Howard, Magic put streak on line vs. Bulls

Basketball Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard and the surging Orlando Magic shoot for their seventh straight win tonight in the conclusion of a three-game homestand versus the Chicago Bulls at Amway Arena.

Orlando is riding a six-game winning streak and improved to 2-0 on the residency with Tuesday's 113-87 drubbing of the Los Angeles Clippers behind 22 points and 15 rebounds from Howard, who posted his league-leading 51st double-double of the season. Howard had an NBA-best 69 double-doubles in 2007-08, and finished second in that category last season with 63.

"With the playoffs coming up, we just want to make sure we get ourselves prepared for what's ahead by challenging ourselves every night to get better," said Howard.

Jameer Nelson totaled 17 points with eight assists, Rashard Lewis chipped in 15 points and Vince Carter netted 13 for the Southeast Division-leading Magic, who have won five in a row at home and are 26-6 in central Florida in 2009-10.

The Magic are creeping up the Eastern Conference standings, and sit five games behind top-seeded Cleveland in the No. 2 spot.

Chicago has dropped five in a row and completed a winless four-game homestand with Tuesday's 132-108 decision to the Utah Jazz at the United Center.

Derrick Rose, who is averaging 26.6 points, 6.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds in his last six contests, led the Bulls with 25 points and 13 assists. Brad Miller had 20 points, while Luol Deng and Ronald Murray totaled 14 points apiece for Chicago, which is a game off the sixth postseason spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto, Charlotte and Miami are all even for sixth, while the Bulls are on the outside looking in at the ninth spot.

"We played well enough offensively, but we can't control the paint right now," said Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro.

The Bulls will open a four-game road trip Thursday against Orlando, Miami, Memphis and Dallas, and are 12-19 away from the Windy City this season. Back on January 15, Chicago owned a road record of 4-15 and have gone 8-4 as the visitor since. Deng (calf) will miss Thursday's game, while Miller is probable with a thumb injury. Miller is posting 16.5 ppg in his last four outings.

The 2009-10 series between Orlando and Chicago is tied at a game apiece, but the Magic have won 10 of 13 and 11 of the last 15 meetings. The Bulls have lost four straight and five of their last six at Orlando.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL 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.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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