 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Bucks visit Heat in key Eastern Conference matchupBasketball Betting Lines02/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams jockeying for Eastern Conference playoff positioning meet in South Beach Saturday as the Miami Heat host the Milwaukee Bucks. After losing to lowly Minnesota on Tuesday the Heat hold down the eighth and final playoff spot in the East, one-half game behind Milwaukee and just one- half game ahead of Charlotte. Jonny Flynn scored 16 points and made the eventual game-winning layup with 38 seconds left on Tuesday, as the Timberwolves picked up a rare road victory by taking a 91-88 decision over Miami. Dorell Wright made six three-pointers on his way to a career-best 26 points while pulling down seven boards for the Heat, who have dropped two in a row following a five-game win streak. Jermaine O'Neal scored 18 points to surpass 12,000 points for his career, while Michael Beasley ended with 14 points and nine rebounds in defeat. "Those boys just wanted it more than we did. We are not that team at all," Beasley said. "We just got off lackadaisical. Collectively, as a team, there was no energy. No passion. We just didn't play. We didn't come today." Miami was without star guard Dwyane Wade (left calf strain) for a third straight game on Tuesday and fellow guard Rafer Alston (bruised right hand). Wade is expected to remain on the sidelines this afternoon, while Alston should be back. The Bucks, meanwhile, are red-hot, winning their season-best fifth straight game in Indianapolis on Thursday. John Salmons had 20 points and provided a spark yet again for Milwaukee in that one. Brandon Jennings added 18 points -- nine in the fourth quarter -- and seven assists for Milwaukee, which is 5-0 since acquiring Salmons from Chicago. Andrew Bogut chipped in with 15 points and 10 boards, while Ersan Ilyasova had 17 points in the Bucks' fifth straight road win. Luke Ridnour had 12 points and eight assists in the win for Milwaukee, which has won all three games against the Pacers this season. This is the first five-game win streak for the Bucks since November 14-24, 2007. Milwaukee hasn't won six consecutive games since Dec. 16-27, 2006. "We have to learn to finish games better," Bogut said. "Also, we let them shoot way too many free throws. They shot 44 to our 25. We definitely have to do a better job with that. It doesn't matter if you win by two or by 40 -- a win is a win." Milwaukee has taken both games against the Heat this season, including a 97-81 win in Miami on Feb. 1.
<< Celtics shoot for 13th straight win over lowly Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Expect the Atlantic Division's remake of Beauty and the Beast this afternoon as the first place Boston Celtics host the cellar- dwelling New Jersey Nets. The Celtics play the beauty is this version, having beaten the ugly-
<< Pistons finish road trip in Oakland vs. Warriors
<< Blazers aim to continue dominance over Wolves
<< Grizzlies and Knicks collide at MSG
<< Dementieva, Kleybanova to meet in Malaysia final
Bulls aim for season sweep of Pacers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Central Division rivals clash at Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday as Indiana plays host to a streaking Chicago Bulls team, aiming to sweep the season series with the Pacers for the first time in 13 years. Chicago has already to
Martin leads Rockets into Salt Lake City to face Jazz >>
Panthers seek turnaround in regular-season finale against Redbirds >>
Villanova visits Syracuse in Big East showdown >>
Panthers come to Big Apple to battle Red Storm >>
FOOTBALL TRASH TALKNFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing). Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion. Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site). Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com. Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season. The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation. What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill. Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies. But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply. In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton. |
|
