Parker and Spurs knock off Denver

Basketball Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Parker led a balanced San Antonio attack with 17 points, as the Spurs routed the Denver Nuggets, 95-80, for their third straight win.

Manu Ginobili added 14 points and Tim Duncan scored 12 for San Antonio, which overcame a horrendous 14-of-27 effort from the charity stripe. Bruce Bowen, Francisco Elson and Michael Finley all had nine points in a game that turned into a blowout in the third quarter, when the Spurs outscored the Nuggets, 30-10.

Carmelo Anthony had 15 points and Nene scored 13 for the Nuggets, but Allen Iverson had only nine on 3-of-11 shooting in his return to the lineup. Iverson, who had missed eight of the previous nine games with a sprained right ankle, shot 3-of-11 from the field.

Denver, which ended 31-of-73 (42.5%) from the field, has lost nine of its last 13 games.

Already ahead by 11 at the half, the Spurs widened their margin considerably by benefiting from poor shooting from the Nuggets. Duncan converted an alley- oop off a pass from Bowen with 4:59 remaining in the quarter for a 66-45 advantage.

Duncan later jammed off an assist from Ginobili, and Ginobili's free throw moved the score to 70-45.

Jacque Vaughn's jumper from the right corner at the end of the third had the Spurs to a 79-48 rout and the home team cruised in the final 12 minutes.

The game actually started well for Denver, which bolted to a 13-4 lead after an Iverson jumper. However, the Spurs rallied, taking an 18-17 edge and were in front, 25-21, going into the second.

A pair of Parker baskets capped six straight points by the Spurs for a 39-28 margin, and it was 49-38 at the half.

Game Notes

Denver has lost 10 of 12 and 17 of its last 20 at San Antonio...DerMarr Johnson had 11 points for the Nuggets.

Sexcasinosex Basketball Betting News

<< Koivu lifts Wild over Stars in shootout
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikko Koivu scored the lone goal of the shootout, as the Minnesota Wild nipped the Dallas Stars, 2-1, at XCel Energy Center. Brian Rolston scored in regulation for the Wild, who won for the fourth t

<< Lightning top Panthers in shootout
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin St. Louis scored the game-winner in the shootout and added a goal in regulation to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers at St. Pete Times Forum. With the shootout tied

<< Senators shoot past Oilers
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dean McAmmond was credited with the game-winning goal in the shootout and the Ottawa Senators escaped a late rally to defeat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, at Scotiabank Place. Dany Heatley, Mike Fisher and Dan

<< Devils edge Rangers in chippy affair
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Parise scored the game-winning goal in the third period and Martin Brodeur made 35 saves, as the New Jersey Devils edged the New York Rangers, 2-1, in the start of a home-and-home series.

<< Higgins, Ryder lead Habs over Caps
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder netted two goals each to guide the Montreal Canadiens past the Washington Capitals, 5-3, at the Bell Centre. Garth Murray added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds and

Williams advances to quarters in Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded American Venus Williams advanced into the quarterfinals of the $175,000 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Denmark

Kruger leads UNLV past No. 14 Air Force >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kruger scored 14 points and added 10 assists to help the UNLV Rebels to a 60-50 victory over the 14th-ranked Air Force Falcons at Thomas & Mack Center. Joel Anthony added 10 points and nine re

Stastny and Avs down Calgary >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny scored two power-play goals during a high-powered first period and Peter Budaj made 33 saves, as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-3, at Pepsi Center. Milan Hejduk tallied

No. 23 Louisville explodes in second half to crush St. John's >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angel McCoughtry scored 21 points and ripped down 14 rebounds as 23rd-ranked Louisville crushed Big East foe St. John's, 91-62. Helen Johnson also scored 21 points while Jazz Covington tallied 17 for t

Third-quarter drought dooms Hawks >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta went through the definition of futile in the third quarter, ending the period without a field goal, as the Chicago Bulls widened a halftime edge and rolled to a 106-81 rout of the Hawks at the United

Horse Betting

(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.

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.