Raptors overcome Wade's 40-point night win in over Heat

Basketball Betting Lines

11/19/2008 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrea Bargnani scored a season-high 25 points, leading the Toronto Raptors over the Miami Heat, 101-95, in a tough road test at American Airlines Arena.

Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal both posted double-doubles, with Bosh recording 15 points and 11 rebounds while O'Neal had 16 points and 17 rebounds. Anthony Parker was a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc for 19 points for the Raptors, who have won two of three.

"Every time they took the lead, we came right back and got the timely stops," said Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell. "(Bargnani) and (O'Neal) were just huge for us, and then (Parker) in the second half. We just kept telling (Parker) to shoot the basketball. The guys off the bench gave us some big points."

The Raptors shot 9-of-13 from three-point range in the game, including an 8-for-8 mark to finish the game.

Dwyane Wade had a game-high 40 points and 11 assists for the Heat, who have lost three of five. Shawn Marion added a season-high 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Daequan Cook had 10 points in the loss.

"We are going to build on (the game)," Wade said. "Tonight we played a team that played well throughout the whole game and hit big shots. We kept fighting and had a chance. At the end of the day, the best team won tonight."

Down 10 headed into the final quarter, Miami started on a 17-6 burst to seize an 84-83 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. Marion and Chris Quinn combined to score 10 during the run.

But Parker hit Toronto's seventh consecutive three-point attempt to take back an 86-84 advantage. Parker hit a fadeaway shot to go up four, but Wade's three-pointer with four minutes to play pulled Miami within 92-89.

Jose Calderon, who missed the last two games with a strained right hamstring, made a crucial steal with just over a minute to go and put the Raptors up by five with a driving layup past Quinn and Marion with 1:09 left.

Wade made a jumper with 41 seconds left to pull Miami within four, but Cook's three-point attempt on the next possession was off, and Parker put the finishing touches on the game with a couple free throws with under 10 seconds left to put Toronto up 101-95.

"Well we didn't like the result, but I think people probably got their money's worth on that game," said Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra. "Going down the stretch, it got as electric as it could get."

Toronto jumped out to a 17-6 lead in the first six minutes, thanks to 10 early points from Bargnani. But Wade led the Heat back into it with nine points in the first, and Miami was only down two after the opening period.

The Raptors were able to increase their lead to nine in the beginning of the second, maintaining that advantage for most of the quarter. But Wade hit a jumper and a free throw in the last 20 seconds, and the Heat trailed only by four at the break.

Miami tied the game at 47 early in the third, but Toronto answered with an 8-0 run to regain the lead. The Raptors would increase their lead to as much as 17 thanks to the team's 6-for-6 shooting from three in the quarter and led 77-67 headed into the fourth.

Game Notes

Parker tied a team record for most three-pointers without a miss. It has happened two times in Toronto history, with the last being Mike James against Golden State on December 16, 2006...Calderon had eight points and seven assists...Miami shot just 7-of-23 from three-point range...Bargnani shot 3-of-4 from long range...Toronto leads the season series, 2-0, and has beaten the Heat six straight times...Wade set a career-high with five blocks.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

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.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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