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03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Eastern Conference heavyweights clash Sunday afternoon as LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers play host to the Boston Celtics.
James returned to the Cavaliers lineup Friday in Philadelphia after missing a pair of games with a balky right ankle and scored 23 points as Cleveland pulled out a tough 100-95 decision over the 76ers.
"The King" also handed out 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who went 1-1 in his absence.
Mo Williams chipped in 21 and Delonte West scored 17 points, while fellow reserve Anderson Varejao had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs, who have won eight of their last nine games.
"We executed defensively the right way," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown. "LeBron did a nice job trying to attack to get to the free throw line down the stretch. More importantly, defensively, we got stops at the right time."
Forward Antawn Jamison missed the game against the Sixers due to a cyst behind his left knee but hopes to return to the lineup this afternoon.
The Celtics, meanwhile, are coming off a blowout win over Indiana. Paul Pierce scored 20 to lead a balanced attack in that one, as Boston got back to its winning ways with a 122-103 rout of the lowly Pacers in Beantown.
Rajon Rondo added 16 points and 11 assists for the Celtics, who had lost two straight overall, in addition to eight of their last 15 games at home. Boston, which went 35-6 at TD Garden in each of the past two seasons, improved to just 19-12 as the host in 2009-10.
"(We) were stung the other night (in a 20-point loss to Memphis), but also I warned them going into tonight: just because you want to fix it if things don't start out right, you can't hang your head or panic about it," said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. "The difference (Friday) was we hung in there and we got some stops. And then we got on a run."
Nate Robinson and Glen Davis each came off the bench to score 15, and Ray Allen poured in 13 points in the win. Kendrick Perkins provided 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Cavs had won 11 straight at home against Boston - including the playoffs -- before dropping a 95-89 decision on Oct. 27. Cleveland then responded to even the season series with a 108-88 blowout win in Beantown on Feb. 25.
Overall, the Cavs are tops in the Eastern Conference while Boston has fallen to fourth and has been playing .500 ball (18-18) since Christmas.
<< Wolves, Kings clash in Sacramento
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams headed for the NBA Draft Lottery tangle in
Sacramento tonight as the Kings play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Sacramento lost for the fourth time in five outings on Friday when Brandon Roy
poured in 28 poin
<< Suns resume homestand vs. fading Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns hope to get back on the winning track
Sunday when they resume a season-long seven-game homestand against the
fading New Orleans Hornets at US Airways Center.
The Suns fell to 1-2 on their residency Friday
<< Surging Flames visit Canucks, GM Place
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flames are getting hot at just the right time. Calgary
will try to match its longest winning streak of the season tonight when it
visits GM Place to take on the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flames have won four straight as t
<< Jazz visit Thunder in key Western Conference matchup
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the Western Conference's top teams jockey for
playoff position in Oklahoma City Sunday as Kevin Durant and the Thunder
welcome the Utah Jazz to town.
The Jazz are currently the fourth seed in the jumbled West, 1 1/2
Indians closer Kerry Wood not worried >>
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) -Kerry Wood says he's not worried about missing any more time with the Cleveland Indians because of a sore back.The veteran closer says missing an outing Saturday was just precautionary. He said the soreness would not have kept
Ford out of Pacers' lineup 7 to 10 days >>
MILWAUKEE (AP) -Pacers point guard T.J. Ford is expected to miss seven to 10 days with a sore left groin.Coach Jim O'Brien made the announcement before Indiana played the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.Ford was injured early in the first quarter of a los
Capitals star Ovechkin gets game misconduct >>
CHICAGO (AP) -NHL scoring leader Alex Ovechkin is out of the Capitals' game against the Blackhawks after receiving a five-minute major and a game misconduct in the first period for driving Chicago's Brian Campbell into the boards from behind.Ovechki
Reid to work out at LSU Monday >>
HOUSTON (AP) -Bobby Reid hasn't played football since a 2008 injury, but the former Oklahoma State quarterback might get another chance at reviving his once-promising career.Reid, who became known more for Mike Gundy's now infamous ``I'm a man. I'm
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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