Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Celtics begin their quest for a second straight title, the NHL playoffs continue, and the Sprint Cup Series hits Phoenix.

Tipping off on the hardwood  . . .

The NBA playoffs begin on four fronts on Saturday, including in Boston where the defending-champion Celtics will try to take out the Bulls without the services of star forward Kevin Garnett. Oddsmakers still like Boston’s chances in the first round, as they’re pegged as a -500 favorite to win the best-of-seven series at Sports Betting Sportsbook.  The Celtics are also listed as 8.5-point favorites in the opener on Saturday afternoon according to live NBA odds.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers are huge -4000 favorites to bounce the Pistons in the first round, and they’re pegged as 12-point favorites to win Game 1 at home on Saturday. As well, the Spurs are 4-point home favorites against the Mavericks, and the Trail Blazers are favored by 4 points at home against the Rockets. San Antonio is a -140 series favorite, and Portland is a -135 series fave.

To win it all, BetUs has the Lakers at +135 and the Cavaliers at +200. Boston, perhaps without Kevin Garnett for the entire playoffs is at +600.

NBA playoff picks against the basketball odds…

GodsTips leads the way as they so often do. It’s time to hop on board NOW. Somehow we even won an extra-inning game. But the big play was our NL Game of the Month on San Diego a Dandy Dog, part of 3-1 in MLB as Oakland wins +135.

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Meeting up on the diamond . . .

The Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang carries a horrendous 28.93 ERA into his start on Saturday afternoon at home against the Indians. Wang has given up 15 earned runs on 15 hits over just 4 2-3 innings of work this season, lasting just one inning against the Rays and 3 2-3 innings against the O’s. The Tribe will send righthander Fausto Carmona (0-2, 9.00 ERA) to the mound in that contest.

Also on the American League schedule for Saturday: Oakland at Toronto, the White Sox at Tampa Bay, the Angels at Minnesota, Baltimore at Boston, Kansas City at Texas, and Detroit at Seattle. Mariners lefthander Erik Bedard will try to improve on his 1-0 record and 2.02 ERA when he takes to the hill vs. the Tigers.

Over in the National League on Saturday it’s Atlanta at Pittsburgh, Florida at Washington, Milwaukee at the Mets, St. Louis at Chicago, Colorado at the Dodgers, San Diego at Philadelphia, Cincinnati at Houston, and Arizona at San Francisco. The Giants will go with righthander Tim Lincecum (0-1, 7.56 ERA) in that game, and the D-Backs counter with lefthander Doug Davis (0-2, 4.15 ERA).

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

The Red Wings will continue their title defense on Saturday night with Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Blue Jackets. Detroit bounced Columbus 4-1 in the series opener on Thursday, with Johan Franzen and Jiri Hudler both picking up a goal and an assist. R.J. Umberger had the only goal in the loss for the Blue Jackets, while rookie netminder Steve Mason had 30 saves.

There are three other Game 2’s on the NHL’s postseason slate for Saturday, with the Rangers at Washington, Montreal at Boston, and Calgary at Chicago. Each of New York, Boston, and Chicago hold a 1-0 lead in their respective series, with the Blackhawks winning their Game 1 by a score of 3-2 in overtime on Thursday. Martin Havlat scored twice for Chicago in that win, and he provided the OT tally.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

The Sprint Cup Series returns on Saturday night with the Subway Fresh Fit 500 under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway. Jeff Gordon won the circuit’s last event at Texas Motor Speedway on April 5, and he holds a 162-point lead on Jimmie Johnson in the current driver standings. However, Johnson has won the last three Phoenix races, and he’s the 3/1 Vegas favorite to get the win Saturday.

Kyle Busch is next on that list at 5/1, followed by Gordon at 6/1, Carl Edwards at 7/1, and both Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle at 10/1. Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth then sit at 12/1 odds to win in Phoenix on Saturday, with Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 15/1, and Kurt Busch rounding out the top tier at 18/1.