 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Cavs host Raptors in possible playoff previewBasketball Betting Lines04/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A possible playoff preview is on tap tonight at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, where the top-seeded Cavaliers will play host to the playoff-hungry Toronto Raptors. Cleveland, owners of home-court advantage throughout the postseason, has solidified at least a share of the NBA's best record and will try for its 11th consecutive win as the host Tuesday night. The Cavs have the league's best home record at 34-4 and are 32-2 in their last 34 home games. The Cavaliers, however, are coming off their second loss in just 13 tries and suffered a 117-113 setback at Boston on Sunday afternoon. LeBron James led all scorers with 42 points, and also recorded nine assists and seven rebounds for Cleveland, which suffered its second straight road loss. "We got a couple more stops and made a couple more shots," James said of the Cavs' run to get back in the game. "We are a very good rebounding team and without Andy (Varejao) and Shaq, we were still able to go out and collect rebounds. It was a great performance by us." James leads the NBA with 29.9 ppg, while Antawn Jamison is averaging 16.8 points on .488 shooting and 9.7 rebounds in his last six games. Jamison dropped 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Celtics. The Raptors face a daunting task in Cleveland tonight, and had a three-game winning streak stopped the last time out in a 113-112 decision versus Golden State on Sunday. Chris Bosh finished with 42 points and 12 rebounds, falling one bucket short of tying his career high. He made 20-of-23 at the free-throw line for Toronto, which lost for the fourth time in seven tries. Jarrett Jack provided 19 points off the bench and Andrea Bargnani netted 18 for the Raptors, who are just a game ahead of Chicago for the eighth and final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. "The game taught us a valuable lesson," Jack said. "You're never out of it until it's over. It just shows if we would have picked up that intensity 45 seconds early, a minute earlier, it wouldn't have came down to us trying to make a heroic shot at the buzzer." Toronto is two games behind Charlotte for the No. 7 spot and 14-24 away from Air Canada Centre this season. Its magic number to clinch the eighth seed in the East stands at five with six games to play. A loss tonight by the Raptors would clinch a playoff spot for Miami. Cleveland has won two of three meetings with the Raptors this season, and 15 of the previous 18 overall matchups between the teams. Toronto is winless in its last 10 trips to the Forest City. The last time the Raptors won a game in Cleveland was April 6, 2004.
<< Celtics jockey for playoff position vs. Knicks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics are still fighting for playoff positioning and will face a familiar foe tonight in the Atlantic Division- rival New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Boston sits fourth in the Eastern Conference, jus
<< Nellie stands on the precipice of history as Warriors visit Wizards
<< Pistons, Sixers clash in Philly
<< Hawks try and cure road woes in Charlotte
<< Purnell leaves Clemson for DePaul
Spurs, Kings go at it in Sacramento >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a playoff berth already secured, the San Antonio Spurs get back to work tonight in California's capital against the lottery-bound Sacramento Kings. Manu Ginobili scored 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter
Bucks eye playoff spot in visit to Bulls >>
Thunder shoot for series sweep of Jazz >>
Zito hopes for a new beginning against Houston >>
Jackson makes D-Backs debut versus Padres >>
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana Should be in: Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it? Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel. Work left to do: Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third. Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim. Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either. Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
|
|
