Magic welcome Hawks to central Florida

Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic try to stay hot tonight when they welcome the Atlanta Hawks to the Amway Center.

This, of course, is the first meeting between these Southeast Division rivals since Atlanta knocked the Magic out of last year's playoffs in six games.

Orlando, though, enters tonight's tilt playing some of its best basketball of the season, having won four of its last five games. On Wednesday, Ryan Anderson scored 27 points, Dwight Howard added 25 and both players had double- doubles to lead the Magic to a 102-89 win over the Miami Heat.

The Magic made 17 three-pointers and led wire-to-wire, going ahead by as many as 17 and fending off a couple of Miami runs. Their strong play of late comes on the heels of a four-game slide.

"I thought we did a good job gathering ourselves. We held our composure and nobody seemed the least bit worried, we just kept making plays," said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.

Anderson, who made five threes and scored 24 points in a big first half, added 11 rebounds and Howard pulled down a game-high 24. Orlando improved to 12-1 this season when scoring at least 100 points.

The Magic are in the midst of a stretch that sees them play six of seven at home, where they are 9-5 on the year.

Atlanta, meanwhile, snapped a three-game skid on Wednesday, as Josh Smith had 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hawks to a 97-87 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Atlanta got 20 points and eight assists from Joe Johnson, 17 points from Kirk Hinrich and 13 from Tracy McGrady to close its four-game homestand with a victory.

"We weren't playing well," said McGrady, who scored seven of his points in the fourth quarter. "I think we recognized that. Tonight we wanted to provide that energy and that effort and I think we did that."

Atlanta is 12-1 this season when Johnson scores at least 20 points. Johnson was named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Thursday.

"Im Blessed to have the opportunity to play in my 6th AllStar game," Johnson wrote on his Twitter page. "It never gets old."

After tonight's contest the Hawks will return home to host the Heat, then hit the road again for five straight games. Atlanta is 8-5 away from home this season.

Atlanta knocked off the Magic in six games in the first round of last year's playoffs and has won three straight and four of the last five regular season meetings between the two teams.

Sandboz Basketball Betting News


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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson
rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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