Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
02/16/2012 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin had 23 points and 15 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Washington Wizards for the seventh time in a row, 102-84, on Wednesday night.
Caron Butler added 21 points and Chris Paul scored 16 with nine assists in the win, including an alley-oop pass to DeAndre Jordan for a one-handed dunk that punctuated LA's ninth victory in 12 games overall.
John Wall had 18 points and 12 assists to lead Washington while JaVale McGee also scored 18, but the Wizards had a two-game winning streak snapped -- their first of the season.
Washington was trying to win three in a row for the first time since April 1-5 last season, but shot under 40 percent and trailed by as many as 20 points.
It was a lot closer early on, and LA needed to pull away in the fourth quarter for the win.
The Clippers clung to a 23-20 lead after the first quarter and a 50-47 edge at halftime despite playing a Wizards team in the midst of a five-game road trip.
"We didn't play well at the start and they did," said Paul. "We need to come out with more energy and that starts with me."
Griffin had two dunks to spark and 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter, including an alley-oop from Paul. The burst snapped a tie and gave LA a 74-66 lead going into the fourth.
The Wizards scored six of the first seven points in the final quarter, capped by a Wall jumper that drew them within three.
"Then, we couldn't hit a shot," said Wizards coach Randy Wittman. "This wasn't an 18-point game, we just ran out of gas."
Clippers guard Randy Foye scored all 10 of his points during a 13-4 run that put the game away, including a pair of three-pointers. It gave LA an 88-76 lead with under seven minutes remaining and it was never closer than nine the rest of the way.
"We knew they won two in a row and it was going to be a tough game," said Foye. "We had to come out and play as hard as we could."
Game Notes
The Wizards fell to 3-11 on the road this season...LA was coming off a 4-2 road trip and plays at Portland on Thursday night...The Clippers shot 42.2 percent and Washington shot 39.5 percent.
<< Blazers steal one from Warriors
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford made the game-winning free
throws in the final minute, as the Trail Blazers survived a seesaw battle with
the Warriors, 93-91, at Oracle Arena.
Gerald Wallace chipped in 24 points, Nico
<< Luongo strong as Canucks top Avs
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roberto Luongo made 29 saves to lift the
Vancouver Canucks to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
David Booth, Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen all scored for the Canucks,
who have w
<< Connolly lifts Leafs to OT win over Oilers
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Connolly scored the game-winning goal just
1:39 into the overtime period, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win
over the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.
Joffrey Lupul collected the disc in the
<< Loyola Marymount hands Saint Mary's rare home defeat
Moraga, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Viney dropped in a team-high 17 points
while Anthony Ireland added 16 with seven assists as Loyola Marymount
handed No. 21 Saint Mary's its first home loss in almost a year with a 75-60
decisio
Miyazato tops crowded leaderboard in Thailand >>
Chonburi, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ai Miyazato posted a five-under 67 on
Thursday to grab a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Honda LPGA
Thailand.
Miyazato, the 2010 winner, won last year at the Evian Masters. She has seven
Canizares, Whiteford share lead in India >>
New Delhi, India (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alejandro Canizares and Peter Whiteford
posted matching rounds of six-under 66 Thursday to share the lead after the
first round of the Avantha Masters.
Canizares' lone tour win was at the 2006 Russian Open
Jackson State to open season at Mississippi State >>
Jackson, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jackson State will kick off its 2012 football
season against Mississippi State - the Tigers' first game against a FBS
opponent in three years.
The Tigers will travel to Starksville on Sept. 1. They opened their
Top-25 foes square off in Big Ten brawl >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers will try
to keep up their winning ways and be the first team to steal a road victory at
the Breslin Center this season as they head to East Lansing for a Big Ten
Conference b
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting