Heat resume homestand vs. Spurs

Basketball Betting Lines

03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams battling for playoff positioning get together tonight in south Florida, as the Miami Heat continue a six-game homestand versus the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Heat have won the first three tests of the homestand and are coming off Sunday's 104-91 triumph over Philadelphia in which NBA star Dwyane Wade recorded 38 points on 14-of-25 shooting to lead the victors.

"Coming out of the All-Star break we expected to go on a run," said Wade, who is averaging 30.6 points and 7.9 assists over his last seven games. "We looked at our schedule and we understood that the toughest part was behind us."

Udonis Haslem added 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Carlos Arroyo chipped in 12 points with 10 assists for the Heat, who have won six of seven overall and six in a row as the host.

Miami will also welcome the Magic and Bobcats to town and is 20-14 in its own backyard this season. The Heat are currently tied with Charlotte for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

In injury news for the Heat, forward Michael Beasley has missed back-to-back games because of a bruised thigh and is questionable for Tuesday.

San Antonio will begin a brief journey through Florida with upcoming matchups in Miami and Orlando, and is 15-15 away from the Alamo City this season. It has won three straight and seven of eight games, including Saturday's 118-88 blowout of the Los Angeles Clippers at the AT&T Center.

Matt Bonner had a team-high 21 points, Richard Jefferson added 18 points and nine rebounds and both Manu Ginobili and George Hill scored 14 points for the Spurs, who are seventh in the West standings -- just a half-game behind Phoenix and a half-game in front of Portland.

"Sometimes it's good to let the players do some of the coaching," Popovich said of Hill taking over coaching duties in the final stanza. "It makes them think a little bit and gives them confidence in what we are doing as a group."

In the 13 games since All-Star Weekend, Ginobili has scored in double figures 11 times and has posted 20-plus points on six occasions.

San Antonio defeated Miami, 108-78, back on December 31 this season and has won 14 of the past 19 contests in the series. These two clubs have split the previous 10 meetings in south Florida.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.