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Pierce leads Celtics to halftime lead in Game 5

Basketball Betting Lines

06/13/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce netted 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, helping Boston to a 45-39 halftime lead on the Los Angeles Lakers in the pivotal Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

The Celtics, coming off a series-tying 96-89 win on Thursday, are continuing their attempt for a second title in three years, having beaten the Lakers in six games in 2008.

The Lakers have won 14 straight playoff games when the series is tied, but will need to rally in the second half to continue that trend before the series heads back to Los Angeles for Game 6 Tuesday night.

The team that wins Game 5 in a best-of-seven series tied 2-2 is 130-26 in those series all-time.

Rajon Rondo played a big part in Boston's success in the first half with 10 points, but the Celtics have 11 turnovers at the break. They are shooting a sizzling 65.6 percent from the field.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 10 points, but LA is struggling at a 33.3 percent shooting clip.

Boston scored the game's first six points, but the Lakers netted the ensuing eight, capped by Andrew Bynum's bucket. He's playing despite having his right knee drained Friday.

The game remained tight through the end of the period with Pierce's jumper in the closing minute providing a 22-20 edge for Boston through 12 minutes.

Tony Allen's basket, just over three minutes into the second, provided a 30-22 cushion, but a pair of three-pointers by Ron Artest highlighted an 11-4 run later by the Lakers as they took a 37-36 edge.

The game turned ugly during that spurt. With 4:42 left in the first half, Kevin Garnett went up for a shot in the lane, but tumbled to the floor after being fouled by Artest. Rondo darted into the lane, shoved Artest and was whistled for a technical foul.

Bryant made the technical foul shot, but Garnett countered by sinking his two at the line. A three-ball by Artest and an inside basket from Bryant gave LA the one-point edge.

It didn't last long, as Pierce drained a three-pointer and a tip-in credited to Kendrick Perkins moved the Celtics to a 41-37 lead inside three minutes to go.

Pierce's jumper in the final minute represented the final points of the half.


<< Young makes second homer a game-winner for D'Backs
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Young's second homer of the game, a two- run blast in the bottom of the ninth inning, rescued the Arizona bullpen and lifted the Diamondbacks to a 7-5 win over St. Louis in the rubber match of a three-g

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Springfield, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - More weather problems on Sunday forced the State Farm Classic into a Monday finish at Panther Creek Country Club. The third round had also been delayed by thunderstorms and heavy rain. That round was f

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<< Mediate gets last spot in U.S. Open field
Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rocco Mediate, who had an epic playoff with Tiger Woods two years ago, was given the final spot in the field for the 110th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Mediate had been the first alternate and when no

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Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hideki Matsui finished 3-for-4 with two RBI as the Angels held on to top the Dodgers, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game interleague series from Dodger Stadium. Bobby Abreu collected three hits, scored t

McNamee claims Clemens' foundation paid for drugs >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Brian McNamee told federal investigators that Roger Clemens' nonprofit organization paid him for his training services, including providing the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with performance-enhancing drugs, the New York Times repo

2010 Near No-Hitters >>
No-hit bids that were broken up in the ninth inning this season:June 13 - Ted Lilly, Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox; pinch hitter Juan Pierre no-out single up the middle, Cubs 1-0.June 2 - x-Armando Galarraga, Detroit vs. Cleveland; Jason Donald

Lakers-Celtics, Box >>
L.A. LAKERS (86)Artest 2-9 1-4 7, Gasol 5-12 2-3 12, Bynum 3-6 0-1 6, Fisher 2-9 5-5 9, Bryant 13-27 8-9 38, Odom 4-6 0-2 8, Farmar 0-4 1-2 1, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Vujacic 2-5 0-0 5, Walton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-78 17-26 86.BOSTON (92)Pierce 12-21 1-2

Gasol little more than a spectator to Kobe show >>
BOSTON (AP) -Pau Gasol finally got the ball with a chance to shoot, and Kevin Garnett sent it back at him.A few minutes later, the same thing happened.Gasol was little more than a spectator of the Kobe Bryant show in Game 5 of the NBA finals on Sund

Garnett's all-around game boosts Celtics >>
BOSTON (AP) -Kevin Garnett scored, rebounded and blocked shots.Steal the ball? He did that, too. Five times.Garnett's best all-around performance of the NBA finals lacked one memorable gesture. Boston's emotional leader didn't kiss the leprechaun sy

NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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