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Bosh-less Raptors host CelticsBasketball Betting Lines04/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors lost more than just the game last night in Cleveland and may be without All-Star center Chris Bosh for some time. Tonight they'll try to regroup at home versus the Boston Celtics. Bosh suffered a fracture to the right side of his face during Tuesday's 113-101 loss to the Cavaliers after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face by Cleveland forward Antawn Jamison. Bosh was forced to leave the contest bleeding from his nose and mouth just 2:08 into the game. He headed to the Cleveland Clinic for a CT scan and remained overnight for an evaluation. The Georgia Tech product leads the Raptors with 24.0 ppg and is not expected to play Wednesday versus the Celtics. In last night's loss at Quicken Loans Arena, Jarrett Jack had 23 points and Amir Johnson netted 16 for the Raptors, who are just a game ahead of Chicago for the eighth and final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference and three games behind No. 7 seed Charlotte. "There's not a lot we can do," Raptors coach Jay Triano said of losing Bosh. "We've still got to play and we'll have to make adjustments on the fly and we'll have to make an adjustment if he's not available for tomorrow and be ready to play against Boston at home. There's not much we can do." Toronto, which has lost two straight and five of eight games, is 24-14 at Air Canada Centre this season. Boston has slipped up a bit with four losses in its last five games, including a 104-101 setback at New York's Madison Square Garden. Ray Allen finished with 17 points, Kendrick Perkins chipped in 14 and eight rebounds and Kevin Garnett scored 14 points for the Celtics, who are a game behind Atlanta for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. "You let a team go out there and shoot 50 percent and you don't rebound, that's going to be an uphill battle all night. That's what it was," said Celtics top scorer Paul Pierce, who had 13 points in defeat. Glen Davis tallied 12 points in a losing effort. The Celtics are 24-14 away from Beantown this season. Boston is aiming for its second straight series sweep of Toronto this evening and has won the first three encounters in 2009-10. The Celtics have won seven straight, 11 of 12 and 20 of the last 26 matchups between the teams. The Celtics are unbeaten in their last five trips up north.
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Betting the NFL preseasonRule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games." When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night. The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine. “I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.” The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark. “We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.” The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long. “It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.” Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play. “You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt." So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps? “Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says. Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins. Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet. Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter. “If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says. Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider. The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason. “We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003. Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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