Bobcats continue push towards postseason, host Clippers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats aim to maintain their recent winning ways and further solidify their postseason hopes in tonight's clash with a Los Angeles Clippers team that'll be seeking to end a five-game slide when it pays a visit to Time Warner Cable Arena.

Charlotte has never reached the playoffs or had a winning season since entering the NBA in 2004-05, but a current stretch of four straight victories has put the club at 32-31 and into a tie with Toronto and Miami for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Three of those wins have come at home, where the Bobcats have amassed an excellent 23-8 record this season.

The team's latest win occurred on the road, however, a 102-87 triumph over sagging Philadelphia on Wednesday. Charlotte built a comfortable 62-44 lead at intermission and was up by as much as 29 points in the second half.

"I didn't love our finish, but [the 76ers] had a lot to do with it," head coach Larry Brown told the Bobcats' official site afterward. "But all-in-all, on a back-to-back [set of games] and how we've struggled on the road, this was a big win for us."

Gerald Wallace led six Charlotte scorers in double figures with 28 points on 9-of-10 shooting, with Stephen Jackson amassing 24 points and 10 rebounds on the evening.

The Bobcats will be trying to win five in a row for the first time since a six-game tear from January 9-20. They've taken four of their last five meetings with the Clippers, although Los Angeles' only victory during that span was a 98-94 decision at the Staples Center on February 22.

The Clippers have gone just 2-7 since that game, however, and had their present skid extended with Wednesday's 108-97 defeat at Miami. The loss kept Los Angeles winless on a five-game road trip that concludes Saturday in San Antonio.

Rasual Butler poured in 31 points for the Clippers and knocked down back-to- back three-pointers that brought his team within 75-70 midway through the third quarter. However, the Heat countered with a 15-2 run to extend the margin back to double digits, and Los Angeles never got closer than nine points down the rest of the way.

"[The Heat] came out and shot the ball really well," Clippers head coach Kim Hughes said. "We missed a ton of layups and struggled with easy looks."

Los Angeles, now 7-26 on the road this season and losers of eight straight as the visitor, received 16 points from Chris Kaman and 12 out of Steve Blake in Wednesday's setback. The Clippers haven't prevailed in an enemy arena since a 90-82 win over Chicago on February 2.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.