11/21/2008 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tracy McGrady scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets woke up from a lackluster start to upend the lowly Washington Wizards, 103-91.
Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks were once again terrific off the bench with 19 and 18 points, respectively, for Houston, which has won three of four overall and seven straight games over the Wizards.
Yao Ming returned after missing one game with a sore left foot and recorded 18 points and just five rebounds, while Ron Artest had a solid all-around effort with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the victors.
Antawn Jamison carried Washington with 27 points and 10 rebounds but was a non-factor in the final quarter as the hosts fell to 1-9 on the young season. Andray Blatche had 14 points, while Caron Butler finished with 12 points and seven boards in the loss.
Juan Dixon's long two in the corner with 8:39 remaining in the fourth gave the Wizards an 85-76 lead, but nine quick Rockets points in the span of a minute and a half tied things up.
A Landry three-point play was followed by a pair of McGrady three-pointers, and McGrady hit another triple from the right wing as the Rockets went ahead 94-91 coming down the stretch.
Rafer Alston's trey -- his only field goal of the game -- with 1:48 to play as the shot clock was winding down took the wind out of the Wizards sails, upping their deficit to 97-91, and Washington failed to score in the final 4:16 to come away empty yet again.
While the Wizards jumped out to a 29-17 lead after 12 minutes of play, the Houston reserves bounced back to trail just 50-49 at intermission.
Seven straight points for Washington -- five on Jamison free throws -- helped the Wizards take a 77-70 lead into the final quarter.
Game Notes
Washington has lost four in a row since its only win on November 12 versus Utah...Houston has won four straight games in DC...Houston won the battle on the glass, 44-35.
<< Walker helps No. 2 UConn down La Salle
St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freshman guard Kemba Walker came off the
bench to pour in 23 points, pacing second-ranked Connecticut to a hard-fought
89-81 win over La Salle in the opening round of the Paradise Jam.
Jeff Adrien tall
<< Devils top Isles for third straight win
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Gionta had a goal and an assist as the
New Jersey Devils roughed up the New York Islanders, 5-2, at Prudential
Center.
Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise each had three assists while Kevin Wee
<< Young, Panthers overpower Akron
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sam Young scored 26 points and grabbed six
rebounds to lead sixth-ranked Pittsburgh to an 86-67 win over Akron in the
Legends Classic at the Petersen Events Center.
Levance Fields finished with 19 p
<< Skins' Portis to be game-time decision
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis
was limited in practice on Friday, and is listed as questionable for
Sunday's matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.
The seventh-year pro has been dealing
Lewis has the Magic in OT win over Pacers >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rashard Lewis scored 23 points, including
the final seven for Orlando in overtime, as the Magic edged the Indiana
Pacers, 100-98, for their fifth straight victory.
Lewis finished 9-of-12 from th
Hansbrough starts against UCSB >>
Santa Barbara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina senior forward Tyler
Hansbrough, who missed the first two games of the season, started Friday night
when the top-ranked Tar Heels battled UC-Santa Barbara.
Hansbrough missed the firs
Staal records hat trick as 'Canes top Coyotes >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Staal snapped an eight-game goalless
drought with his fifth career hat trick, helping the Carolina Hurricanes to a
5-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes at RBC Center.
Ray Whitney added a pair of third
Flyers top Sabres as Biron blanks former club >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Biron stopped all 40 shots he saw
against his former team to post his first shutout of the season as the
Philadelphia Flyers downed the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0, at HSBC Arena.
Biron, who play
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football betting sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.
MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting