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Durant helps Thunder edge TimberwolvesBasketball Betting Lines01/20/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds to lead Oklahoma City to its 24th victory of the season, a 94-92 decision over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. With the triumph, the Thunder surpassed their win total from all of last season, when they went 23-59. The surging young club has won three in a row, and at 24-18 sits six games over .500 for the first time since the 2004-05 season, when the franchise was located in Seattle and the roster was vastly different. Durant, who entered Wednesday's contest averaging 29.1 points a game to rank among the NBA's best, also recorded his 11th double-double of the season. Jeff Green added 15 points and nine boards, while James Harden had 12 points off the bench. Corey Brewer had 25 points, six assists, five steals and five rebounds for the Timberwolves, who were coming off Monday's overtime win against Philadelphia, but couldn't make it two in a row after their late charge fell short. Al Jefferson had 20 points and nine boards for Minnesota.
<< Stuckey leads Pistons past Celtics
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rodney Stuckey scored 27 points and had a career-high 11 rebounds, and the Pistons used a big run in the fourth quarter to beat Boston, 92-86, at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Charlie Villanueva scored 1
<< Haws, BYU beat Wyoming to extend win streak to 14
<< Villanova routs Rutgers
<< Hoyas snap Pittsburgh's 31-game home winning streak
<< Bobcats crush Heat
Hornets douse red-hot Grizzlies >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Posey's layup of an inbounds toss with 1.1 seconds to go capped New Orleans' fourth-quarter comeback and handed the Hornets a 113-111 win over a hot Memphis Grizzlies club. Chris Paul scored a
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook BettingNFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal. A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon." It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed. The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha. So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games." Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs. |
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