Rockets hold off Blazers

Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goran Dragic filled in for an injured Kyle Lowry and scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets downed the Portland Trail Blazers, 103-96.

Lowry, who left the game late in the third quarter with a strained right elbow, finished the contest with 12 points.

"Elbow is really sore gotta do treatment and see how I feel in the am thanks for the concern,!!" said Lowry on his Twitter account following the game.

Chase Budinger had 22 points to lead the Rockets, who won their second straight game and got a season-high 66 points from their bench.

Jamal Crawford netted 21 points to go with six assists and Gerald Wallace added 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Blazers, who have lost two straight at home since beginning the season with an 11-1 mark at the Rose Garden. Portland has dropped three of its last four contests.

Down by as many as 19 in the third quarter, the Blazers rallied to tie the game at 82 in the final stanza, but Houston scored eight straight points to make it a 90-82 game midway through the fourth. Courtney Lee began the spurt with a short jumper, Dragic made 1-of-2 from the line, Budinger nailed a trey and Dragic capped the spurt with a layup.

A bit later, Wallace's three-point play cut the deficit to four, but Dragic's three-point play extended Houston's advantage to 96-88 with 3:31 to play.

The Blazers pulled within five late, but that was as close as they got down the stretch.

Luis Scola netted 10 points in the opening period as the Rockets took a 30-28 lead into the second.

The Rockets closed the opening half on a 15-4 run, taking a 60-46 advantage into the break. Budinger, who nailed a pair of treys during the flurry, capped the surge with a layup with 2.9 seconds left in the half.

Houston shot a blistering 66.7 percent in the second stanza.

"They (Houston) came out very aggressive, we weren't aggressive defensively and they ran their offense hard," said Portland head coach Nate McMillan.

Kevin Martin's jumper extended Houston's advantage to 69-50 with 8:10 remaining in the third, but the Blazers used a 13-2 run to pull within 71-63 late in the frame. Wesley Matthews and Crawford netted four points apiece during the surge.

The Blazers used a 10-0 spurt that bridged the third and fourth quarters to tie the game at 77 early in the final frame. Crawford's trey and nice feed to LaMarcus Aldridge for an easy slam capped the surge.

Game Notes

Scola finished the contest with 12 points...The Rockets shot 10-of-23 from beyond the arc and outrebounded Portland 39-29...Houston turned the ball over 23 times while Portland gave the ball away 19 times.

Money-games-online Basketball Betting News

<< Henrik Sedin may miss Thursday's game with ankle injury
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin may miss Thursday's game against the Minnesota Wild after injuring his right ankle on Tuesday. Sedin took a shot off his right ankle early in the first period of Tu

<< Perry lifts Ducks past Hurricanes in overtime
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Corey Perry scored the game-winning goal at 2:14 of the overtime period, sending the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Honda Center. The deciding play began with a little luck f

<< Jokinen's hat trick leads Flames over Sharks
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olli Jokinen capped his seventh career hat trick with the winner in the third period as the Calgary Flames took a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Jokinen also had an assist while Jarome Iginla added a g

<< Nowitzki leads Mavs over Nuggets
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Denver Nuggets 105-95 at Pepsi Center on Wednesday. Dallas had five players in double figures, including 17

<< Improved bench has Spurs ready to ride in watered-down West
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's tough to write an obituary for a team that wins 61 games during the NBA's regular season but that didn't stop a number of my peers from declaring the aging San Antonio Spurs dead on arrival after they we

Rockets G Lowry leaves game >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Rockets guard Kyle Lowry left Wednesday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers with a strained right elbow. The injury occurred late in the third quarter after Lowry's follow-through

Lewis, Kemp lead in LPGA opener; Tseng lurking >>
Victoria, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stacy Lewis and Sarah Kemp both posted four-under 69s on Thursday as the 2012 LPGA season kicked off with the first round of the Women's Australian Open. This season also began much like last sea

Hantuchova, King advance to Pattaya quarters >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and American Vania King were among the second-round winners Thursday at the Pattaya Open. The third-seeded Hantuchova notched a 6-3,

Cabrera-Bello fires 63 to lead by 2 in Dubai >>
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Cabrera-Bello fired a nine-under 63 Thursday to grab a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic. Cabrera-Bello, whose lone tour title was at the 2009 Aus

Bills release Corto >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills have released safety Jon Corto, who missed the entire 2011 season with a shoulder injury. Corto, who had signed a two-year contract extension prior to the 2011 campaign, was a s

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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