Celtics, Mavericks square off in Dallas

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics play their final game before the All-Star break on Thursday when they resume a lengthy six-game road trip in North Texas against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Celtics, who sport three All-Stars in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, opened the trek with an 89-77 win in the Big Easy on Wednesday. Pierce had a game-high 30 points in that one as Boston topped New Orleans, which continued to struggle even with the return of star guard Chris Paul.

Garnett added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who improved to 19-7 on the road for the season. Eddie House and Leon Powe added 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench for Boston, which has won two of three.

It wasn't all good news for the C's, however. Allen hyperextended his right thumb in the game. X-rays came back negative and the veteran said he would try to play against the Mavericks.

"Early in the game I was underneath, I think it was (Kendrick) Perkins. My hand got caught in his jersey," Allen said of his injury. "I popped off and I caught the ball and then I couldn't even catch the ball (later) because it kind of jammed all of the way down. As I was running I was trying to yank on it. I tried to hold it in as the game went on. When I tried to catch the ball, I couldn't hold on to the ball."

After the break, the Celtics will finish their trip with visits to Utah, Phoenix, Denver and the LA Clippers.

The Mavs, meanwhile, improved to 2-0 on a four-game residency on Tuesday when Josh Howard and Antoine Wright each scored 23 points to lead Dallas to an easy 118-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Dallas continued its dominance over Sacramento at home. The Mavs have won 10 straight over the Kings in north Texas.

Dirk Nowitzki added 21 points for the Mavs, who have won six of their last seven outings. Jason Kidd ended with 15 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists. Jose Juan Barea finished with 10 points, while Erick Dampier had nine points and 16 boards.

The Mavs were without star guard Jason Terry, who had successful surgery on his left hand Monday. Terry, the team's second-leading scorer (19.9 points a game), broke his left hand against Chicago over the weekend and is expected to be out three to six weeks.

Dallas, which is 17-7 at American Airlines Center, has won 10 of the last 11 at home and will finish the residency after the All-Star break against New Jersey.

Boston has won three straight over Dallas, including an easy 124-100 win in Beantown on January 25. The Mavs have topped the C's in 11 of their past 13 trips to Dallas, however.

Bigno Basketball Betting News

<< Heat hope to snap skid in Windy City vs, Bulls
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat will attempt to put the brakes on a three- game road losing streak Thursday when they pay a visit to the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. Miami is 10-15 away from AmericanAirlines Arena this season and ha

<< Irish attempt to stop the bleeding against fifth-ranked Cardinals
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Louisville attempt to keep pace in the Big East standings, as they travel to South Bend for a conference showdown with Notre Dame. Rick Pitino's Cardinals won their first eight league affair

<< Utah State puts nation's longest win streak on line against Idaho
Moscow, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ranked for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign when they were members of the Big West Conference, the Utah State Aggies take their act on the road tonight to do battle with Western Athletic Conference foe Ida

<< Zags and Gaels mix it up in West Coast Conference showdown
Moraga, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs will attempt to remain unbeaten in West Coast Conference play as they take on the Saint Mary's Gaels on the road this evening. Gonzaga carried a nine-game win streak into Saturda

<< Top-25 foes meet in Tempe
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A top-25 matchup takes place in the desert this evening, as the 11th-ranked UCLA Bruins come calling on the 18th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils in a key Pac-10 tilt from Wells Fargo Arena. Ben Howland's troops t

Warriors welcome Blazers to Oakland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors resume a five-game homestand tonight when they welcome the Portland Trail Blazers to ORACLE Arena in the NBA's final game before the All-Star break. The Warriors improved to 2-0 on the

Sens seek third straight win in test vs. Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will aim for their first three-game winning streak of the season when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers for tonight's test at the Wachovia Center. The Senators completed a home-and-home sweep of Buffal

Hurricanes, Panthers battle in Raleigh >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams battling for playoff positions will meet tonight in Raleigh, as the Carolina Hurricanes invite the Florida Panthers for a Southeast Division battle at RBC Center. The Panthers are currently holding onto the

Lightning hope to get back in win column against Maple Leafs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to win for just the second time in seven games when they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs for tonight's battle between struggling teams at St. Pete Times Forum. The Lightning, who are 12th o

Canucks take high-scoring ways to Phoenix >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will attempt to keep up their recent high-scoring ways when the resurgent club visits the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at Jobing.com Arena. Vancouver comes in riding a three-game winning streak, the team's

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.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.