Bulls open homestand against Kings
Basketball Betting Lines
02/14/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back home after a successful and lengthy road trip, the Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls are scheduled to play their next six games on familiar territory and will host the Sacramento Kings tonight.
The Bulls own an Eastern Conference-best 23-7 record -- the fourth-best start in franchise history -- and went 6-3 on the nine-game road trip which was culminated by a 95-91 loss in Boston on Sunday. Celtics guard Rajon Rondo posted a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, while the Bulls were led by 22 points from both Carlos Boozer and C.J. Watson. Watson filled in for an injured Derrick Rose for a second straight game and is averaging 15.6 points and 6.4 assists in five starts this season.
"Our energy wasn't there tonight," Rose said after the loss. "We didn't pick up our energy to the full court."
Rose has missed back-to-back games with an ailing lower back and the team is 5-2 without him in the lineup this season. An MRI revealed no structural damage and the reigning MVP is listed as day-to-day for a Chicago team that had a five-game winning streak stopped in Boston. Rose has also missed time this season because of a toe injury and is averaging 22.0 points, 7.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 23 games.
Joakim Noah tallied 16 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, which will also welcome the Celtics, Nets, Hawks, Bucks and Hornets to the United Center on the upcoming homestand and is 9-1 as the host. Dating back to last season, the Bulls are 45-6 (.882) in the Second City. The Bulls have been perfect this season when scoring 100-plus points, going 11-0 when doing so.
Sacramento will head east to begin a six-game road trip tonight and is only 3-12 away from California's capital this season. It will also makes stops in New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Miami and Washington, and had won four of five games until dropping a 98-84 decision versus Phoenix on Saturday.
DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton scored 26 and 21 points, respectively, for the Kings, who made just 35.1 percent of their shots and also received nine rebounds out of Cousins.
"They play well as a team," Kings forward Chuck Hayes said about the Suns. "Everybody plays with their man, they play their strengths, nobody tries anything extra and they actually play really hard."
The Kings are currently bottom feeders in the Pacific Division. Cousins has recorded 17 double-doubles this season (third-most in the NBA), while Thornton is averaging 19.7 ppg in his previous six contests. Tyreke Evans scored four points versus Phoenix after averaging 21.4 ppg in the previous seven games.
The Kings lost to the Bulls by a 108-98 score back on Dec. 29 this season at home, as Rose dropped 19 points and dished out eight assists to lead his team to victory. Cousins finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds in that one for the Kings, losers in three straight and six of the past seven matchups in this series. Sacramento, however, is 8-4 in its past 12 trips to the Windy City.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will wrap up a six-game road trip tonight against the Southwest Division-rival Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum. The Rockets are 3-2 on the journey and suffered a 106-97 loss at Golden State the last ti
<< Spurs resume lengthy trek vs. Pistons
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs are starting to pick up their game on
the road and will resume a nine-game Rodeo Road Trip tonight against the lowly
Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Spurs have won seven in a row ov
<< Heat finish hectic stretch in Indy
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat try to continue one of their best starts in
team history this evening when they visit the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life
Fieldhouse.
Miami kept rolling on Monday, as LeBron James scored 35 points to lead the
<< Hornets' Gordon sidelined six weeks after surgery
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Hornets guard Eric Gordon is
expected to be sidelined for six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee
surgery on Tuesday.
The Hornets said the procedure was performed "to clean up his r
<< Anderson passes first-round test in San Jose
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson outlasted Grigor
Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3) in first-round action at the
SAP Open on Monday.
Dimitrov cruised in the first set before losing a second-set t
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Linsanity goes north of the border this evening when Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks shoot for a sixth straight win against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. One night after netting a career-best 38 points
Jazz close out stretch in Oklahoma City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah just might be a sitting duck when it finishes a
grueling three games in three nights road stretch tonight in Oklahoma City.
The Jazz lost to the Thunder, 101-87, in Salt Lake City last Friday and has
played
Suns, Nuggets clash at Pepsi Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver halted one losing streak on the road in its last
outing and will now try to stop its longest skid at home in nearly a decade
when they play host to the Phoenix Suns.
Ty Lawson scored 27 points on Saturday
Blazers try to halt home skid vs. Wizards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers will try to halt a rare losing
streak at the Rose Garden when they play host to a Washington Wizards team
coming in off its second road victory.
The Blazers had been a gaudy 11-1 in Rip Ci
Hawks commence trek against Lakers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta will kick off a five-game road trip tonight at
Staples Center when they take on a Lakers team returning from its annual
Grammy trek.
The Hawks, who will also visit Phoenix, Portland, Chicago and New
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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