Season Leaves Left Down Block

Basketball Betting Lines

Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Suns saw a 21-point lead evaporate, but Steve Nash's short jumper with five seconds remaining lifted Phoenix over Milwaukee, 107-105. Nash ended with 18 points and 11 assists for the Suns, who have won three in a row. Marcin Gortat tallied 21 points and nine rebounds.

 

Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant scored 33 points and made the go- ahead jumper with 14.2 seconds remaining, as the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder snuck past Monta Ellis and the Golden State Warriors, 119-116. Durant also pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists for the Thunder, who improved to 11-4 on the road this season. Russell Westbrook added 31 points and made two key free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining.

 

James Harden and Daequan Cook donated 19 and 17 points, respectively, for Oklahoma City, which holds a 20-5 record.

 

After Stephen Curry was called for traveling, Durant put home a slam to make it 115-112 with 1:23 left.

 

Ellis drove to the hoop and made a layup while being fouled by Serge Ibaka. Ellis made the free throw to give Golden State a 116-115 lead with 22.3 seconds to go.

 

Durant missed a floater at the other end, but the Warriors knocked the ball out of bounds. This time around, Durant used the glass on an 18-foot jumper to give Oklahoma City a 117-116 edge with 14.2 seconds to play.

 

The Thunder started the second period on a 13-2 run to take the lead. The visitors led by as many as 10 in the frame and took a 59-57 edge into the locker room.

 

Golden State responded in the third quarter and built an 80-68 lead with 5:07 remaining. But the Thunder scored seven of the final nine points in the stanza to cut their deficit to 93-91.

 

Oklahoma City beat Golden State by a 120-109 margin on January 27 in Oakland...Durant came into Tuesday's game averaging 31.3 points per game in 15 career meetings against the Warriors...Lee's second career triple-double was the first by a Warriors power forward since Chris Webber in 1993...Curry had 16 points and 10 assists...Each team shot over 52 percent from the field.

Wwwsportsterminal Basketball Betting Blog

<< Season Beats Football In Conference

<< Saturday Joins Mo. Over Valley

<< Roloson Acquires Rush Against Kings

<< Goal Recalls Games Into Canadiens

<< Power Play Leaves Nabokov Down Career

Love Recalls Memphis Into Sacramento >>

New Jersey Acquires Rose Against Wizards >>

Points Joins Gallinari Over Orlando >>

Billups Beats Kleiza In Rockets >>

Points Sparks Washington From Games >>

Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.