Cousins leads Kings into New Orleans

Basketball Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeMarcus Cousins hopes to build on one of his best games as a professional when the Sacramento Kings shoot for a season-high third straight victory tonight in the Big Easy against the New Orleans Hornets.

Cousins had his first career 20-20 game, recording 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds on Saturday when the Kings edged Golden State in overtime, 114-106, at Power Balance Pavilion.

John Salmons scored 14, including the go-ahead three-pointer to start the extra frame for the Kings, who have won two straight after dropping five in a row. Marcus Thornton totaled 28 points and Tyreke Evans 26 for the Kings, who also received 15 points and 16 rebounds from Jason Thompson.

"When it comes along and develops, they're going to be pretty good," Sacramento coach Keith Smart said of his starting lineup. "All those guys in that lineup bring something that's very positive on both sides of the ball."

Sacramento, which is just 2-11 as the visitor on the year, will be playing eight of its next 10 games on the road.

The Hornets, who are kicking off a four-game homestand tonight, have lost five straight after Saturday's 89-87 heartbreaker at Detroit. Trevor Ariza paced the Hornets attack with 26 points in that one and Greivis Vasquez added 14 points and nine assists as the Hornets also dropped their sixth straight road game.

New Orleans has now lost 14 of its last 15 contests overall.

"Well, this is the dog days of the NBA right now," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "A lot of players are kind of going through the motions and tired and we certainly looked that way tonight. I thought we'd be a bit fresher because I gave them the day off yesterday and maybe that hurt us."

On the injury front for New Orleans, forward Carl Landry went down in the third quarter in Detroit with a second degree MCL sprain in his left knee and is expected to miss three to four weeks. Meanwhile, center Jason Smith suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter and listed as day-to-day.

The team could get a boost up front, however, with the possible return of Chris Kaman. After failing to work out a trade for the veteran, the Hornets have brought him back into the fold and he will be eligible to play tonight.

"For a number of reasons, including the team's decision to give more time to younger players, we had thought it best for Chris to work out on his own at as we made efforts to trade him," said Hornets General Manager Dell Demps. "However, following discussions with Chris, we have since concluded that being with the team is better for both Chris and the team, particularly our younger players who benefit from his experience and skill level.

"Chris has been working out daily over the past week and is in game condition," Demps added.

Finally, guard Jarrett Jack, who has missed the last two games with a sore left knee, is questionable for the Hornets.

New Orleans, which is just 2-11 at home on the season, has won five straight and 11 of 12 in the Big Easy against Sacramento.

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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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