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Nash, Suns aim to sweep Spurs out of the postseasonBasketball Betting Lines05/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash and his Phoenix Suns stand on the verge of exorcising quite a few demons tonight as they try and sweep the San Antonio Spurs out of the Western Conference semifinals. Four of the last five times the Suns have been in the playoffs, they were shown the door by the Spurs, and Nash, the former two-time NBA MVP, has never beaten San Antonio in the postseason. That could all change tonight thanks to Nash's understudy, Goran Dragic, a second-round pick of San Antonio in the 2008 draft. Dragic was the unlikely difference-maker for the Suns in Game 3 on Friday, scoring 23 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to spark Phoenix to a 110-96 comeback victory over the Spurs for a stunning 3-0 series lead. Phoenix essentially erased an 18-point first half deficit by the end of the third quarter and shot 15-of-21 over the final 12 minutes to put the Spurs on the brink of elimination in front of the AT&T Center crowd. Nash, who sat idly on the bench during most of Dragic's heroics, added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the resounding win. Dragic finished 10-of-13 from the field and made all five of his attempts from behind the arc. "I don't know how many guys in the history of the game have had a quarter like that," Nash said of Dragic's performance. "I'm incredibly proud of him. We've been waiting for him to get confidence and in the flow of the game. Obviously he had that. It was a pleasure to watch." Jason Richardson and Grant Hill chipped in 21 and 18 points, respectively, for the Suns, who shot 15-of-26 from three-point range. Manu Ginobili posted 27 points for the Spurs, who received 15 points and 13 rebounds from Tim Duncan and 12 and 10 from Antonio McDyess. The trio of Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson and George Hill combined to shoot a miserable 7-of-33 from the floor for 22 points in the devastating setback. "It was embarrassing," Ginobili said of the fourth quarter. "They were great and we were pretty poor defensively...It seemed like we just couldn't stop them. It was demoralizing." Parker, who returned to the starting lineup in Friday's contest, needed to have X-rays taken on his lower back after a few hard spills in Game 3 but is expected to play tonight as San Antonio attempts to avoid being swept in the postseason for the first time since the Lakers won all four games in their 2001 conference finals set. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series but Phoenix is taking nothing for granted. "Somebody said it's 88-0 when you're 3-0," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "You know what, there's also a situation where a man didn't walk on the moon until 1969." These two franchises have matched up nine times in the postseason with the Spurs winning six, including the last four. In recent years, the Suns were beaten by San Antonio in a 2008 first-round matchup and a 2007 semifinal series. The Suns haven't beaten San Antonio in the postseason since 2000 and the last three times the Spurs have won the NBA championship, the team eliminated Phoenix along the way. Game 5 in the series, if necessary, will be in Phoenix on Tuesday.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James and the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their worst playoff performance this year in a big way on Friday. Now, Mike Brown's club hopes to seize control of its Eastern Conference semifinals series
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks will try to clinch their second straight trip to the Western Conference finals tonight, when they host the Vancouver Canucks for Game 5 of the conference semifinals at United Center. The second-seede
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Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence Work left to do: Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8. Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday. DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ... West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule. Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games. For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cardsSportsbooks That Take US Credit Cards for NFL football bettingSportsbooks that take credit cards are not always easy to come by....Everything from credit card companies denying gambling transactions to the fear of chargebacks by customers has slowed down sportsbook credit card transactions by a high percentage. There are however still sportsbooks that take credit cards. When using your credit card it is highly recommended that you try either: MySportsbook.com or Sportsbooks.com. Both sportsbooks have a high rate of accepting credit cards and will save you the time and hassle of looking around the web to make a credit card transaction. |
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