Sixers stop shorthanded Cavs
Basketball Betting Lines
02/11/2012 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jrue Holiday led a balanced Philadelphia attack with 20 points as the 76ers rolled to a 99-84 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Lou Williams added 19 points, Thaddeus Young had 16, Elton Brand dropped in 11, and Jodie Meeks and Nikola Vucevic each contributed 10 as the Sixers snapped their season-high two-game losing streak.
Antawn Jamison paced the undermanned Cavaliers with 20 points, while Ramon Sessions and Alonzo Gee had 19 and 17, respectively, in the Cleveland's second straight loss and its sixth in the last nine games.
Cleveland was playing its third straight game without its No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving because of a concussion. The Cavs were also without guard Anthony Parker (lower back spasms) and center Anderson Varejao (broken right wrist).
Cleveland recorded the first points of the game with an Omri Casspi runner before Philadelphia reeled off a 12-3 run.
The Cavaliers, though, responded with a 12-4 swing to take a one-point lead, 17-16, with less than three minutes left in the opening frame.
Sessions sank a jumper after a Vucevic layup to put Cleveland back on top, but that would be the last time the Cavaliers would have the lead.
Philadelphia recorded the final three points of the first and held a 21-19 advantage after one. The Sixers then opened the second quarter with nine straight points, part of an 18-4 spurt, to jump out to a 39-23 cushion.
Williams tallied seven straight Philly points in the run, while Gee scored all four of the Cavaliers' points.
The Sixers held a double digit lead for the remainder of the half, leading by as much as 21 points en route to a 58-41 halftime advantage.
Cleveland never got closer than 13 in the third quarter before taking a 79-60 deficit into the fourth, where they trailed by as much as 21.
Game Notes
Philadelphia improved to 6-4 on the road this season, while Cleveland fell to 5-7 at home...The Sixers' bench outscored the Cavaliers', 50-32...Cleveland held a 52-40 advantage on the glass and outscored Philadelphia, 44-40, in the paint.
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carey Price made 32 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season and 16th of his career as the Montreal Canadiens blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-0, at Air Canada Centre. Mathieu Darche had a goal and a
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Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Stamkos lit the lamp and added an assist
while Mathieu Garon stopped 26 shots as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the
Buffalo Sabres, 2-1.
Steve Downie also scored for Tampa Bay, which had lost t
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Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin scored 21 points and pulled
down 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers dominated the Charlotte Bobcats,
111-86, at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Each of Griffin's fellow starters scored in
<< Nuggets hold off Pacers
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Denver had five scorers in double figures, including 23 points from Arron
Afflalo and 19 from Corey B
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Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Harvard's unbeaten mark in the Ivy League
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Ian Hummer scored 20 points, pulled down nine rebounds and h
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - R.J. Umberger scored a pair of goals, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. James Wisniewski -- playing in his first game after missing the previous
Murray State routs Austin Peay >>
Murray, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Isaiah Canaan scored 23 points to pace ninth-
ranked Murray State to an 82-63 rout of Austin Peay.
Jewuan Long and Ivan Aska each added 12 points for the Racers (24-1, 12-1
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Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A balanced San Antonio offensive attack, led by
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103-89, at Prudential Center.
Tim Duncan filled the stat sheet with 13 points, 10 r
Blues top Avs in OT >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blues continue to pile up the wins and
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Carlo Colaiacovo scored the first goal since the opening period with 1:42 to
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Lin pushes Knicks past T'Wolves >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The legend of "Linsanity" grew a bit larger
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Target
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.