Griffin, Clippers roll past Wizards
Basketball Betting Lines
02/04/2012 -
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was another highlight-reel night for
Blake Griffin, and the Los Angeles Clippers rolled to a 107-81 victory over
the Washington Wizards.
Griffin, who registered 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, wooed the
crowd by throwing down some more monster dunks Saturday at Verizon Center.
DeAndre Jordan added 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Clippers,
who won for the fifth time in six games. They've also won six in a row against
the Wizards.
The Clippers, who never trailed, overcame an off night from Chris Paul, who
along with Griffin was named starters on the Western Conference All-Star
squad. Paul was 1-for-9 from the field and had two points, but did have seven
assists.
It was a successful start to a mammoth 11-day, six-game road trip for the
Clippers that will see them travel a total of 6,929.5 miles before they land
in Los Angeles. The team has upcoming road games against Orlando, Cleveland,
Philadelphia, Charlotte and Dallas.
John Wall and Nick Young each scored 14, but the Wizards lost for a fourth
straight time and fell to 4-20 on the season. Jordan Crawford scored 12 in a
reserve role for Washington, which shot 37.5 percent from the field.
Griffin was active right from the start, as he netted 12 points in the opening
quarter, helping the visitors to a 28-17 lead after 12 minutes. Included in
that was an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Mo Williams. Griffin had four dunks
in the first quarter.
The Clippers shot 65 percent in the second quarter and widened their cushion
to 58-34 at the half. LA netted the final nine points of the period, capped by
a three-pointer from Caron Butler.
Another Butler three gave the Clippers their largest lead of the night at
74-38 midway through the third. Later in the stanza, Williams delivered a no-
look lob to Griffin, who threw down a thunderous two-handed alley-oop jam.
Holding an 87-53 moving to the fourth, the Clippers cruised to their fourth
road win in eight tries this season.
Game Notes
These two teams will meet again on February 15 at Staples Center...Los Angeles
held a 53-32 rebounding advantage...Williams had 17 points and eight assists,
while Butler scored 14 and Chauncey Billups 12 on 4-of-4 from long range...The
Clippers committed 23 turnovers, leading to 24 Washington points.
<< St. Louis leads Tampa over Florida
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin St. Louis recorded his fifth career hat
trick in his 900th NHL game, as the Tampa Bay Lightning dominated the Florida
Panthers, 6-3.
Vincent Lecavalier added a goal and three assists for the Lightning,
<< Murray State remains perfect in win over Skyhawks
Martin, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Latreze Mushatt had 11 points and nine rebounds,
as 10th-ranked Murray State remained perfect with a hard-fought 65-58 win over
Tennessee-Martin.
Jewuan Long and Isaiah Canaan also scored 11 points for the Racer
<< Magic take down Pacers in feisty affair
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard scored 27 points and the
Orlando Magic pushed their win streak to three games Saturday with an 85-81
victory over the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers never led after 7-6, but they had s
<< Skinner's goal lifts Carolina over Kings
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Skinner scored a tiebreaking goal early in
the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes edged the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1,
on Saturday.
Skinner battled down low and banged home the rebound of a Jussi Joki
<< Vucevic leads balanced attack as Sixers drop Hawks
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a career-high 15 points, Nikola Vucevic
was one of six 76ers to score in double figures as Philadelphia took down the
Atlanta Hawks, 98-87.
Spencer Hawes returned from a 10-game absence and netted
Reimer's 49 stops carries Leafs to shutout win over Sens >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Reimer stopped 49 shots for his third
shutout of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs took a 5-0 win over the
Ottawa Senators.
Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel each posted a goal and two assists f
Sabres rally to beat Isles in shootout >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Boyes netted the game-winning goal in
the first round of the shootout to cap a comeback as the Buffalo Sabres
rallied to top the New York Islanders, 4-3, at Nassau Coliseum.
Boyes picked up t
Wolves reach .500 in win over Rockets >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Love had 25 points and 18 rebounds
Saturday and the Minnesota Timberwolves reached .500 for the first time this
season with a 100-91 win over the Houston Rockets.
Luke Ridnour added 22 points w
Korpikoski, Coyotes top Sharks >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lauri Korpikoski netted a pair of goals,
including the game-winner in the third period as the Phoenix Coyotes skated
past the San Jose Sharks, 5-3, on Saturday.
Radim Vrbata finished with a goal and
Monroe helps Pistons beat skidding Hornets >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Monroe led the way with 24 points and
16 rebounds as the Pistons defeated the Hornets, 89-87, at the Palace of
Auburn Hills on Saturday.
Detroit had five scorers in double figures including
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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