Boston Beats Lead Over Moore

Basketball Betting Lines

Paul Pierce had 19 points and seven assists for the Celtics, who have won two straight and three of four games since a five-game slide.

 

Brandon Bass had 19 points and Kevin Garnett scored 14 with 10 rebounds in a winning effort. Boston, which shot a perfect 19-for-19 from the free throw line, last won three in a row during a four-game run from Dec. 30-Jan. 4 this season and hopes to build on its 2-4 road ledger tonight. Garnett is four rebounds short of tying Jerry Lucas for 14th on the all-time rebounds list.

 

Celtics veteran guard Ray Allen missed the game due to a left ankle sprain and is expected to miss Thursday's contest. Guard Rajon Rondo has been sidelined the last three games (2-1) and is listed as probable. In other injury news for Boston, guard Keyon Dooling (knee) and center Jermaine O'Neal (knee) are both questionable, while forward Mickael Pietrus (shoulder) is expected to miss tonight's contest. O'Neal and Howard got into a scuffle in the third quarter and were whistled for technical fouls.

 

Orlando will play 10 of its next 14 games at Amway Arena, where it is 6-2 this season, and split a recent two-game road trip in Boston and Indiana. The Magic rebounded from a dreadful shooting display in Beantown to hand the Pacers their first home loss with a 102-83 triumph on Tuesday.

 

"That's the beauty of this league," said Anderson. "We have back-to-back games and opportunities where we can redeem ourselves...These are important comeback games. That's the way we can play every night."

 

Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks have waived rookie guard Donald Sloan. The Texas A&M product appeared in five games for the Hawks and averaged 1.2 points with 1.0 rebound in 4.0 minutes per game.

 

Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An MRI on Thursday revealed that Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut suffered a fractured left ankle during Wednesday's game against the Rockets. "The results of the MRI identified a left ankle fracture which will keep Bogut out indefinitely," Milwaukee general manager John Hammond said on the Bucks' Twitter account.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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