Nuggets hold off Pacers
Basketball Betting Lines
02/11/2012 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ty Lawson scored 27 points to lead the Nuggets to a 113-109 win over the Pacers on Saturday.
Denver had five scorers in double figures, including 23 points from Arron Afflalo and 19 from Corey Brewer, as the Nuggets snapped a five-game losing streak.
Danny Granger led the way for the Pacers with 26 points and David West chipped in 22 points and seven rebounds. A.J. Price scored 13 points off the bench for a Pacers team that has now dropped a season-high three straight games.
Back-to-back triples from Paul George around an Al Harrington layup pulled the Pacers within four, 106-102, with 3:07 remaining in regulation.
After an Andre Miller miss, Darren Collison got the hoop and the harm to close the gap to 106-105 heading into the home stretch.
The Pacers had a chance to pull within one again on a three-point play but West's free throw was off the mark. Afflalo missed a jumper on the other end, and Indiana had the ball trailing 111-109 with 22.5 seconds to go.
Indiana looked to go inside to West again, but his kick out pass went wide of Collison and bounced into the backcourt for an over-and-back violation.
Afflalo, who scored 12 points in the final frame, calmly stepped to the charity stripe and hit both foul shots to give the Nuggets a two-possession lead.
Granger came out of the gates scorching as he scored 18 points in the first quarter on 7-of-9 shooting to give the Pacers a 35-26 lead heading into the second stanza.
The Nuggets showed resolve, reeling off 10 straight points to cut the lead to 53-51 with 3:05 left until halftime.
Ty Lawson finished the first half with 17 points, including a floater that capped the scoring to pull the Nuggets even, 60-60, heading into the locker room.
The two teams exchanged buckets throughout the third quarter as the Nuggets took a slight 87-84 lead into the final stanza.
Game Notes
The Pacers have dropped 12 of 15 meetings in this series...The Pacers are 7-3 at home...The Pacers will host Miami on Tuesday, while Denver will host the Suns on Tuesday...The Nuggets won the points in the paint battle 62-46...The Pacers turned the ball over 20 points which led to 22 points for the Nuggets.
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Harvard's unbeaten mark in the Ivy League came to a halt Saturday night against a team they haven't solved on the road in more than 23 years. Ian Hummer scored 20 points, pulled down nine rebounds and h
<< Pinceton continues home dominance of Harvard
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Harvard's unbeaten mark in the Ivy League
came to a halt Saturday night against a team they haven't solved on the road
in more than 23 years.
Ian Hummer scored 20 points, pulled down nine rebounds and h
<< Baylor thumps Texas A&M to stay perfect
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brittney Griner dropped in a game-high 21 points
to go with 10 rebounds and six blocks as top-ranked Baylor took care of
business with a 71-48 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday.
Odyssey Sims finishe
<< Spartans snap Ohio State's long home win streak
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adreian Payne scored a team-high 15 points as
No. 11 Michigan State handed third-ranked Ohio State its first home loss in
almost two years with a 58-48 decision at Value City Arena.
Keith Appling added 14
<< France tops Canada to take lead in Davis Cup
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra took
down Canadians Daniel Nestor and Milos Raonic in straight sets, 7-6 (7-1),
7-6 (7-2), 6-3 to give France a 2-1 edge in the third rubber of a best-of-
five tie
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
Stamkos leads Bolts past Sabres >>
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
Price, Canadiens blank Maple Leafs >>
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
Sixers stop shorthanded Cavs >>
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
Umberger paces Blue Jackets over Wild >>
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
FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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.