Surging Bucks shoot for season sweep of Pacers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Milwaukee Bucks continue their push to the postseason Sunday when they attempt to sweep Central Division rival Indiana for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The Bucks have already beaten the Pacers three times this season and a win this afternoon would give them a series sweep for the first time since the 1981-82 season, when they were 6-0 against Indiana.

Most recently Milwaukee continued an impressive homestand with a 95-87 win over the Utah Jazz on Friday. John Salmons scored 24 points and hit a pair of important free throws with less than 20 seconds to go in that one.

Salmons continued to provide a spark for Milwaukee, which is 11-1 with him in the lineup since his acquisition at the trade deadline. The Bucks improved to 3-0 on their four-game homestand, having beaten contenders Cleveland, Boston and Utah in succession on the stretch. The team has also won five straight overall.

Brandon Jennings added 23 points, and Andrew Bogut contributed with 16 points and 12 boards. Eryan Ilyasova provided 14 points in the impressive victory, as the Bucks exceeded last season's win total with their 35th win and moved a season-high six games over .500.

"Utah's not an easy team to beat. You have to bring your "A" game," Jennings said. "They got the lead, and it was kind of back-and-forth, and we got some good stops at the end of the game. We played three teams that are great playoff teams; to come in here and beat them, that's pretty big."

The Pacers, meanwhile, are just playing out the string and lost for the fifth time in six games on Friday when Paul Pierce scored 20 to lead a balanced attack, and the Boston Celtics got back to their winning ways with a 122-103 rout of Indiana.

Roy Hibbert was the leading scorer for the Pacers with 23. Troy Murphy added 17 points and 10 boards, while Danny Granger returned from a one-game suspension to score 16 in defeat.

"They have too many weapons for us," Pacers head coach Jim O'Brien said of the Celtics. "They played well. They shot the basketball well. We could never get our break gone because they shot over 60 percent of the first half. So, I think that was the difference in the game."

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

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