Westbrook's all-around effort carries Thunder over Warriors
Basketball Betting Lines
02/07/2010 -
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant had 29 points and eight rebounds
in Oklahoma City's 104-95 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Russell Westbrook had an incredible all-around performance with 21 points, 10
assists, a career-best eight steals and seven rebounds. Jeff Green scored 18
for the Thunder, who have won five in a row.
Corey Maggette scored 24 for the Warriors, who lost for the eighth straight
time. Stephen Curry tallied 23 points and Anthony Tolliver chipped in 11
points and equaled a career-high with 11 boards. Andris Biedrins had 18
rebounds in defeat.
Durant and Green combined for 22 points in the third quarter, a period in
which the Thunder went 14-of-23 from the field and outscored the Warriors,
36-23. Golden State had six turnovers in the stanza, leading to 11 Oklahoma
City points.
Ahead 52-50 at the half, the Thunder pulled away with the dominant third
quarter. Coby Karl's three-pointer had the Warriors within 58-57 with 7:56
left, but Oklahoma City then embarked on a 20-6 spurt, capped by a pair of
Green three-pointers.
It was 88-73 moving to the fourth and the Warriors never challenged down the
stretch.
Game Notes
Earlier Saturday, the Warriors signed Tolliver for the remainder of the season
on Saturday and waived guard Speedy Claxton...Monta Ellis had 15 points, but
also accounted for seven of Golden State's 23 turnovers. Those miscues led to
29 Oklahoma City points...The Thunder had a season-high 16 steals.
<< Freeney sits out Colts' final walkthrough
Fort Lauderdale, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight
Freeney sat out the team's final walkthrough Saturday but is still hopeful he
can play in Super Bowl XLIV against New Orleans.
Freeney has not practiced with the
<< Hill, Spurs continue recent dominance over Clippers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - George Hill scored 22 points on 8-of-11
shooting, and the San Antonio Spurs notched their 15th straight win over the
Clippers with a 98-81 win at Staples Center.
Tony Parker added 14 points and 14 ass
<< Kobe sits, but Lakers finally win in Portland
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Artest poured in 21 points and Lamar Odom
contributed 10 points and tied a career-best with 22 rebounds, as the Los
Angeles Lakers overcame the absence of Kobe Bryant to win in Portland for the
first time in
<< Anderson, Avs shut out Oilers for third time this season
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Craig Anderson needed to make only 20 stops to
record his sixth shutout of the season, and the Colorado Avalanche notched a
3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers at the Pepsi Center.
Out of Anderson's six shut
<< Illinois upends Lucas-less MSU
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Demetri McCamey posted 22 points and 11
assists, as Illinois held on to upend fifth-ranked Michigan State, 78-73, at
Assembly Hall.
Mike Davis added 16 points for the Illini (16-8, 8-3 Big Ten) and g
Herman bests Kirk in Moonah Classic playoff >>
Victoria, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Herman owned at least a share of
the lead after each of the first three rounds, but needed an extra hole Sunday
to walk off with the title at the Moonah Classic.
Herman birdied the first playof
Bhullar storms back for Asian International title >>
Bangkok, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gaganjeet Bhullar fired an eight-under 64
on Sunday to come from behind and win the Asian Tour International event on
the Asian Tour.
Bhullar finished the championship at 11-under 277 and won by a si
Jimenez outlasts Westwood for Dubai title >>
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Angel Jimenez didn't
play great golf in Sunday's playoff, but did enough to defeat Lee Westwood and
win the Dubai Desert Classic.
Jimenez netted three pars in the extra session and t
Oudin puts United States in Fed Cup semis >>
Lievin, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Americans advanced to the Fed Cup
semifinals after teenager Melanie Oudin defeated Julie Coin in Sunday's first
reverse singles match.
Oudin posted a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over Coin to give t
Lopez ends lengthy title drought >>
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Feliciano Lopez of Spain beat
France's Stephane Robert in Sunday's final at the SA Tennis Open.
Lopez, the third seed, defeated Robert 7-5, 6-1 in just over an hour to win
his second career
SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP
With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.
There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.
MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.
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