Mavs aim to push win streak to 13 vs. Nets

Basketball Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's worst team takes on its hottest when the New Jersey Nets meet the Dallas Mavericks in Big D tonight.

Despite playing short-handed the Mavs earned their 12th straight victory on Monday in Minneapolis when Shawn Marion posted 29 points to go with 14 rebounds, pacing Dallas in a 125-112 decision over the lowly Timberwolves.

Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler added 24 and 23 points, respectively, for the Mavericks, who are in the midst of their longest winning streak in three seasons and are now second in the Western Conference, three games behind the LA Lakers. Dallas last ripped off 13 straight victories during a franchise- best 17-game run from January 27-March 11, 2007. Nowitzki, meanwhile, is now just seven points behind Hall of Famer George Gervin for 30th on the all-time NBA scoring list with 20,701 total points.

Jason Kidd ended with 12 points and 10 assists for the victors, who continued their stellar play despite toiling without high-scoring guard Jason Terry (facial surgery) along with big men Brendan Haywood (back) and Erick Dampier (dislocated finger) in the Twin Cities. Also, one of Terry's replacement in the backcourt, J.J. Barea, left Monday's contest with a sprained ankle.

"When someone is down, someone else picks them up," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said of his team's cohesiveness. "When you get on a roll like this those things have to happen."

Barea and Haywood are listed as questionable for tonight as Dallas opens a four-game homestand but Terry and Dampier will be out until later this month.

The Nets, meanwhile, are playing out the string hoping to avoid becoming the worst team in NBA history. New Jersey needs to secure three wins in its final 19 contests to surpass the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who finished that season with a miserable 9-73 record.

The Nets fell to 7-56 on the season Monday in Memphis when Rudy Gay and Mike Conley each scored 21 points to push the Grizzlies past New Jersey, 107-101.

Courtney Lee led all scorers with 30 points on 13-of-20 shooting, and Devin Harris netted 28 points and five assists for the Nets, who were coming off a win over the Knicks and still haven't won two in row this season. Rookie Terrence Williams added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists off the bench.

"We don't like giving teams the head starts we've been giving," Harris said. "Once we correct that, it will be easier to contend in the fourth quarter."

The Nets are a hapless 1-22 against the Western Conference this season and just 4-28 on the road as they try to avoid a home-and-home season sweep at the hands of the Mavs. Dallas last swept the season series in 2006-07.

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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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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.