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Surging Mavs host Hornets in Big DBasketball Betting Lines02/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Dallas Mavericks shoot for a season-high seventh straight win on Sunday when they welcome the New Orleans Hornets to Big D. Jason Kidd's triple-double fueled a furious Maverick comeback in the fourth quarter to force overtime on Friday, as Dallas downed Atlanta, 111-103, at Philips Arena for its sixth straight triumph. Kidd recorded 19 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds to help the visitors overcome a 15-point deficit and hand the Hawks only their seventh loss at home all season. Dirk Nowitzki poured in a game-best 37 points on 15-of-26 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. His five points led the Mavs in overtime. Kidd, meanwhile, hoisted three of his four three-pointers in the final minutes of regulation leading to extra time and made a heads-up play by drawing a technical on Hawks coach Mike Woodson to help turn the tide with 1:37 remaining. Jason Terry chipped in 17 points and Shawn Marion 14 to help offset the absence of Caron Butler, who missed a second straight game after suffering an allergic reaction to a medication. Butler is expected to return tonight. The game seemed to be in the Hawks' control after Jamal Crawford put in two free throws for an 86-71 lead with 8:23 to play, but Dallas chipped away and trailed 97-95 with 1:43 remaining when Kidd made an odd but prosperous decision. He raced upcourt following Mike Bibby's last shot and purposefully made contact with Hawks coach Mike Woodson, who was barking orders to his players close to the boundary line. "I saw him on the court...we needed to get a point somehow. I don't know what the exact ruling is, but hey, he's in a suit and I had to ratchet up the pressure -- make the officials make something happen," Kidd explained. "For some odd reason it's a fashion thing for coaches to be out on the floor. For me, it was just see what the official was going to call." The officials called a technical on Woodson for being on the court, and Nowitzki's free throw made it a one-point game. The Mavs kept possession and made the incident a four-point swing on Kidd's three from beyond the left elbow with the clock winding under a minute. In the overtime, Dallas scored the first seven points and were up 106-99 with 1:06 to go following a debilitating three by Nowitzki. The Hornets, meanwhile, are also coming off an impressive win on Friday when David West finished with 40 points and 10 rebounds, as New Orleans fought back from a big second-half deficit to take a 100-93 victory over the Orlando Magic. Rookie Marcus Thornton added 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while fellow freshman Darren Collison had 16 points and seven assists for the Hornets, who trailed by as many as 18 in the third quarter. But New Orleans held the Magic to 4-of-18 shooting and 13 points in the fourth quarter on the way to ending a two-game slide. "It was just an outstanding finish to the game," Hornets head coach Jeff Bower said. "I'm really proud of our team, how they fought and turned a difficult game into a victory. What I was most proud about was the fact that we didn't give up on the game when we were behind and things weren't going our way." Dallas, which last won seven straight from Dec. 29, 2007-Jan. 12, 2008, snapped a two-game skid to the Hornets with a 94-90 win in Big D on Dec. 14.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pacific Division rivals clash in California's capital Sunday when the Los Angeles Clippers visit the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are coming off one of their more impressive wins of late, a 103-99 triumph over Utah on Frida
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook BettingNFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal. A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon." It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed. The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha. So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games." Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs. |
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