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Blazers make a stop in PhoenixBasketball Betting Lines03/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers are heating up at the right moment and will try for their sixth straight win tonight, when they take a trip to the desert to face the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. Portland is currently seated in the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference -- just a half-game behind No. 7 San Antonio -- and made it five consecutive wins with Friday's 76-74 home victory versus the Washington Wizards at the Rose Garden. Brandon Roy's leaner from just inside the three- point line with 0.9 seconds lifted the Blazers, as he ended with 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting. "I was just thinking 'finally,'" Roy said of his big shot. "I took a lot of shots tonight. The majority of them felt good, a couple of them felt like I was a little off balance but I was just laughing, you know, finally, I made a shot. It was the one to help us win an important game for us." LaMarcus Aldridge chipped in 19 points and grabbed 12 boards for Portland, which got 14 points from Andre Miller and held on for the win despite shooting 32.1 percent from the floor. The 32.1 percent was the lowest shooting mark in a win in franchise history, eclipsing the 33.0 percent clip on November 3, 1990 at Sacramento. Aldridge is averaging 19.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in his last 32 games, while Miller is posting 16.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.33 steals since January 2. Portland is 19-15 away from the Rose City this season. Meanwhile, the Suns are playing just as well and have won three straight and 11 of their last 14 games. They improved to 4-2 on a seven-game homestand following Friday's 110-100 victory versus the Utah Jazz thanks to a season- high 44 points and seven rebounds from Amare Stoudemire. "I wanted to come out with great focus on both ends and try to spark some energy out there and try to dominate," said Stoudemire. "I think tonight as a team we did a great job of that -- we all played particularly well, and if we keep this effort up and keep playing the way we are, we'll be in good shape." Robin Lopez added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Steve Nash posted 15 points and 10 assists in a winning cause. Phoenix is 27-9 in the desert this season and is tied with Oklahoma City for the fifth seed in the conference standings. The Blazers have won the first two meetings with Phoenix in 2009-10, and are aiming for their first season sweep of the Suns since the 1998-99 campaign. Portland has won four straight after losing the last 11 meetings against the Suns, who have won nine of 10 as the host in this series. Portland has scored at least 100 points in each of the last 12 road contests, the league's longest streak this season and the team's longest such run since February 21 - April 21, 1991 (18 games). The Trail Blazers have won 42 straight games when holding their opponents to 88 points or fewer, including a 19-0 mark this year.
<< Top-seeded Syracuse and Gonzaga clash in West Region
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-ever meeting between powers from opposite coasts takes place this afternoon at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York as the Gonzaga Bulldogs clash with the Syracuse Orange in the second round of the 72nd annua
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Durant, Thunder visit Pacers in Indy >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - MVP candidate Kevin Durant will lead the Oklahoma City Thunder into Indiana this afternoon for a showdown against the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse in the finale of a three-game road trip. Durant is second in th
Rockets begin trip at New York >>
Lakers welcome Wizards to Staples Center >>
Spurs, Hawks tangle in Atlanta >>
Cavs return home to host Pistons >>
2007 online football betting PreviewMy fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online." The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet. To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession. However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks. Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable. Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone. Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC. 2007 College Football Betting PreviewThere will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson. The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans. So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California. USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl. USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter. Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles. That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy. The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?" The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning. Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years. Las Vegas Sports LinesThe Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States. It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella." The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot. The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan. Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season. After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country. To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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