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Friday’s Best MLB, NBA & UFC Bets (5/3)

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No matter your sport of choice, there's always sports betting action to be had. We'll have you covered each and every day with our daily best bets. Here are our best bets across each major sport in action today.

Today's Best Bets

MLB Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

Colorado Rockies @ Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates get the benefit of a scheduling edge in this series opener coming off of an off day, while the Colorado Rockies wrapped up a series against the Miami Marlins yesterday afternoon. Pittsburgh is 0-2 in games with a rest advantage this year but went 3-1 in such games last year. The Pirates now face a Rockies team that became the first since 1900 to have trailed at one point in each of their first 30 games of the season.

Pittsburgh's Martin Perez has been one of the best NL southpaws to this point, pitching to a 2.86 ERA and being on pace for an 18% strikeout rate or higher for the fourth time in the previous six seasons. His 5.7% barrel rate is also on pace to be his second-best over the last five seasons. We do not expect a Rockies lineup that ranks in the bottom-11 in ISO and wOBA against left-handed pitching to do much damage against Perez. Conversely, Pittsburgh should find plenty of offense against Cal Quantrill, who has a career .467 winning percentage, 4.30 ERA and 1.363 WHIP in road starts.

Pittsburgh has covered the run line in just three of 11 games as favorites compared to 14 of 21 games as underdogs, but we are willing to buck this trend and fade the lowly Rockies.

Bet: Pirates -1.5 (+122)

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NBA Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Orlando Magic @ Cleveland Cavaliers

The pendulum has shifted in this series a few times, and we had our first closely contested matchup in Game 5. The Cavs will have the chance to close it out tonight, but they may have to do it without one of their more important players. Jarrett Allen missed Game 5 because he is dealing with a rib injury. They still won in Game 5, but it was the closest margin of any game.

The Magic have felt more comfortable playing at home during this series, averaging 116.5 points in Orlando, as opposed to 90.6 on the road. The Magic must take advantage of Allen's absence and crash the boards. Paolo Banchero took 40.8% of his shots during the regular season from in the paint, more than anywhere else. Of his 24 shots in Game 5, seven came in the paint. If he can't get into the lane, then Franz Wagner needs to be a big part of their presence on the glass on both ends.

We're seeing some books have this total up to 203, but some still have it at 199. Get that low number now.

Bet: Over 199 Total Points (-108)

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UFC Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

UFC 301: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg

Saturday night's action concludes with a main event in the Flyweight division as Alexandre Pantoja (C) looks to retain his belt against Steve Erceg (#10). The champ's a -185 moneyline favorite, while the Australian comes back at +154 to secure Flyweight gold. 

There's no denying that Erceg's MMA career is on an upward trajectory as he enters this contest riding a 10-fight win streak. But are we sure that he's worthy of even stepping onto the same canvas as Pantoja? The current champion is extremely battle-tested, squaring off against world-class competition bi-annually. He's fought nearly every notable brawler in this jam-packed division, including Deiveson Figueiredo, Askar Askarov, Brandon Royval (x2) and Brandon Moreno.

Both men are on excellent runs right now, but I think there's a chance that Pantoja absolutely destroys Erceg. I'll say that the contest doesn't see a fourth round. 

Bet: Fight To Not Start Round No. 4 (+140)

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