Magic stay hot, cool Spurs

Basketball Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter recorded 24 points and eight assists, leading the Orlando Magic in a 110-84 rout of the San Antonio Spurs in a matchup between the NBA's two hottest teams.

Both teams came in having won eight of nine, but it was the Magic who never trailed in a game they dominated from start to finish. Rashard Lewis added 20 points, while Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick each poured in 10.

Dwight Howard contributed with nine points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which has won three straight over San Antonio for the first time in franchise history.

The Magic also came into the game having clinched their fourth playoff berth in as many years after the Charlotte Bobcats lost on Tuesday.

"We can't be satisfied just getting to the playoffs at this point, with what we went through last year," Nelson said. "To have a taste of the championship, you want to win it. It's what we're playing for. We're not one of those teams that are happy all year and let's celebrate just because we made the playoffs. We're one of the teams that wants to win it, to have a legit chance."

Richard Jefferson scored 20 points to lead the Spurs, who could not record their third five-game win streak of the season Manu Ginobili added 18 points in the defeat.

Tim Duncan went a miserable 1-for-10 from the field for only a season-low five points.

"It was a tough game," Ginobili said. "We were coming from Miami on a back-to- back against a great team. They started making a lot of shots. We kind of gave up in the third quarter after a good run at the end of the second, but we just couldn't hold it."

Orlando jumped out to a 29-24 lead after the first quarter, then grabbed a 43-26 advantage behind a 14-0 burst early in the second.

Brandon Bass and Redick each had four points during the stretch, and Redick drilled a pair of free throws to cap the stretch with five minutes left.

A Matt Barnes layup quickly increased the lead to 20 at 48-28, but the Spurs finished the half on a 14-4 run to close to within 10, 52-42, at halftime.

The Magic did not relinquish their lead in the third, pushing the margin back to 15, 65-50, on a Barnes shot midway through the period.

A 9-0 burst later had the hosts ahead by a score of 74-52 after a pair of Nelson free throws with 3 1/2 minutes left, and it was 80-58 heading to the fourth.

Orlando maintained their enormous advantage down the stretch.

Game Notes

The Spurs had held seven of their last eight opponents to fewer than 93 points...San Antonio fell to 4-2 since guard Tony Parker broke his finger...The Spurs are a half-game ahead of idle Portland for the seventh spot in the West...Orlando is 28-7 at home, and San Antonio is 16-16 on the road...Barnes returned from a one-game absence (toe) to score eight points.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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