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Celtics try to stop skid in home tilt with PacersBasketball Betting Lines03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics will be attempting to avoid a third straight loss when the Atlantic Division leaders host the road-challenged Indiana Pacers tonight at TD Garden. Boston followed up a two-point setback at red-hot Milwaukee on Tuesday with a forgettable home loss to Memphis the following night. The 111-91 defeat to the Grizzlies matched a 108-88 loss to powerhouse Cleveland as the Celtics' most lopsided of the season. Memphis rolled to a 27-12 lead after one quarter and quickly extended the margin to 20 points early in the second. The Grizzlies kept pouring it on and took a commanding 55-33 advantage into halftime. "I think it speaks for itself," said Boston's Kevin Garnett of the loss. "They came in and just totally annihilated us, nothing to it. I thought we played hard in spurts, but (it) seemed like whatever they threw up it went in." Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen each scored 17 points to lead the Celtics. Garnett managed only six points and shot 3-of-9 from the field on the night. Boston, which last lost three in a row between January 28-31, still owns a comfortable eight-game lead over second-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division. The Celtics trail Southeast leader Orlando by 4 1/2 games for the No. 2 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is four games behind. A matchup with the Pacers, who stand last in the Central Division and 14th in the East with a 21-43 record, may help the Celtics get back on track. Indiana has lost six straight and nine of its last 10 outings on the road and is a woeful 7-27 as the guest this season. The Pacers have also dropped four straight and eight of its last games at TD Garden, including a 103-94 decision there back on December 22. In addition, Boston has prevailed in seven of the past nine overall meetings in this series. Indiana does head to Beantown on a winning note, however, after besting Philadelphia by a 107-96 count on Tuesday. The Pacers won despite having leading scorer Danny Granger unavailable due to a one-game suspension for a fight with Phoenix's Channing Frye in Saturday's 113-105 loss to the Suns. Granger, averaging 23.1 points and 5.7 rebounds for the season, will be back in the lineup for this evening's tilt. Dahntay Jones and Brandon Rush both stepped up in Granger's absence, with the former tying a season best with 25 points and the latter compiling 24 points and nine rebounds. Troy Murphy chipped in 19 points for Indiana and center Roy Hibbert had a strong all-around game, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists from the post. "Roy did a good job tonight of distributing the ball," Rush said. "He gave the ball to the open person, which repeatedly ended up in buckets."
<< Rangers and Thrashers both try to end slides in Atlanta
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of four-game losing streaks have made a possible road to the postseason a bit harder for the Rangers and Thrashers. Only one team will be able to reverse its misfortunes tonight. Atlanta will try to sweep the season
<< Playoff-bound Cavs make a stop in south Philly
<< Spurs, Wolves square off in Twin Cities
<< Sabres try to run win streak to four games versus Wild
<< Desperate Grizzlies welcome Knicks to Memphis
Bobcats continue push towards postseason, host Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats aim to maintain their recent winning ways and further solidify their postseason hopes in tonight's clash with a Los Angeles Clippers team that'll be seeking to end a five-game slide when it pays a visit
Sliding Ducks host Predators >>
Bucks, Jazz to square off in battle of surging clubs >>
Stars return home to face Williams and Kings >>
Lakers visit Phoenix for key Pacific showdown >>
SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?" A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook. In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small. "Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets." But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?" Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year. This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here. Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions. In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries. No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning. And that's all any bettor can ask for. To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. |
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