Hawks and Celtics collide in Beantown
Basketball Betting Lines
01/11/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in four days the Atlanta Hawks and
Boston Celtics will get together, as the two teams renew their rivalry Monday
from TD Garden.
Atlanta won its second straight game with a 93-85 decision over the Celtics on
Friday from Philips Arena, then lost at Orlando the following night. Al
Horford ended with 14 points in the 113-81 decision, while Josh Smith and
Marvin Williams each scored 11 points for the Hawks, who lost for the fifth
time in seven contests.
"Maybe it's matchup problems," Smith said. "I don't know what it is. They just
have the right schemes."
Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jamal Crawford ended with 10 points. The Hawks
have lost three in a row on the road and are 9-9 as the guest this season, and
sit 1 1/2 games behind Orlando for the top spot in the Southeast Division.
The Atlantic Division-leading Celtics have won three of four games since
entering the new year on a three-game losing streak. They rebounded from the
loss to Atlanta by handing the Toronto Raptors a 114-107 setback on Sunday in
the finale of a three-game trek at Air Canada Centre.
Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 22 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds,
and Rasheed Wallace registered a season-best 29 points for the Celtics, who
beat Toronto for a seventh consecutive time. Paul Pierce, Kendrick Perkins and
Ray Allen all netted 16 points in a winning effort.
"He was phenomenal," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Wallace. "The big shots
he made, the post plays he made. I thought he was great defensively."
Boston has won three in a row at home and is 11-4 at TD Garden this season.
The Hawks are 2-0 against the Celtics this season after losing all four
matchups a year ago. Boston is 11-4 over the previous 15 home matchups in this
series.
<< Bucks try to end lengthy slide in Phoenix
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks resume a season-high six-game western
road trip tonight aiming for their first win in the desert against the Phoenix
Suns in nearly 23 years.
Milwaukee has dropped 21 straight in the Valley of the
<< Heat continue swing in Utah
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat resume a six-game western road trip in Salt
Lake City Monday when they take on the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.
The Heat fell to 1-1 on their trip yesterday in Los Angeles when Chris Kaman
recorded
<< Nuggets hope 'Melo returns vs. Wolves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets hope the return of star forward Carmelo
Anthony fuels a bit of a run as they kick off a three-game homestand against
the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves tonight.
Anthony, who has missed the past five
<< Knicks, Thunder collide at Ford Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly competitive New York Knicks resume a quick
two-game road trip in Oklahoma City against the much-improved Thunder.
The Knicks dropped the opener of their trek in Houston on Saturday but have
been playing
<< LeBron leads Cavs into Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers resume a five-game road trip in
Oakland Monday against a Golden State Warriors team in the midst of their
longest homestand of the year.
The Cavs dropped the opener of their trek in Denv
Confederation rejects Togo's appeal >>
Luanda, Angola (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Togo's request to return to the Africa Cup
of Nations has reportedly been turned down by the Confederation of African
Football.
The squad left Angola and returned home on Sunday for three days of nat
Dallas acquires Najera from New Jersey >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets dealt veteran
forward Eduardo Najera to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday in exchange for
forwards Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams.
To make room on their roster, the N
Van Heerden allowed to leave Blackburn >>
Blackburn, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has
allowed Elrio Van Heerden to leave Ewood Park and sign for Turkish club
Sivasspor on a free transfer.
The 26-year-old South African has spent just six mon
Bruce denies Kirkland interest >>
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has
rubbished reports that he is poised to launch an $8 million raid on former
club Wigan to sign goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.
Bruce coached the England internat
Mutti takes charge at Atalanta >>
Bergamo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atalanta have turned to Bortolo Mutti as
their new coach following the resignation of Antonio Conte.
Conte stepped down last week with the ailing club second from the bottom in
the Serie A table.
M
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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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