Celtics head north of the border to face Raptors
Basketball Betting Lines
02/10/2012 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics may have seen their longest winning
streak of the season come to a halt on Thursday. But, a trip north of the
border to face the Toronto Raptors could get them back on track.
Boston saw its five-game winning streak stopped on Thursday, as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Celtics, 88-87, in overtime at TD Garden.
Ray Allen paced Boston with 22 points and All-Star reserve Paul Pierce added
18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Garnett posted 12 points and
12 boards, but shot just 2-of-13 from the floor after halftime.
The Celtics failed to get a quality attempt off at the end of the fourth
quarter, and missed four shots in the final 70 seconds of overtime.
At the end of regulation, Pierce dribbled down the final seconds and was
hounded outside the arc before passing to Mickael Pietrus with two seconds
left. Pietrus' off-balanced 31-footer was nowhere close to the rim as the
buzzer sounded.
"I shouldn't have picked up my dribble. It kind of broke up the play when I
picked up my dribble," Pierce admitted.
Pierce's three actually gave Boston the lead, 87-86, with 1:51 left in the
extra session, but the Celtics went cold from there. Pierce had a chance to
give Boston the lead late but his forced 18-footer drew iron and Allen's put-
back was blocked by Pau Gasol.
"I was in the perfect situation and [Gasol] came out of nowhere," Allen said.
The Celtics should be able to get back on track tonight as they face a Raptors
team that has lost three straight games after a 105-99 setback to the
Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
DeMar DeRozan paced the Raptors with 25 points, including 4-of-6 three-point
shooting. James Johnson contributed 15 points and Kleiza and Leandro Barbosa
added 12 and 11, respectively, off the bench for Toronto, which lost for the
fifth time in six tries overall and fell to 3-7 at home this season.
"They've got the No. 1 bench in the NBA in scoring. They played hard," said
Johnson. "They came with a lot of energy."
Toronto continues to play without injured star Andrea Bargnani, who is
sidelined with a strained left calf.
Boston beat the Raptors by 36 points last Wednesday and has topped them five
straight times and in 13 of the last 14 meetings. The Celtics have also had
success in Toronto, where they've won seven of eight and eight of their last
11.
<< Stars aim for rare win in Buffalo
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars have yet to win the back end when playing
games on consecutive nights. That won't make ending their lengthy losing
streak in Buffalo any easier.
The Stars try to pick up their first road win against the Sa
<< Blackhawks hope to halt fall in San Jose
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The free-falling Chicago Blackhawks will try to end their
longest losing streak in over four years when they continue a lengthy road
trip with tonight's battle against the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.
The Blackhawks are
<< New York signs midfielder Palsson
Harrison, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York signed Icelandic midfielder
Victor Palsson on Friday.
Palsson, 20, spent the last year at Scottish Premier League side Hibernian and
appeared in 34 games in all competitions. The defensive
<< Avs aim to close homestand with win over 'Canes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche recently put their longest skid of
the season behind them and will try to close out a four-game homestand with
another victory when they face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at Pepsi
Center.
The Ava
<< Blazers, Hornets tangle in the Big Easy
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland hopes a Western Conference-worst New Orleans team
proves to be a bit of a tonic after the Blazers dropped consecutive games in
Rip City.
A controversial goaltending call on All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge al
Lin, Knicks try to stay hot vs. Lakers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The flavor of the day in Gotham faces another tough test on
Friday, when Jeremy Lin and the Knicks play host to Kobe Bryant and the
Lakers at Madison Square Garden.
Lin has exploded from obscurity over the past wee
Hoffenheim turns to Babbel >>
Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim has named Markus Babbel as its
new manager on Friday, signing the former Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart boss to
a two-and-a-half year contract.
Babbel takes the place of Holger Stanislawski,
Arango agrees to Gladbach extension >>
Monchengladbach, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Arango has signed a two-year
contract extension with Monchengladbach, the club confirmed on Friday.
Arango's previous deal was set to expire at the end of the current season, but
the 31-year-
Cavs sign Uzoh to 10-day contract >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers inked guard Ben Uzoh
to a 10-day contract Friday, a move necessitated by the absence of first-
overall pick Kyrie Irving due to a concussion.
The 23-year-old averaged 16.8 points
More knee problems for Bayern's Breno >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich defender Breno saw his
comeback effort take a step back as it was confirmed that the Brazilian will
require another operation on his knee.
The 22-year-old sustained a torn ACL in
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Colts give the ‘D’ its due
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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