Mavs get back on track with win over hurting Bulls

Basketball Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caron Butler scored 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 26 as the Mavericks ran past Chicago, 113-106, sending the short-handed Bulls to their ninth consecutive defeat.

J.J. Barea registered 15 points for Dallas, which won for the 14th time in 15 games. Shawn Marion scored 12 and Rodrigue Beaubois tallied 11 for the Mavs, who bounced back from a shocking 34-point home loss to New York on Saturday. They moved into a tie with Denver for the second-best record in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks also saw the return of Jason Terry. The veteran guard, who had missed the last five games due to facial surgery, had nine points in nearly 25 minutes of court time.

"When you come back from two weeks and able to hit your first shot and get right into it offensively, that's great," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "Conditioning is going to be a bit of a factor here for a few games until he really back into 100 percent."

Acie Law scored a career-best 22 points for the Bulls, who haven't won since February 26 at home against Portland. This is the longest skid for Chicago since opening the 2004-05 campaign with an 0-9 record.

Chicago fell 2 1/2 games behind Toronto for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls played without their top three scorers as Derrick Rose (sprained left wrist), Luol Deng (strained calf) and Joakim Noah (left foot) all missed the game.

"We've got to tighten up some things defensively," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "That's how we won early in the season. We can't control the paint and we're not controlling penetration as well as we'd like. We just have to keep trying to find ways to improve in a lot of areas, and it makes it tough when half your team is new."

The Mavs got off to a blazing start, shooting 11-of-16 from the field in the first quarter. Butler scored nine in the period as the home team grabbed a 32-20 lead after 12 minutes.

Dallas continued to expand the lead in the second with Beaubois' driving layup moving the cushion to 57-33 with 3:06 left in the quarter. The largest lead was 25, at 60-35, following a Barea three-pointer at the two-minute mark.

The lead stood at 64-44 at the half and it never dipped under 15 in the third, with Law banging in a three-pointer for an 88-72 difference at the end of the period.

Chicago actually got within single digits, closing the gap to 100-93 on a Brad Miller three-point play with 5:34 remaining. Barea, though, stemmed the tide with a three-ball and he then added a layup and another three-pointer for a dominating 108-93 margin. Chicago got only as close as the final score.

"J.J. really stepped up big in the fourth quarter and saved us," Nowitzki said. "He made some big shots, two big threes, two pull-up jumpers behind the screens because they left him open and he really used the screen and knocked some shots down."

Game Notes

Dallas has won eight of 10 and 21 of the last 24 meetings...Chicago has lost five in a row at Dallas...Butler went 14-of-16 at the foul line...The Bulls went 0-4 on their road trip and will return to the Windy City to host Cleveland on Friday...The Mavs, who host Boston Saturday, are now 19-1 when shooting at least 50 percent. They ended at 52.6 percent in this game.

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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.

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