Bobcats and Clippers tangle in LA
Basketball Betting Lines
02/28/2009 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats conclude a five-game road trip in
Hollywood Saturday when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples
Center.
The Bobcats improved to 2-2 on the trek Friday in Oakland when Boris Diaw
scored 22 points and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining
as Charlotte earned a 112-109 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Raymond Felton had 26 points and nine assists for the Bobcats, who followed up
the franchise's first ever win in Sacramento with its first triumph in
Oakland.
Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace each had double-doubles with Okafor totaling
15 points and 11 rebounds, while Wallace posted 14 points and 11 boards.
Vladimir Radmanovic scored 11 for the Bobcats, who have won back-to-back
contests following a three-game skid.
The Clippers, meanwhile, fell in Sacramento on Friday when Kevin Martin scored
20 points and went 4-of-9 from behind the arc to lead the Kings to their
fourth straight win over Los Angeles, a 98-86 victory at ARCO Arena.
Baron Davis and Steve Novak had 13 points each for the Clippers, who were
coming off their best win of the season -- a 93-91 triumph over the defending
NBA champion Boston Celtics.
Zach Randolph notched 11 points and 12 boards for LA, which saw its two-game
win streak halted.
Rookie star Eric Gordon, who is averaging 15.1 points per game, missed
Friday's contest with a bruised shoulder and is expected to remain on the
sidelines tonight.
The Bobcats, who are 8-20 on the road, have won three straight over the
Clippers, including a 97-73 rout in Charlotte earlier this season. LA, which
is just 8-21 at Staples Center, had won the first six games in the all-time
series.
<< Sixers host Magic at Wachovia Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers open up a quick two-game homestand
Saturday by welcoming the class of the Southeast Division, the Orlando
Magic, to the Wachovia Center.
The Sixers will be shooting for their second win in as many ni
<< Quinn unsure over Cisse stay
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn is
unsure whether the club will be able to afford to buy Djibril Cisse in the
summer.
The 27-year-old Frenchman is currently on a season-long loan deal at
<< Inter targets strike duo
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan's sporting director Marco Branca
has hinted that his club's two main summer transfer targets will be Atletico
Madrid star Sergio Aguero and Genoa striker Diego Milito.
Speculation about both
<< Walcott set for training return
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England international Theo Walcott will
return to full training on Monday, according to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The former Southampton star has been sidelined since November after injuring
his
<< Redskins release Springs
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins have released
cornerback Shawn Springs in a salary-cap move.
Springs spent the past five seasons with Washington after playing his first
seven years with Seattle. The Ohi
Jazz to mourn Miller before taking on Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On the same day the franchise will mourn late owner Larry
Miller, the streaking Utah Jazz hope to extend their winning streak to seven
games and sweep the season series from the Sacramento Kings at EnergySolutions
Arena.
Wizards, Bucks square off in Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks return to the Bradley Center on
Saturday for the first of two straight home games when they host the woeful
Washington Wizards.
The Bucks suffered a tough loss in the Big Easy on Friday when Tyson Chand
Streaking Rockets face Bulls in Windy City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will try to keep a pair of winning
streaks intact tonight when they open a short two-game road trip against the
Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
Houston will also visit Minnesota and is 13-15 as the
Cellar dwellers meet in Memphis as Grizzlies host Thunder >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of last-place teams get together this evening, as
the Memphis Grizzlies welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder to FedEx Forum.
Memphis is in the basement of the Southwest Division and has dropped six in a
row. In Wednesd
Heat host Knicks in South Beach >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat open up a three-game homestand Saturday by
welcoming the New York Knicks to South Beach.
The Heat will be trying to bounce back from a tough loss in Atlanta on Friday.
Al Horford pulled down a career-high 22
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
New York Giants betting lines
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Dallas Cowboys betting lines
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
Oakland Raiders betting lines
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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