Blazers lose in Sacramento

Basketball Betting Lines

02/03/2012 - Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Thornton returned from a four-game absence and scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, lifting the Sacramento Kings past the Portland Trail Blazers, 95-92.

Raymond Felton and Jamal Crawford both missed three-pointers in the final 10 seconds to seal the win for Sacramento.

John Salmons netted 19 points, Tyreke Evans had 18 and Jason Thompson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak.

"It was a great crowd effort tonight and we played hard," Evans said.

LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds for Portland, which moved to 3-9 away from home compared to an impressive 10-1 mark at the Rose Garden.

"We've had every opportunity the last (couple) road games and we're finding ways to lose it," Crawford said.

Aldridge's layup tied the contest at 88 with 3:09 to play in the game, but the Kings reeled off the next five points.

Salmons' jumper gave the Kings a two-point lead, and a bit later, following an Evans turnover, Thornton made the play of the night as he blocked Felton's layup on a 2-on-1 Portland fastbreak. The ball bounced off of Felton, giving the ball back to Sacramento.

Thompson's layup made it 92-88 and Thornton hit 1-of-2 from the line on Sacramento's next trip down the floor to make it a five-point game with 1:12 left.

It appeared that Evans' jumper -- which made it 95-90 -- from the top of the key with 19.2 seconds left sealed the win for the Kings, but Aldridge's layup and Wallace's steal gave the Blazers one final shot with 9.9 to play.

Felton's three-pointer from the left wing clanked off the rim, but Wesley Matthews corralled the offensive rebound and dished to Crawford on the right wing. His trey with 0.9 left was off the mark as well.

Aldridge netted 19 points in the opening half as the Blazers took a 56-47 lead at halftime.

Portland shot just 25 percent and scored just 13 points in the third as Sacramento took a 71-69 advantage into the fourth.

Game Notes

Nicolas Batum missed his second straight game with a bone bruise on his left knee...Portland has lost four straight road games...Felton finished with 15 points and 10 assists.

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

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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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