05/12/2008 - (Basketball Betting) - The Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to knot their Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece with the Boston Celtics tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavaliers made it a 2-1 series with a big victory on Saturday at home. Superstar LeBron James and Delonte West both scored 21 points, as the fourth- seeded Cavaliers dominated the top-seeded Celtics, 108-84, in Game 3 of the set.
James was shut down in the first two games of the series, shooting just 8- of-42 from the field, but rebounded to shoot 3-of-5 from three-point range and 5-of-16 overall. James added eight assists, while West finished 7-for-11 from the field overall -- 4-of-6 from beyond the arc -- and handed out seven assists.
Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas ended with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the victory, while veteran Joe Smith added 17 points off the bench.
Kevin Garnett had 17 points and nine rebounds for Boston, which came out slow and couldn't recover. Paul Pierce contributed 14 points, while Kendrick Perkins collected 12 points and seven boards.
The Cavaliers have won a best-of-seven series after losing Games 1 and 2. Cleveland defeated the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 East finals after dropping the first two games of the set at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Cleveland has won five of its last six Game 4s in the postseason. The Cavaliers are 3-1 at home in this year's playoffs.
The Celtics are 0-4 on the road in this year's postseason. Boston has dropped three of its last four Game 4s in the playoffs.
Game 5 of this best-of-seven series is scheduled for Wednesday at TD Banknorth Garden.
Boston has lost a playoff series after winning the first two games of the set. In the 1990 first round, the New York Knicks knocked out the Celtics in five contests, 3-2.
This is the fourth time these teams have met in the postseason. Boston defeated the Cavaliers in six games, 4-2, in the 1976 East finals, and in four contests, 3-1, in the first round of the 1985 playoffs. Cleveland knocked out the Celtics in seven games in the 1992 East semis.
Boston has made it to the East semis for the first time since 2003. That year, the Celtics were swept by the New Jersey Nets, 4-0. The last time the Celtics won in this round was in 2002 when they knocked out Detroit in five, 4-1, before losing to the Nets in the East finals, 4-2.
The Celtics survived a scare in the opening round, as they knocked out the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in seven games. The home team won every game in the series. Boston won its four contests by an average of 25.3 points.
The Cavaliers, who are the defending Eastern Conference champions and knocked out the Wizards in round one, are 3-2 all-time in the semifinals. They defeated the Washington Bullets in 1976, Boston in 1992 and New Jersey in 2007. Cleveland lost in the semis to Chicago in 1993 and Detroit in 2006.
<< Hernandez tries to continue hot start in finale with Red Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the opportunity to achieve a series win over the
defending world champions, the Minnesota Twins will send out their newfound
ace in tonight's finale of a four-game set with the visiting Boston Red Sox.
Livan Hernandez
<< Jays, Tribe play doubleheader in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting an unscheduled day off due to bad weather,
the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays conclude a four-game series today
with a doubleheader from Progressive Field.
The Indians have won the first two tests o
<< Oswalt, Zito square off at AT&T Park
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League's hottest team during the month of May
invades San Francisco's AT&T Park for the opener of a four-game series, as the
Houston Astros attempt to keep up their torrid stretch in tonight's matchup
with t
<< Uggla leads Marlins to sweep of Nationals
Dan Uggla and the Florida Marlins will sure be sorry to have to leave Washington. Who can blame them? They've been there twice this season and haven't lost yet.Uggla hit two homers Sunday to help the Marlins complete another three-game sweep of the
Red-hot Marlins take streak into Cincinnati >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Florida Marlins will try to extend their
season-high winning streak to eight games tonight, when they open a four-game
series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The NL East-leadin
Cubs try to keep momentum going as Padres pay visit >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs enter a four-game set with a chip on their
shoulders, as they are coming off an impressive sweep of the Arizona
Diamondbacks. Tonight, the club will welcome the San Diego Padres to town for
the ser
Brewers to wrap up series with slumping Cards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers seem to have found their winning ways
as they wrap up a four-game series versus the NL Central-rival St. Louis
Cardinals tonight at Miller Park.
The Brewers have won two of the first three matc
Rays try to extend home winning streak vs. Yankees >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to extend their franchise-record
home-winning streak to 10 games this evening when they start a four-game
series with the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.
Extending the streak may be
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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