Streaking Bucks host Pacers in Central Division clash
Basketball Betting Lines
02/06/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks shoot for a seventh straight home
win Saturday when they face Central Division rival Indiana.
The Bucks, who are one game out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern
Conference, won on the road last night when Ersan Ilyasova scored a career-
high 25 points while pulling down nine rebounds off the bench, as Milwaukee Bucks held off the New York Knicks, 114-107, at Madison Square Garden.
Rookie star Brandon Jennings added 22 points and eight assists for the Bucks,
who have won four of five overall. Luc Mbah a Moute ended with 16 points and
six rebounds, and Carlos Delfino and Charlie Bell each had 13 points. Delfino
also grabbed nine boards and dished out six assists for the victors.
"(Jennings) was very good in the second half," said Bucks head coach Scott
Skiles. "He had is usual good floor game, knocked down some shots -- it was a
big part of the victory."
Starting center Andrew Bogut missed the game with a migraine headache but
hopes to return tonight.
The Pacers, meanwhile, won their second straight game on Friday when Danny
Granger poured in 25 points and pulled down six rebounds, as Indiana
demolished the Detroit Pistons, 107-83, at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Brandon Rush added 16 points and five assists for the Pacers, who have won the
two in a row since a three-game skid. Dahntay Jones donated 13 points off the
bench while Troy Murphy chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana,
which shot 51.9 percent from the floor.
T.J. Ford added 11 points and five assists in 23 minutes off the bench, his
first action in 19 games after being benched by coach Jim OBrien.
"I thought we put together four good quarters and kept the pressure on them,"
O'Brien said.
Milwaukee has won three of its last four meetings with Indiana at Bradley
Center.
<< Wolves shoot for season-high 4th straight win vs. Grizzlies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly resurgent Minnesota Timberwolves shoot for a
season-high fourth straight win when they welcome the struggling Memphis
Grizzlies to Target Center.
The T-Wolves will also be hoping to avoid a season sweep at the
<< Bulls, Heat clash in Windy City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of reeling teams jockeying for playoff position in
the Eastern Conference meet in the Windy City Saturday as the Chicago Bulls
play host to the Miami Heat.
The Bulls and Heat are in a virtual tie for the final two p
<< James, Cavs host Knicks at the "Q"
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Cleveland Cavaliers shoot for their 11th
straight win Saturday when they welcome the New York Knicks to Quicken Loans
Arena.
The red-hot Cavs improved to 3-0 on a seven-game homestand Thursday when
LeBron Jame
<< Woeful Nets visit Pistons
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the NBA's worst teams square off in Auburn Hills
tonight as the New Jersey Nets pay a visit to the Detroit Pistons.
The hapless Nets dropped their latest affair in Boston last night when Ray
Allen poured in 26 point
<< Bobcats return home to face reeling Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats return to the cozy confines of Time
Warner Cable Arena Saturday for the first of a brief two-game homestand
against a reeling New Orleans Hornets club trying to cope with the loss of
star point guard Chr
Resurgent Sixers face Rockets in south Texas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets return home to the Toyota Center
Saturday hoping to stop a Philadelphia 76ers team aiming for its season-high
fourth consecutive win.
Both teams are coming off wins on Friday. Aaron Brooks paced the Roc
Northwest heavyweights clash as Nuggets visit Jazz >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz can move up in the Northwest standings with a
win over the division-rival Denver Nuggets tonight, when the two clubs square
off at EnergySolutions Arena.
Utah sits just three games behind the Nuggets for the
Blazers hope to continue home dominance over Lakers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers shoot for their 10th straight
home win over the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, when the two Western Conference
powers collide at the Rose Garden.
Portland recorded its third straight overall win ove
Hughes era begins as Clippers host Spurs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The rodeo road trip continues this evening in Hollywood for
the San Antonio Spurs, who will shoot for their 15th straight win over the Los
Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
The Spurs will have to do it against a Clippers
Durant, Thunder invade Oakland to face Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant is one of the top scorers in the NBA and will
try to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to their fifth straight win tonight
against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena.
Durant is averaging 29.7 points per ga
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
Police report: Terrell Owens hospitalized after attempt
Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.
The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.
Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.
NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.
"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.
The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.
But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.
The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.
Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.
The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.
The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.
The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.
Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.
Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."
Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.
"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."
Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.
It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.
"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."
Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.
"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."
At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.
According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.
Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.
Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.
When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.
He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.
Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.
Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.
Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.
While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.
"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.
Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.
Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
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