Although neither the Nuggets or the Avalanche lived up to fans’ expectations this postseason, there is solace in knowing that the two teams that defeated both of Ball Arena’s residents in the playoffs have now, too, been eliminated.
The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games including their first two wins on the road in Minnesota. Dallas has now made it to the Finals for their third time in history. Thirteen years ago Dallas appeared in the Western Conference Finals against; you guessed it, the Minnesota Timberwolves where the Mavericks moved on to defeat the Miami Heat in six games, winning their first championship.
The then Dallas Mavericks were led by Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kid who coincidentally is coaching the Dallas Mavericks to their first appearance in 13 years and second appearance all time.
The Colorado Avalanche were eliminated by the Dallas Stars who many thought would be in the NHL’s Finals series, however; Edmonton Oilers center, Connor McDavid had other plans. McDavid scored three-points in game four, helping the Oilers tie the series 2 apiece. McDavid lifted his team in the last two games against Dallas sending his team to the face the Florida Panthers in the final series.
Game 1 is scheduled for this weekend on Saturday at 6 p.m. (MST) at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise Florida.
In other sports the Colorado Rockies lost their third straight since their win in game one of a three-game series with the L.A. Dodgers back on Friday last week. The Rockies have since lost, game 2 in L.A. 4-1, game 3 in L.A. 4-0 and took an absolutely beating by the Cincinnati Reds on Monday at Coors Field, 13-3.
Games two and three of that series will be played this week (results of game one not available at the time of this writing) before the Rockies hit the road to face the St. Louis Cardinals this Thursday.
Major League Baseball is sending a message to players, “don’t bet on games.” On Tuesday, the MLB banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life after an investigation uncovered data from a legal sports betting operator which showed concerning baseball gambling activ- ity from accounts owned by Marcano along with four other MLB players. Marcano was the only one who was banned while the other four were suspended.
The investigation also uncovered that Marcano was not just gambling on baseball games around the league but also games his team played at the time. It was also noted that although Marcano did place bets on his team, he never played in any games those games due to injury.
The Colorado division of gaming, part of the Colorado Department of Revenue (CDOR), released monthly sports betting numbers for April 2024. Fiscal year to date show a 10.85 percent increase over April 2023: Total Handle: April 2024 – $509,508,228.35 (14.09 percent decrease from March). The fiscal year-to-date betting through April is $5,216,042,847.72, a 16.41 percent increase over fiscal year 2023 bets through April of 2023.
