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01/27/2012 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temporarily, the Celtics may not have Rajon Rondo or Ray Allen in the lineup, but they still have Paul Pierce.
As the Pacers cut Boston's lead to two in the third quarter, Pierce put the team on his back, netting 17 of his 28 points in the stanza as the Celtics took down Indiana, 94-87, for their fourth straight win.
"We had unbelievable energy," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said. "We thought the key was to force them into playing versus our half court defense. Thought we did that."
Pierce also added 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics.
Rondo sat out his fifth consecutive game due to a wrist injury, while Allen missed his third straight contest with a jammed left ankle.
But Pierce has really stepped up in their absence, averaging 23.4 points, 8.2 assists and 6.4 rebounds over his last five outings -- including Friday night's game.
Danny Granger netted 21 points to lead the Pacers, who went 1-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Indiana, which came into Friday's game averaging 12.8 offensive rebounds per game, outrebounded the Celtics by just a 10-9 margin on the offensive glass.
"They're the number one offensive rebounding team in the league. We concentrated on that and got some second chance points ourselves," Pierce said.
An 8-2 Pacers spurt to start the second half, capped by David West's jumper, trimmed Boston's lead to 44-42.
But Pierce poured in nine points as the Celtics countered with a 15-4 run to increase the advantage back to double-digits, 57-46, midway through the third.
Boston took a 71-61 lead into the fourth.
"I like to come out in the 3rd quarter and be aggressive," Pierce said. "I focus on trying to get better as the game goes on."
The Celtics led by as many as 16 in the final stanza as the Pacers were unable to rally down the stretch.
Chris Wilcox had six points as Boston led 23-17 after the first quarter. The Pacers turned the ball over six times in the opening stanza.
Boston used a 10-0 run in between the first and second quarters to take a 27-17 advantage with 10:51 remaining in the half. Boston's bench provided the spark, going 4-for-4 from the field during the spurt.
West nailed a jumper at the first-half buzzer to cut Indiana's deficit to 42-34 heading into the locker room. Boston held Indiana to just 30 percent shooting from the floor in the opening half.
Game Notes
The Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak against the Pacers...Wilcox finished with 14 points and Kevin Garnett added 13 points and eight rebounds for Boston...Boston outrebounded Indiana 45-42.
<< Rockets soar past Wizards
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With leading scorer Kevin Martin out due to
plantar fasciitis in his right foot, the Rockets still didn't have a problem
handling the lowly Wizards on Friday night.
Chase Budinger returned from a three
<< Nets hold off Cavs
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deron Williams recorded a double-double with
27 points and 10 assists as the Nets held off the Cavaliers 99-96 at Quicken
Loans Arena.
Kris Humphries, who left Friday's shootaround with an illness, fought
<< Short-handed Mavericks down Jazz
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rodrigue Beaubois scored a season-high 22 points
to power the short-handed Mavericks to a 116-101 win over Utah.
Lamar Odom added a season-best 19 points and Jason Terry scored 18 off the
bench for Dallas,
<< Hawks edge Pistons in OT
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson scored 30 points, including a
game-tying three-pointer in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, to lead
the Atlanta Hawks to a 107-101 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Marvin W
Fernandez leads Nuggets over Raptors >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Fernandez poured in 23 points to lead four
teammates in double-figures as the Denver Nuggets topped the Toronto Raptors,
96-81 at Pepsi Center.
Danilo Gallinari dropped in 21 points and pulled down sev
Aldridge shines as Trail Blazers dominate Suns >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points, and
Portland dominated the middle two quarters in a 109-71 rout of the Phoenix
Suns.
Gerald Wallace tallied 17 points, Wesley Matthews 16 and Nicolas Batum 14 fo
Durant powers Thunder over Warriors >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant's double-double of a season-high
37 points and 14 rebounds powered the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 120-109
victory over the Golden State Warriors Friday night.
Russell Westbrook had a terr
Azarenka wins Australian Open women's title >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victoria Azarenka became a first-time
Grand Slam titlist Saturday with a convincing straight-set victory over Maria
Sharapova in the Australian Open women's final.
The third-seeded Azarenka downed Shar
It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.
We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.
Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.
Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.
Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.
NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.
The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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