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Grizzlies host Wolves at FedEx ForumBasketball Betting Lines01/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies shoot for a franchise-record tying seventh straight home win Friday when they host the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves at FedEx Forum. The Grizzlies needed a little help from the fire marshall Tuesday to keep their streak intact. Marc Gasol scored 24 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, and Memphis used a fire alarm evacuation to spark the team to a 104-102 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. With 47.8 seconds left in the third quarter and the Grizzlies trailing, 89-77, a broken water pipe triggered the fire alarm, forcing everybody to evacuate the building. After a 36 minute delay, the teams returned to the court, and Memphis outscored the Clippers, 27-13, for the rest of the game to come back and take the win. "During the third quarter of tonight's Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers game there was water line break in the fire sprinkler system at FedExForum in a non-public area that triggered our alarm system," said Greg Campbell, Grizzlies president of business operations. "Everyone, including players, coaches, staff and fans were immediately evacuated safely per FedExForum Public Safety Policy. At approximately 9:53 p.m. (et) everyone was instructed to evacuate FedExForum, and by 10:10 p.m. (et) all parties were allowed to re-enter the building." Rudy Gay added 24 points for Memphis, which has won nine of 12 and shot 11- of-23 following the delay. Zach Randolph contributed 20 points and eight rebounds, O.J. Mayo had 15 points and Mike Conley 13 in the victory. "They came out hard but we just had to keep playing harder, keep getting stops, and that's what we did towards the end," Randolph said. The Grizz, who are 12-5 as the host this season, won seven straight at home from Jan. 2-25, 2004. The Wolves, meanwhile, fell to 0-3 on a four-game road trip after a torturous triple-overtime loss in Houston on Wednesday in the longest game in franchise history. Corey Brewer set off the fireworks by tying the game in regulation on a half- court shot at the buzzer, but Minnesota couldn't overcome Aaron Brooks, who had a career-high 43 points in 59 minutes on the court, as the Rockets survived the thriller to take a 120-114 victory at the Toyota Center. Brooks scored 14 of his points in the overtime sessions and ended 6-of-9 from three-point range as Houston notched a season-high eighth straight home win and beat the Timberwolves for a 10th consecutive time. Al Jefferson posted 26 points and a career and franchise-high 26 rebounds for the T'Wolves, who have lost five straight on the road and eight of their last nine games overall. Ryan Gomes had 18 points, Wayne Ellington 17 and Corey Brewer 14 as Minnesota dropped its seventh straight game in Houston. "It's just a great example for our guys that you just don't quit, you just keep playing, keep your heads up, keep fighting and you never know what's going to happen," said T'Wolves head coach Kurt Rambis of his 8-32 team. Minnesota swept the three-game season series last season but Memphis has rebounded to take two from the Wolves this year.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Pistons hope to build on their first win in a month Friday when they play host to the New Orleans Hornets at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Charlie Villanueva scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds on T
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlantic Division rivals meet in historic Madison Square Garden Friday when the Toronto Raptors visit the New York Knicks. The Raptors, who lead the Knicks by 2 1/2 games for second place in the division, droppe
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game. Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta. "Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed." To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
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." 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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