Lakers carry recent baggage into Big D
Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Lakers will attempt to put some off-the-court turmoil behind them tonight when they visit the impetus for much of the acrimony, the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavs dethroned the Lakers last season, sweeping them out of the playoffs and sending Phil Jackson into retirement with an emphatic 122-86 Game 4 win in the Western Conference semifinals. Dallas, of course, went on to win the franchise's first NBA championship.
More unhappiness in Hollywood developed after the Lakers sent the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Lamar Odom, to Big D before this season after a proposed three-way trade that would have landed Chris Paul fell through.
Meanwhile, trade rumors are still swirling around Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant ripped LA's management team after a setback in Phoenix on Sunday for allowing his teammate to twist in the wind.
A day can make quite a difference, however, and Bryant was all smiles after scoring 28 points in Los Angeles' 103-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
Gasol totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Andrew Bynum added 14 and 19 in the win, the Lakers' fourth in five games.
Steve Blake scored 14 of his 17 points in a first half that saw the hosts lead by as many as 30. The Blazers' comeback ultimately came up short and they fell for the fourth time in six games.
"In the first half, that's the best we played, especially defensively," Bryant said. "We came out with great energy."
Prior to the game, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had responded to Bryant's comments by saying it would serve no purpose to announce publicly whether or not the team will deal Gasol.
After the game Bryant and Derek Fisher held a players-only meeting as the team looks at the daunting task of back-to-back games on the road against West powers Dallas and Oklahoma City. LA is just 5-11 on the road this season vs. 14-2 as the host.
The Mavericks continue to roll, winning for the seventh time in eight games on Monday, a 89-73 rout of the Boston Celtics in north Texas.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in that one as the Mavs never trailed in handing the Celtics a fourth straight loss.
Jason Terry chipped in 16 points and six assists for Dallas, which took advantage of no Kevin Garnett (personal) and no Rajon Rondo (suspension).
The Mavericks rebounded from Sunday's loss to the Knicks by outscoring the Celtics in the paint, 32-18, and cashing in 25 points off 17 Boston turnovers.
"They were two men down without Rondo and K.G., so a different ball club," Terry said. "They tried to junk up the game and I thought we did an excellent job of being patient and getting what we wanted on the offensive end."
Nowitzki recorded the 1,000th block of his career in the first quarter against Boston, joining Clifford Robinson and Rasheed Wallace as the only players in NBA history with 1,000-plus blocks and 1,000-plus three-pointers. Nowitzki also passed Robert Parish for 20th on the all-time scoring list. He now has 23,354 career points.
Point guard Jason Kidd also reached a milestone, notching three steals to catch Michael Jordan for second place on the NBA's all-time list. Kidd's 2,517 steals now trail only John Stockton's total of 3,265.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Northwest Division rivals meet at Target Center tonight when the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves both try to get back to the .500 mark on the season and stay out of the cellar in the division. Oklahoma C
<< Pacers pay a visit to Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers try to make it four straight wins this
evening when they visit the hapless Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable
Arena.
The Pacers continued their recent winning ways on Tuesday, as Roy Hibbe
<< Kings take losing ways to Washington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings try to put the brakes on a six-game
slide this evening when they visit the Washington Wizards in the final game
before the All-Star break for both teams.
Sacramento's losing ways continued on Wed
<< Blue Jays sign VandenHurk
Dunedin, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays signed right-hander Rick
VandenHurk to a split major league contract on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old VandenHurk spent the past one-plus seasons with the Baltimore
Orioles.
He played t
<< In the FCS Huddle: Struggling programs must realize it's time
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New head coaches, especially those with
struggling teams, are often quick to sidestep questions about win totals
measuring their success.
You've probably heard the coach speak before: If the team gets back
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers aim to halt a two-game skid and head into the NBA's All-Star break atop the Pacific Division when they host the Denver Nuggets tonight. The Clips lead their Staples Center co-tenants, the L
Reeling Celtics visit OKC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder shoot for a fourth straight win
this evening when they welcome the Boston Celtics to Chesapeake Energy Arena.
After combining for 91 points on Sunday, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook
totaled 62
Caps hope to get season on track vs. streaking Sens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With just one victory in their last six games, the
Washington Capitals are desperate to get their postseason push back on track.
The Caps hope they can bounce back tonight at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, where
they'll try to
Cavs resume lengthy homestand vs. Hornets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will resume a team-record nine-game
homestand tonight versus the New Orleans Hornets at Quicken Loans Arena.
Cleveland is 4-3 on the residency and is coming off last night's 101-100 win
over the Cen
Lin, Knicks aim to bounce back vs. Hawks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sudden New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin was brought back to
reality when New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams took him to school in
a recent contest at Madison Square Garden.
Arguably one of the fanciest point guards
Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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SPORTS BETTING
NFL Football Betting OnlineIn terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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