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Magic hope to avoid 2-0 series hole vs. CelticsBasketball Betting Lines05/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you live by the sword, you die by the sword, or in the case of the Orlando Magic, if you live by the three, you die by the three. The long-range bombs were misfiring for Orlando in the opener of its Eastern Conference Finals series with Boston on Sunday and now the Magic find themselves squarely behind the eight-ball as the teams get set for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday night. Paul Pierce netted 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out five assists to lead the Celtics to a 92-88 wire-to-wire victory over Orlando in Game 1. Boston, which finished off its second-round upset of the top-seeded Cavaliers on Thursday, continued its solid play by forcing 18 turnovers and holding the Magic to 22.7 percent shooting from three-point range to hand Orlando its first loss this postseason. In fact, the Magic hadn't tasted defeat since falling in San Antonio in the regular season, well over a month ago (April 2). Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy certainly wasn't happy with his shooters but blamed the loss on his team's inability to protect the ball. "The biggest thing was turnovers," Van Gundy said. "We aren't giving ourselves a chance to win with 18 turnovers. We have to be able to convert better in the paint. I thought we got the ball into the paint, but we weren't very efficient. Nothing is going to be easy in this series." The Magic trailed by as many as 20 points before cutting the deficit to five in the final minute. Rashard Lewis, who finished 0-for-6 from three-point range, missed a three with the Magic trailing 88-83, but J.J. Redick controlled a long rebound, and Dwight Howard cleaned up a Jameer Nelson miss for a three-point game with 26.1 seconds on the clock. Pierce was fouled with 12.9 to go and hit both free throws to end a 5 1/2- minute scoreless drought for Boston. Vince Carter was hacked 3.5 ticks later going to the hoop and hit the first before missing the second from the stripe. Nelson came from the top of the key to put in an acrobatic tip shot, though Ray Allen pushed it back to two possessions with a 2-for-2 effort at the line with 6.1 seconds remaining. Lewis' missed three -- his sixth of the game -- gave the Celtics their fourth straight win and allowed Boston to steal home- court advantage. "I really felt like the two days off was just enough. We felt really good going into this game. Our rhythm was there," Pierce said. "We have to expect Orlando to be ready in Game 2. Hopefully we come in with the same type of rhythm." Allen ended with 25 points, while Kevin Garnett grabbed 11 rebounds to go with eight points for the Celtics, who received eight points and eight assists from Rajon Rondo. Rasheed Wallace was solid off the bench with 13 points and helped contain Howard on the defensive end. "I think defensively in the first half we were terrific," Boston head coach Doc Rivers said. "It was a defensive game. We like those. They're good for us." Howard, who missed a total of five shots in a second-round sweep of the Hawks, finished with 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting to go with 12 rebounds and five blocked shots but committed seven turnovers. Carter and Nelson chipped in 23 and 20 points, respectively, for Orlando, which had won 14 straight games dating back to the regular season, including sweeps over Charlotte and Atlanta in the playoffs. The latter was especially impressive, as the Magic recorded the largest victory margin in a four-game sweep in NBA playoff history, winning the series against the Hawks by a total of 101 points. "I don't think we moved the ball like we needed to get them off our bodies," Howard said. "That's what we have to do to beat this team." The Magic won three of four games vs. the Celtics in the regular season this year and has taken both previous playoff matchups between the two franchises, last year's Eastern Conference semifinals set and a first round win back in the 1994-95 season. The best-of-seven series continues on Saturday in Boston for Game 3.
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Betting FootballNFL Football Betting OnlineIs there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL? I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants. Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said. There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans. Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal. For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though. A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup. The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games. Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff. So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action. Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns. “I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said. Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season. “Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said. It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties. Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples. The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left. “The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits. “These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.” Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough. The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday. “Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.” Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach? “It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.” Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines. |
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