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Cavs, Celtics set shifts to Boston for pivotal Game 3Basketball Betting Lines05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The scene shifts to Beantown tonight as the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics get ready for the pivotal Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The Celtics wrestled away homecourt advantage in the set on Monday when Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 19 assists, and Boston outscored Cleveland by 19 during a big third quarter to earn a 104-86 victory over the Cavaliers and even the series. Rondo equaled a franchise-record for assists in a playoff game, set by the legendary Bob Cousy on two occasions. "I was just trying to take advantage of the opportunities in front of me," Rondo said. "In transition, that's where I think I have my advantage, getting rebounds and getting stops. I'm able to use my speed and able to use my ability to get to the hole and create mismatches in the lane." Ray Allen scored 10 of his team-high 22 points in the third quarter in Game 2 for the Celtics, who bounced back from a 101-93 loss in the opener. Kevin Garnett added 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Rasheed Wallace went 7-of-8 from the field for 17 points off the bench. Paul Pierce scored 14 in the win. "The third quarter in Game 1 we were passive," Garnett said after the win. "Tonight we were very aggressive on both ends. We rebounded collectively. There were a lot of positive things tonight." LeBron James, fighting through an injured right elbow, was presented his second straight MVP trophy by commissioner David Stern in a ceremony prior to the game and ended with 24 points, 12 of them coming in the last quarter. "I'll never use the injury as an excuse," James said. "If I'm on the court I'll try to be as productive as possible. I feel like I was okay, but as a team all of us were just okay, that's why we lost." Antawn Jamison had 16 points for the Cavaliers, who fell behind by 25 points before scoring 15 in a row in the fourth quarter. They never got within single digits in the final period and dropped only their second playoff home game in the last 15 tries. The Cleveland backcourt starting tandem of Anthony Parker and Mo Williams combined for just 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting. "We did not play with a sense of urgency," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "We tried the last few minutes of the game. They kicked our behind from the beginning. We did not fight back until late. We have to decide we're going to take the fight to them and take these games. Nothing's going to be given to us." Last week, an initial examination revealed that James has a strained elbow and bone bruise, an injury that has been bothering him for several weeks. The superstar was originally scheduled to undergo another MRI on Thursday but doctors felt it wasn't necessary and James will be ready to go tonight. "It's been good for us," James said of the rest between Games 2 and 3. "It's been good for me, and it's been good for both teams. We all know this is going to be one of the most physical series that this league has to offer." For the Celtics, Garnett sat out practice on Thursday to rest a strained right foot suffered when teammate Kendrick Perkins landed on him with about three minutes left in Monday's game. "I just banged my foot," Garnett said. "I'm definitely ready to go." Off the floor, Boston general manager Danny Ainge was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Thursday for tossing a towel in an attempt to distract Cavaliers forward J.J. Hickson as he attempted a free throw in the third quarter of Game 2. Ainge flipped a white towel over his head as Hickson was lining up for his second free throw, which he made. NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said the fine was issued for "creating an unauthorized distraction and for conduct detrimental to the game". Ainge said on Wednesday that he regretted his behavior and called it "unprofessional." The Cavs and Celtics split four games in the regular season while both clubs finished off their opening round opponents this year in just five games, as Cleveland dispensed of Central Division rival Chicago, and the Celtics sent the Miami Heat back to South Beach. The teams have met four times in the postseason dating back to the 1975-76 season when Boston won the Eastern Conference finals over the Cavs in six games. The C's also won a first round series over Cleveland in 1984-85, and in the East semis in 2007-08. The Cavs only win in the postseason over Boston came in the East semifinals during the 1991-92 season, also a seven-game set. The best-of-seven series continues in Boston for Game 4 on Sunday.
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Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's women's final at the $220,000 Estoril Open will feature a pair of non-seeds -- Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja and Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. The 81st-ranked Parra Santonja
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Suns shoot for commanding 3-0 series lead in San Antonio >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns shoot for a commanding 3-0 series lead tonight when they resume their Western Conference semifinals set with the Spurs in San Antonio. The Suns held serve on their home court, winning Games 1 and 2 of the
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALKNFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing). Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion. Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site). Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com. Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season. The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation. What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill. Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies. But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply. In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton. |
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