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Cavs welcome Kings to the "Q"Basketball Betting Lines03/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers continue their march toward the postseason Sunday when the open up a three-game homestand against the lottery- bound Sacramento Kings. The Cavs, who have the NBA's best record and lead the Eastern Conference by six games over Orlando with nine games to play, just finished up a two-game road trip in losing fashion on Friday in San Antonio when Manu Ginobili scored half of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, rallying the Spurs past Cleveland, 102-97, and snapping the Cavaliers' eight-game winning streak. LeBron James tallied 27 points and 10 assists for the Central Division champs, who lost for just the second time in their last 16 contests overall. Antawn Jamison scored 24 with nine rebounds and J.J. Hickson added 20 points in defeat. "They executed great," James said. "We may have had one or two blown coverages, but most of the time we played our defensive principles and either Manu made a play for himself or made a play for someone else with an open look. When they shoot the ball well, they're very tough to beat because we already know they're going to play defense." The Cavs magic number to clinch the top seed in the East is four. The Kings, meanwhile, fell to 0-2 on a five-game road trip in Boston on Friday when Paul Pierce finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, as the Celtics took a 94-86 win over the Sacramento Kings on a night they wrapped up the Atlantic Division title. Carl Landry had a game-high 30 points to pace the Kings, who played their fourth straight game without rookie star Tyreke Evans (concussion). Beno Udrih added 16 points and 12 assists in the loss, Sacramento's third in a row overall. "It was two different games for us," said Kings head coach Paul Westphal. "I thought the second half we really got it going. We played the way we think we're supposed to play and we made it interesting. We couldn't come all the way back because the first half was too much of a hole, but I liked what I saw the second half." Evans, who leads all rookies in scoring at 20.3 points per game, will remain on the sidelines this afternoon. Center Spencer Hawes, who left Friday's loss at Boston with a lower back strain in the third quarter, is questionable. The Cavs have won seven straight over Sacramento and will be aiming to sweep the home-and-home series between the two clubs for a fourth straight season.
<< Avalanche aim to stop free fall against Sharks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Four losses in their last five games have the Avalanche slipping in the Western Conference standings. Colorado might catch a break if Joe Thornton is unable to play for the San Jose Sharks in tonight's matchup at HP Pavilion.
<< Blackhawks try to avenge loss to Blue Jackets
<< Flyers try to avoid sixth straight loss in clash with Devils
<< Blues try to snap Oilers' win streak in St. Louis
<< Playoff-bound Penguins try to slow down Maple Leafs
Bucks host desperate Grizzlies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks are virtually assured of a postseason berth in the Eastern Conference but the outlook is growing gloomier by the day for the Memphis Grizzlies out West as the two teams get ready to meet in Brew City.
Hawks, Pacers clash in Dixie >>
Bulls take playoff push to Auburn Hills; face Pistons >>
Magic and Nuggets collide at Amway Arena >>
Heat host Raptors in key Eastern Conference matchup >>
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTINGNCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking. No. 1 always seems to fit USC. Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent. Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory. Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3. "We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team." Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time. "Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team." The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points. "I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won." Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State. "There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?" USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll. "It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter." While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls. As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule. But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference. Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com. The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road. The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second. The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia. No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday. Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina. Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson. The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996. South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20. The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24. Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com |
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