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Suns hope to bounce back against "lucky" LakersBasketball Betting Lines05/19/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns hope to bounce back from their first blowout loss in over four months when they take to the Staples Center floor for Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers tonight. Kobe Bryant dispelled any rumors of his ailing body by dropping 40 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field to pace the Lakers in a 128-107 rout of Phoenix in Game 1 of the set on Monday. Bryant, who has dealt with a balky ankle and arthritic finger for a large part of the season, recently had fluid drained from his right knee, causing the former league MVP to miss practice time after wrapping up a second-round sweep over Utah last Monday. The six days of rest apparently fueled Bryant and the rest of the defending champions, who rolled to a seventh straight win since being tied with Oklahoma City, 2-2, in the first round of the playoffs. "My knee felt fine. I've been wearing a sleeve the entire playoffs," Bryant, who recorded his 11th career 40-plus point game in the postseason, said. "I'm not going to lose a lot [without practice]. It was one of the most efficient games of my playoff career." Pau Gasol powered an efficient front-court with 21 points, while Lamar Odom added 19 points and 19 rebounds off the bench for LA, which won the rebounding battle, 42-34, and outscored Phoenix in the paint, 56-36. "It wasn't the post-up plays with the big guys, it was the perimeter guys driving into the paint," Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said of the disparity. "They broke down our perimeter defense and got into the paint. We just have to do a better job on defense of slowing them down. We can't let them score 128 points." The Suns, needing to rely on their long range prowess to offset a disadvantage down low, shot a paltry 5-of-22 from behind the arc compared to a surprising 8-of-17 effort for the Lakers. "We have to have other dimensions of our game. We have to be efficient in a few areas so we don't rely on one thing," Suns guard Steve Nash said. "Our room for error is small." Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 23 points, Jason Richardson scored 15 and Nash ended with 13 points and 13 assists in the setback, the team's first since a Game 4 loss against Portland in the first round and its worst since being run off the floor in Charlotte, 125-99, way back on January 16. Robin Lopez, appearing in his first game since March 26 due to a back injury, recorded 14 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes for the Suns, who also had a week to rest after sweeping the Spurs in the second round. "We thought this was going to be a close game, but we were able to jump away in the third quarter," said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, who is 46-0 in series when his team has won Game 1. "Kobe carried a lot of the offense tonight, but Lamar came off the bench and gave us a good boost." Despite the blowout loss Stoudemire was still talking tough during the off day on Tuesday, calling Odom's impressive double-double, "lucky." "He had a lucky game in Game 1," said Stoudemire, who has just three boards in the opener. "We've just got to make sure we box him out. I think I focused so much on (Pau) Gasol and (Andrew) Bynum to where he sneaked in there and got 19 boards." Odom just chuckled. "Hopefully I can have another lucky game," the forward said. Phoenix, which has never captured an NBA title, is in the conference finals for the first time since 2006, when the Suns lost to the Dallas Mavericks. Phoenix last made it to the NBA Finals in 1993 when they fell in six games to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. Meanwhile, Nash, a former two- time NBA MVP, has played in 113 career postseason games without reaching The Finals, the most in NBA history without the chance to play for a championship. The Lakers are appearing in their third straight Western Conference final and are attempting to become the first repeat league champions since they won three in a row (2000-02) with teams fueled by Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. LA won three of four games vs. Phoenix in the regular season and won the Pacific Division by three games over the Suns. In the postseason, the clubs have a long and storied history, meeting 11 times previously dating back to the 1969-70 season. The Lakers have won seven of those series but the Suns have rebounded to take four of the last five playoff sets between the two teams after dropping the first six. Phoenix has also taken the last two postseason matchups between the clubs, first round series in 2005-06 and '06-07. LA and Phoenix have met twice previously in the Western Conference finals with the Lakers winning both, in 1984 and 1989. Game 3 of the series will be in Phoenix on Sunday.
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game. Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta. "Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed." To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
Online Sportsbook Football BettingThe NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason. New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall). The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo. Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years. Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason. Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes. The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher. Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer. The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick. Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards. However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed). The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense. Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style. In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record. Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme. Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack. 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