Playoff-hopeful Rockets make a stop at Detroit

Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets are still fighting for a playoff spot in the crowded Western Conference. Their chances of gaining ground in the race look promising with tonight's matchup against the slumping Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Rockets are 4 1/2 games behind Portland for the eighth and final playoff berth in the conference, and they opened a three-game road trip with Saturday's 112-98 triumph at Minnesota behind a trio of high scorers. Kevin Martin led the way with 30 points, while Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola both had 25 for Houston, which improved to 14-16 as the guest. Scola also had a career- best 21 rebounds and Brooks handed out nine assists.

"That was a man's game by Luis," said Shane Battier, who posted 11 points and seven assists in the win. "He's playing great as of late. We told him that he had been sand-bagging us, but now that we know that he is capable of giving us twenty-twenty, we expect to see that a little more often."

Houston will also visit Washington on the road trip.

The Pistons will have more on their minds other than basketball after guard Rodney Stuckey's near-collapse on the bench during Friday's 99-92 road loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stuckey was taken from Quicken Loans Arena on a stretcher late in the third quarter. During a timeout, Stuckey was seen reaching out for Pistons strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander. Kander held him seated in place with Stuckey's head resting against the trainer's chest before he was gently lowered to the floor.

Stuckey was released from a Cleveland hospital on Saturday after undergoing tests, and the team posted on its Twitter page that all medical results were "normal," and added that he will undergo further tests upon his return to Detroit. Stuckey, who had 10 assists and eight points before leaving, is not expected to play Sunday.

Tayshaun Prince had 23 points and Richard Hamilton scored 20 for the Pistons, who have dropped six straight and will try to right the ship tonight in the opener of a three-game homestand versus the Rockets, Jazz and Wizards. Detroit is 14-17 at The Palace this season.

In other injury news for the Pistons, center Ben Wallace is doubtful against Houston because of a sore right knee.

The Rockets defeated Detroit, 107-96, back on December 15 at the Toyota Center and have won three straight in the series. Detroit, however, is 11-2 in the last 13 meetings as the host.

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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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