Clippers host Nuggets at Staples Center
Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers aim to halt a two-game skid and head into the NBA's All-Star break atop the Pacific Division when they host the Denver Nuggets tonight.
The Clips lead their Staples Center co-tenants, the Lakers, by just one game in the division after dropping their second in a row at Golden State on Monday, 104-97.
Monta Ellis scored 32 points in that one as the Warriors finished with the final nine points in the game to steal the win.
Chris Paul scored 24 points for the Clippers, but none in the fourth quarter. He missed a jumper early in Golden State's run and had another shot from the foul line blocked by Dominic McGuire. Blake Griffin finished with 21 points and nine boards.
"We have to put teams away...play with a sense of urgency," Griffin said. "We can't coast the whole game and expect to win at the end."
The Clippers, who were coming off an overtime loss to the Spurs on Saturday, dropped back-to-back games for the first time since Dec.28 and 30 -- their second and third games of the season.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, won for just the third time in 13 games on Monday when Arron Afflalo drained the go-ahead shot with 33.7 seconds remaining in overtime as Denver outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-101, at Pepsi Center.
Afflalo had 20 points overall and Al Harrington paced all scorers with a season-high 31 off the bench. Rookie Kenneth Faried contributed a double- double with 10 points to go with 14 rebounds for the short-handed Nuggets, who snapped a three-game skid.
"We were able to find a way to get it done. I'm just proud of everybody," Harrington said.
Denver, of course, has been without leading scorer Danilo Gallinari (left ankle) since Feb. 8 and big man Nene (left calf strain) since Feb. 14. Meanwhile, swingman Rudy Fernandez missed his second straight game against the Wolves with a lower back strain and starting point guard Ty Lawson left in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle. Both Lawson and Fernandez are listed as day-to-day.
The Nuggets snapped a three-game skid against the Clippers with a 112-91 win in Staples Center back on Feb. 2.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Lakers will attempt to put some off-the-court turmoil behind them tonight when they visit the impetus for much of the acrimony, the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs dethroned the Lakers last season, sweeping them out of
<< Jazz, Wolves square off at Target Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Northwest Division rivals meet at Target Center
tonight when the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves both try to get back to
the .500 mark on the season and stay out of the cellar in the division.
Oklahoma C
<< Pacers pay a visit to Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers try to make it four straight wins this
evening when they visit the hapless Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable
Arena.
The Pacers continued their recent winning ways on Tuesday, as Roy Hibbe
<< Kings take losing ways to Washington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings try to put the brakes on a six-game
slide this evening when they visit the Washington Wizards in the final game
before the All-Star break for both teams.
Sacramento's losing ways continued on Wed
<< Blue Jays sign VandenHurk
Dunedin, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays signed right-hander Rick
VandenHurk to a split major league contract on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old VandenHurk spent the past one-plus seasons with the Baltimore
Orioles.
He played t
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder shoot for a fourth straight win this evening when they welcome the Boston Celtics to Chesapeake Energy Arena. After combining for 91 points on Sunday, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook totaled 62
Caps hope to get season on track vs. streaking Sens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With just one victory in their last six games, the
Washington Capitals are desperate to get their postseason push back on track.
The Caps hope they can bounce back tonight at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, where
they'll try to
Cavs resume lengthy homestand vs. Hornets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will resume a team-record nine-game
homestand tonight versus the New Orleans Hornets at Quicken Loans Arena.
Cleveland is 4-3 on the residency and is coming off last night's 101-100 win
over the Cen
Lin, Knicks aim to bounce back vs. Hawks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sudden New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin was brought back to
reality when New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams took him to school in
a recent contest at Madison Square Garden.
Arguably one of the fanciest point guards
Blues try to extend home streak vs. struggling Bruins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After closing out 2011 as the hottest team in the league,
the new calendar year hasn't been as kind to the Bruins.
The Blues have yet to drop a regulation game at home in 2012.
St. Louis puts its franchise record 21-game
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.