12/03/2008 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yao Ming scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets to a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center.
Rafer Alston added 21 points, seven assists and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who have won seven of 10. Ron Artest contributed a 19-point effort, while Carl Landry posted 12 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Zach Randolph had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who have lost six of seven. Al Thornton added 24 points and nine boards, while Marcus Camby posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Baron Davis scored 13 points and dished out nine assists in the loss.
Clinging to a one-point lead after three quarters, Houston began the fourth on a 6-0 run to take a seven-point advantage. Steve Novak made it a four-point game on a jumper for LA with 7 1/2 minutes left, but the Rockets surged to an eight-point advantage behind Artest's layup and two free throws.
Yao's jumper from close range gave Houston a 97-89 lead with 3:06 left, and Landry followed with a couple free throws with 1:27 to go, increasing the lead to 10. The Rockets were able to hold on from there.
Yao scored 10 points in the first quarter, and the Rockets held a 27-19 advantage after the opening period.
Jason Hart's free throw pulled the Clippers to within four at 43-39, but the Rockets extended their lead to seven before halftime, 53-46.
Houston went up by as many as 15 on Yao's jumper with 10 minutes left in the third, but the Clippers climbed back into it. LA started with a 9-0 run after giving up the jumper to make it 61-55.
Davis got the Clips to within one headed into the fourth, hitting a three- pointer with just four seconds left to make it 77-76.
Game Notes
LA rookie Eric Gordon provided 10 points...Yao was 12-of-13 from the free throw line...Houston leads the season series, 2-0...Seven of the Clippers' next nine games are on the road.
<< Ming fuels Rockets past Clippers
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yao Ming scored 24 points and grabbed 10
rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets to a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles
Clippers at Toyota Center.
Rafer Alston added 21 points, seven assists and ei
<< No. 15 Wake Forest routs Indiana
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Johnson scored 21 points and
grabbed five rebounds, leading the 15th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons to an
83-58 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Johnson shot
<< Smith returns for Hawks
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, who had
missed the previous 12 games due to a high left ankle sprain, returned to
action by starting Wednesday's 105-95 win against Memphis.
Smith played just 11 min
<< Backstrom, power play fuel Wild win over Blues
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a career-worst performance in his
last outing, Niklas Backstrom turned aside all 22 shots he faced to record his
third shutout of the season, as the Minnesota Wild blanked the St. Louis
Blues,
BC Lions release Clermont >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The British Columbia Lions released slotback
Jason Clermont Wednesday night.
A first-round draft pick by the Lions in 2002, Clermont has 428 career catches
for 5,917 yards, placing him sixth on the club'
Cards pick up Greene from Padres >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly
acquired shortstop Khalil Greene from the San Diego Padres.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that two minor league relievers will be
heading the other way i
Spurs battle Nuggets at Pepsi Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs arrive in the Rocky Mountains
Thursday to take on the streaking Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.
The Spurs dropped their second straight game on Tuesday in San Antonio when
Detroit's Al
Suns attempt to end skid in Dallas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns will try to stop a season-high three-game
losing streak tonight when they pay a visit to the Dallas Mavericks at
American Airlines Center.
The Suns dropped their third in a row after Wednesday's
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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