Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For three quarters last night it appeared the Orlando Magic had erased all the memories of their worst shooting performance in franchise history in a rematch with the Boston Celtics.
But a lousy final period sent the Magic back into the loss column, where they have been three times in the last five games. Orlando hopes its recent trend of alternating wins and losses goes back into its favor Friday in the Big Easy against the New Orleans Hornets.
The Magic set new franchise lows for fewest points scored in a game, in a half and lowest field goal percentage in a game in an 87-56 loss at Boston on Monday. Orlando shot a franchise-low 24.6 percent from the floor, going just 16-of-65, and committed a season-high 25 turnovers. It then rebounded the following evening with a 102-83 win at Indiana.
Boston was on the docket again Thursday in central Florida and the Magic suffered a 91-83 setback. They did a little better shooting with a 38-percent clip but were done in by a 27-8 margin in the fourth stanza. Dwight Howard had 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Ryan Anderson and Jameer Nelson scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Orlando, which has alternated wins and losses over its last six games.
"We got frustrated with the physical play ... and got totally out of our game," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said after his team blew a 21-point halftime lead.
Howard notched his 14th double-double of the season in defeat. The Magic are 6-3 on the road this season and one game off the lead in the Southeast Division.
New Orleans is mired in a season-high nine-game losing streak and has dropped 15 of 16 games since opening the compressed 2011-12 season with two straight wins. It is trying to avoid losing 10 in a row for the first time since Dec. 17, 2004-Jan. 7, 2005.
The Hornets will play two straight and three of their next four games at home, where they have dropped nine in a row and are 1-9 on the season. In a 101-91 loss at Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Jarrett Jack ended with 20 points and five assists for the Hornets, who are last in the Southwest Division.
"The first half they scored 60 points and the second half they scored 41. We just had the tale of two halves -- the turnovers just hurt us in the second half," said Hornets coach Monty Williams. "They take advantage of it when you turn it over and they run right down your chest."
Gustavo Ayon had 16 points and Carl Landry added 15 points for New Orleans, which shot 46.7 percent for the game.
New Orleans swept a home-and-home set with the Magic a season ago and has won three straight and four of the last five meetings. Orlando is winless in its last three games as the visitor in this series and is 31-36 all-time against the Hornets.
<< Hawks resume road trip in Detroit
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to bounce back from a miserable
showing their last time out tonight when they continue a five-game road trip
against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace in Auburn Hills.
Atlanta seemed lost at times on
<< Villanova promotes Crocker to defensive coordinator
Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villanova head football coach Andy Talley
announced Friday the promotion of Billy Crocker from linebackers coach to
defensive coordinator.
Talley also announced the hiring of Roc Bellantoni as defensive line
<< Tiger two behind Olesen in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods posted a three-
under 69 Friday to move within two strokes of the lead after two rounds of the
Abu Dhabi Championship.
Woods, who is playing this event for the first time, had f
<< Djokovic rallies past Murray to reach Aussie Open final
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic will play for a second
straight Australian Open title after rallying for a thrilling five-set
semifinal win over Andy Murray in a rematch of last year's final.
Djokovic blitzed Murray in
Thunder, Warriors collide in Oakland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Western Conference-leading Thunder will kick off a
three-game road trip tonight when they visit Oakland to take on the Golden
State Warriors.
The Thunder (15-3) won their third straight game and for the 11th
Blazers welcome Suns to Rip City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blazers haven't been much of a threat away from Rip
City this season but things have been far different when they are hitting the
hardwood in the Pacific Northwest.
Portland will shoot for its sixth straight win a
Nuggets aim to stay hot vs. Raptors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Denver Nuggets aim for a sixth straight win
tonight when they host a Toronto team that expects to be without leading
scorer Andrea Bargnani.
The Nuggets are fresh off a brilliant 5-0 road trip tha
Mavs hope to rebound with Jazz in town >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celebrations don't seem to be agreeing with the Dallas
Mavericks and the reigning NBA champs are probably glad they can put the
ceremonies in the rearview mirror as they get ready to host the Utah Jazz.
The Mav
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting