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03/08/2010 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony posted 30 points to lead Denver to a 118-106 victory over Portland in a Northwest Division battle.
J.R. Smith chipped in 22 points, and Chauncey Billups ended with 21, as the Nuggets shot 58.9 percent from the field to cap a 3-0 homestand.
Nene donated 14 points and seven rebounds for the victors.
Jerryd Bayless scored 24 points to lead the Trail Blazers, who received 19 points from Andre Miller and 16 from LaMarcus Aldridge. Portland had won five of six coming into the game.
Brandon Roy made just 3-of-14 from the floor for 12 points in defeat.
"Every time we would get it under 10, we would turn the ball over, miss some free throws or just something to allow them to get their momentum back," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said.
Bayless hit from behind the arc and converted a three-point play to pull the visitors within 90-83 two minutes into the fourth quarter, but Denver answered with the next eight points.
Johan Petro ended the flurry with two free throws for a 15-point margin, and the Nuggets coasted from there.
"To beat a team like [Portland] with basically having an 8-to-10 point lead most of the night is a great win for us," Nuggets head coach George Karl said.
Denver scored the final nine points of the first quarter to pump its lead to 34-21. A Billups layup capped an 11-2 run with a layup for a 61-41 cushion with less than two minutes in the opening half.
The halftime score was 66-49, and the Trail Blazers were still down 89-75 going into the final stanza.
Game Notes
Anthony has scored 30-plus points in his last three games...Portland's Marcus Camby sat out due to an ankle injury, while Denver was without Kenyon Martin (knee) for a second straight game...Arron Afflalo had 13 points, and Petro had 10 rebounds and six points for Denver...Rudy Fernandez tallied 14 points for the Blazers.
<< WTA renews partnership with Sony
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The WTA Tour and Sony Ericsson announced
a two-year extension of their existing partnership on Sunday.
The deal will now keep Sony as the lead global sponsor for the tour through to
the end of 2012.
"
<< Trail Blazers-Nuggets, Box
PORTLAND (106)Batum 2-7 0-0 4, Aldridge 6-14 4-5 16, Howard 4-6 0-2 8, Miller 7-15 5-6 19, Roy 3-14 5-6 12, Fernandez 5-9 0-0 14, Pendergraph 0-0 0-0 0, Bayless 6-10 9-11 24, Webster 1-6 1-2 4, Cunningham 1-1 3-4 5. Totals 35-82 27-36 106.DENVER
<< Durant, Thunder drop Kings
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant scored 27 points, grabbed eight
rebounds and dished out five assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder stayed hot
with a 108-102 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Russell Westbrook added 21 points a
<< Patriot League Tournament Recaps
Easton, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Mintz hit the go-ahead jumper with 35
seconds left and finished with 14 points, as Lafayette held on for a 66-63 win
over Holy Cross in the Patriot League semifinal.
Jim Mower had a team-high 17 poi
Minus Parker, Spurs ready for clash with Cavs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - News out of San Antonio wasn't good this weekend with the
recent hand injury to Tony Parker. The Spurs hope they can get by without one
of their leaders starting with tonight's showdown against LeBron James and the
Cleveland
Hawks aim to bounce back against reeling Knicks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks didn't open their current road trip the
way they had planned this past weekend, but seem to have a good shot at
bouncing back Monday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square
Garden.
Atlanta ha
Mavs visit T-Wolves, shoot for 12th straight win >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Dallas Mavericks will try to stretch their
season-high winning streak to 12 games when they close out a short road trip
tonight against the woeful Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center.
Dallas kept its lo
Grizzlies, Nets collide in Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies will attempt to put their current
home woes behind in this evening's clash with a New Jersey Nets squad that
enters FedEx Forum off a rare positive result.
Memphis has lost eight consecutive c
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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