Knicks finally win two straight, top struggling Sixers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danilo Gallinari finished with 21 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 94-84 victory over the struggling Philadelphia 76ers.

Rookie Toney Douglas added 20 points and seven assists for the Knicks, who were coming off Saturday's victory at Dallas that snapped the Mavericks' 13- game winning streak. New York hadn't won consecutive games since a three-game streak from January 1-7.

Tracy McGrady hit 4-of-5 from three-point range on his way to 14 points, while David Lee added 16 rebounds and eight points. Wilson Chandler had 12 points and 11 boards in the victory.

Rookie Jrue Holiday had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists to pace the Sixers, who have lost five in a row and 10 of their last 11. Andre Iguodala finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds, while Samuel Dalembert recorded 11 points and 18 boards for Philadelphia, which held a 54-38 rebounding advantage and collected 21 on the offensive end.

However, the Sixers had just 20 second-chance points as they shot 38.4 percent. Iguodala was a main factor in that percentage, as he missed all seven of his three-point tries and was 5-of-22 overall.

Each team led in the first quarter, which Chandler closed with a layup for a 26-25 Knicks edge. The Sixers, however, surged in the second quarter behind a 10-point effort from reserve Willie Green and nine points from Holiday.

Holiday scored seven in a row early in the frame to put Philadelphia ahead 35-30, and Green eventually ended the first half with a layup to put the Sixers up 55-44 at the break.

Philadelphia was still ahead by nine with five minutes left in the third quarter, but the Knicks ended the frame on a 17-4 run. Lee closed it with a layup as New York went into the fourth quarter with a 73-69 advantage.

The Knicks couldn't pull away, however, and Holiday's layup with 3:47 left had the Sixers within 85-82. But Douglas countered with a jumper, and after a series of misses, Gallinari sank two from the line with 2:03 to play for an 89-82 advantage. An Iguodala miss led to a Gallinari three, and the Knicks held on from there.

Game Notes

The Sixers shot 27.3 percent in the second half. They scored fewer points in the final two quarters (29) than they did in the second quarter alone (30)...New York improved to 2-2 on its five-game road trip, which ends Wednesday at Boston. The Knicks are 10-22 on the road this season...The Sixers fell to 10-22 at home...Philadelphia is 3-14 when scoring below 90 points this season...Green finished with 17 points...Al Harrington had 15 points for the Knicks, who made 11-of-25 from beyond the arc.

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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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