Iverson, Nuggets come back to upend Clippers in OT
Basketball Betting Lines
11/01/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Allen Iverson scored 25 points, including nine in overtime, as the Denver Nuggets overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-103, at Staples Center.
Nene scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who bounced back from a season-opening loss at Utah. J.R. Smith chipped in 17 points and 10 boards off the bench, while Kenyon Martin tallied 13 points to match his 13 rebounds.
Al Thornton scored 30 points and hauled in 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who lost for the second time in as many games this season. Tim Thomas notched 20 points, and Chris Kaman had 15 points to go with his 15 rebounds. Cuttino Mobley ended with 14 points in defeat.
Clippers point guard Baron Davis left early in the second quarter after injuring his left hip/tailbone. He came crashing to the floor after going up for a defensive rebound.
Smith put Denver ahead 97-96 following a three-point play, but Kaman hit a jumper to shift the one-point lead in LA's favor with just over a minute gone in overtime.
Iverson then scored the next three baskets and Denver was sitting on a 103-98 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left in the extra frame. The five-point lead held until Martin drained a three with under a minute remaining to make it 108-100, which was enough insurance for the Nuggets.
The Clippers held a 28-20 lead heading into the second, which grew to 55-37 at the half.
Denver pulled within 12 points, 59-47, on a Nene dunk that closed out an 8-2 run. However, Kaman and Thomas both hit a pair from the line and LA's lead was at 16 with 7:19 left in the third.
Denver's deficit hovered around the mid-teens, until the team ripped off nine straight points. Smith got things going with a three-pointer and, after Kaman missed a jumper, Martin added a layup.
Iverson then got in on the scoring with a layup and Dahntay Jones hit a pair from the charity stripe to make it 72-64 with 1 1/2 minutes showing on the clock.
The teams traded baskets the rest of the third and the Nuggets still trailed by eight, 76-68, heading into the final stanza.
The Clippers opened up a 10-point lead, 88-78, but the Nuggets came right back to make it a contest.
Iverson and Smith both connected on baskets before Nene drained a layup and a dunk to make it 88-86 with just under five minutes to go.
Moments later, Nene tied the game at 90-90 on a layup that appeared to beat the shot clock by the naked eye. However, replays showed that the ball was still in the player's hands as the shot clock expired. The call stood as called, though.
Moments later, with the score still tied, 92-92, the Nuggets called a timeout following a Martin rebound off a Thornton missed jumper.
With the clock showing 43.6 ticks left, Iverson took the inbounds pass and drove to the hoop. His shot caromed off the rim and Thornton grabbed the rebound.
The Clippers drove downcourt and Thomas nailed a turnaround jumper from the high baseline to give LA a 94-92 advantage with 16.1 seconds left to play.
Following a Denver timeout, Iverson hit Linas Kleiza with a cross-court inbounds pass at the left side of the arc. Kleiza then drove to the hoop and was fouled before draining both shots from the line to tie.
The Clippers had one last shot, but the ball was knocked out of Thomas' hands and rolled out of bounds to send the game into overtime.
Game Notes
The Nuggets were without star forward Carmelo Anthony in the win, but will get him back for their next game. Anthony was sitting out the latter half of a two-game suspension for an offseason DUI arrest...Denver was without guards Sonny Weems (sports hernia) and Chucky Atkins. Forward Renaldo Balkman also did not see any action...The Clippers were without new center Marcus Camby for the second straight game. The defensive-minded Camby was traded to the Clips by Denver in a salary dump during the offseason after spending six years in the Rocky Mountains. He led the NBA in blocked shots for three of them...The Nuggets won three of the four meetings between the two clubs last season and split the two games at the Staples Center. Overall, the series had been nip- and-tuck coming in with the teams splitting the last 10 encounters prior to Friday's duel.
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Clippers guard Baron Davis left Friday's 113-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets after injuring his left hip/tailbone, he did not return. Davis, who signed a five-year, $65 million contr
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Hansbroug
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Sportsbooks to bet on football
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.