other night. The Nets are certainly not going to do any of these playoff teams any favord. The Bulls will certainly be hoping the Nets give tough games to the 'Cats and Heat as well. I'm prediciting the Nets coming away with a close 92-89 win, more than enough to cover the generous 5.5 point spread the nets have at home. Take the Nets +5.5 Monday night.

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Even before looking at any lineups, pitching matchups, or any trends, there is an advnatage for the Chicago Cubs in this game. The Brewers playing the Sunday night game will then have to be ready for the day game in Chicago. The Cubs are one of the best home teams year after year. Even if they don't have a great year overall they tend to be a tough team to beat at home. That home field advantage is only multiplied when it's a day game at Wrigley. It also helps that the Brewers will likely rest some players.

Ryan Dempster will be going for the Cubs Monday afternoon. He was very solid in his firat start of the season. Over the last couple years he has been esepcially tough at Wrigley, going 14-3 in 2008. Last year his average against the 30 points lower at home than on the road. Doug Davis was awful in his first start of the year, allowing 4 runs in just 4 innings in the loss. Last season he went 9-14 in the weak NL West. He will have a rough time this season pitching in the Central when he goes against strong hitting teams like the Cubs and Cardinals.

What may look like a weakness over the first week or so can actually be a good thing for bettors in cub games. One of the most stressful things about betting baseball is bullpens, very few teams have good ones, and even when teams have quality guys you have to worry about managers doing a poor job of managing them. Lou Pinella has pretty much said he is done giving chances to crap pitchers. “Look, from what we've experienced here in the first five games, starting pitchers going seven innings is probably the best remedy," Piniella said. "Now we can go to our short people and to our closer and take our best shots that way. We'll get these kids work from time to time to get them sharp and hope they improve.” That is certainly a good thing to hear when betting on the Cubs. You want a manager that will let his guys go deep into games and leave out the middle relief. The Cubs have Carlos Marmol who has some of the best stuff in the game, so if you can shorten the bridge to him you are in good shape.

The line right now is listed at -155. I think that is certainly a low number considering the situation. Cardinals playing a late night game Sunday and need to play Monday afternoon, not saying they will be zombies, but it certainly should factor into the line a bit. The Cubs have a major advnatage in the pitching matchup as well with Ryan Dempster. This is also the home opener for one of the best home teams in baseball. Despite not winning a world series in over a 100 years, the fans are still some of the most passionent in the country. For all these reasons I recommend a play on Chicago -155.

2 run lead and Broxton never gets in the game.



:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

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I have been riding the spurs hot streak for a while now, and they should only get better. Tuesday night in their win over the kings, Tony Parker made his return scoring 8 points off the bench. As he works into shape over the next week in preparation of the playoffs he will get better and be at full strength. This is a team with so much expierience playing deep in the playoffs and a very talented roster. Health as alway has been an issue for them this year, but they should be in good shape for the playoffs.

With tuesdays win they moved themselves into the 6th seed. If they can hold that position they would face the Denver Nuggets in the first round. The Nuggets are falling apart down the stretch and look to be one of the most beatable teams in the western conference playoffs. They are under .500 for the season on the road, and are simply not a good enough team to expect to win every game at home in the playoffs. I could easily see the spurs bouncing them from the playoffs in the first round.

Assuming the Lakers don't get shocked in the first round they would be the Spurs next opponent . They have not been playing great as of late either, in fact the spurs blew them out over the weekend. Many people seem to be penciling in the Lakers back to the finals, but in my opinion the west is wide open. The Spurs match up well with anyone because of their balanced attack on offense. With a healthy Tony Parker they have a nightmare for opposing PG's who can totally disrupt a defense. With the addittion of Richard Jefferson it gives them yet another scoring threat. This is not the same spurs team of the last 5-10 years, but whos to say it cant be as good for a 6 week stretch when they peak at the right time.

To me anyone in the West can make a run, the Lakers rely too much on Kobe Bryant to run the show for them. He could be in trouble against a team like the spurs because he has to guard a very tough offensive player at all times, they cant switch him on and off someone as they please. The Lakers are banking too much on kobe and the rest of their starters that a lack of depth could send them home early.

This is not a play where im expecting the Spurs to reach a certain point and the to hedge. I'm taking a shot that they can get deep into the post season and go from there.They have all the tools and things are coming together for them at the right time. They will be healthy going in and are as expierienced as anyone. I will gladly throw some cash on them at 30 to 1 to win the title and become a spurs fan for the next 2 motnhs, you should too.

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Wednesday night two of the hottest teams in the NBA will square off, with the San Antonio Spurs coming to Phoenix to take on the Suns. Every game is huge for both these teams as they are both fighting for playoff position in the top heavy Western Conference. 8 playoff teams have clinched, and nobody else would even be close to the 8th seed. For the Suns this will be their first game since having their 10 game winning streak snapped with a loss to the Bucks. For the spurs, they have had 3 very immpressive wins after getting beat by the lowley New Jersey Nets. Their 3 wins were against the Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Lakers, and by an amazing average of 16 points. They are getting hot just at the right time, and will be getting back their All-Star point guard Tony Parker.

Both teams have had success this season against the spread, both at least 5 games over .500 against the spread. The suns as always have done it with offense, averaging 110 points a game while allowing just under 106. The Spurs score 101 and allows 96. The total for this one is very high for a spurs game at 210. The Spurs rarely play games with totals set that high, but have had success going 12-3 against the spread dating back to 1996. That shows the kind of defensive teams the Spurs have had over the last 15 years.

The last times these two teams faced off was back in the end of February, and it was a high scoring affair with the Spurs winning 113-110. As far as I'm concered these are two pretty evenly matched teams, as is much of the Western conference after the 1 seed Lakers.

The Spurs have been playing great basketball the last 3 games and this is the time of year to heat up heading into the playoffs. They will only get stronger with the return of Tony Parker. One concern would be that the spurs will come into this game on the second half of a back to back, but against a kings teams they very well may get to rest their starters for the 4^th quarter.The Suns have been playing very well as well and always seem to play tight games with the Spurs. Thee teams always seem to come down to the final possesions to decide the winner. That is why love getting 7 points the the spurs. They have a very good chance to win this game outright, getting that many points is a gift. These are 2 even teams the suns should only be favored by a few points because they are on their home court.

I think this one will come down to the final couple possesions once again as these teams always seem to. I am predicting the spurs win 105-102 and will gladly take the 7 points for a rather large play. The ML would be a very enticing option as well.