First things first, when you’re looking over your Kentucky Derby odds for this weekend, take Chocolate Candy. Trust me on this one.

Dwight Howard’s elbows did a one-man job on the Magic’s basketball betting chances tonight in Philadelphia, where they’ll be a 5.5-point underdog against the 76ers in Game 6. First, he fractured the sinuses of rookie teammate Courtney Lee, who was having an amazing series until he ran into Howard’s elbow. And then, this:

Howard received a technical for it, and he deserved it, that was pretty blatant. So the Magic are now a basketball betting underdog in a possible series clincher on the road, which means it’s not looking good. I’m setting the over/under of attempted threes tonight by Orlando at 30, and taking the over. Howard had 24 points and 24 boards in the Game 5 win, and has been putting up 24.0 points, 15.8 boards, and 2.8 blocks a game in this series. Good luck replacing that. Take Philly for the basketball betting win to send this to a seventh game.

I’ve got a busy weekend lined up with UFC 97 odds and NBA betting action for the playoffs, but there’s still some awards to give out, and it started yesterday with LeBron James’ MVP award. Today? The Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player awards.

Rookie of the Year

This draft class turned out to be quite deep, and Memphis’ O.J. Mayo, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and New Jersey’s Brook Lopez all deserve a shoutout. But Derrick Rose was under a ton of pressure, being drafted first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls, and the kid they call “Pooh” delivered and then some. He was probably Chicago’s most consistent player all year, playing arguably the toughest position on the court, and he never really fell off. The kicker: his team has an NBA betting chance in the postseason, not a great one, but a chance nonetheless as he’s one of only two players in the top 10 of that draft class to still be playing. Once he gets a consistent jumper, it’s over.

Defensive Player of the Year

I’ve seen some reporters (ahemESPNahem) that threw names like LeBron James and Dwayne Wade out there for DPOY, and that’s fine, that’s their opinion. The problem is, that opinion is terrible. Dwight Howard is a near-lock to earn the first of many DPOY awards, leading the league in rebounding and blocks, and if there was a stat for altered shots, he’d lead that, too. With D-12 in the middle, Orlando has a very good NBA betting chance of representing the East in the NBA finals.