Jazz close out stretch in Oklahoma City

Basketball Betting Lines

02/14/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah just might be a sitting duck when it finishes a grueling three games in three nights road stretch tonight in Oklahoma City.

The Jazz lost to the Thunder, 101-87, in Salt Lake City last Friday and has played two games since, a 98-88 win in Memphis on Sunday and an embarrassing 86-80 setback to the lowly Hornets in New Orleans on Monday.

Al Jefferson had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds vs. New Orleans while Derrick Favors also scored 14 for the Jazz, who have lost six of their last eight games overall and fell to a Hornets team that had dropped eight straight and 23 of 25.

Utah coach Tyrone Corbin benched Jefferson and fellow starters Devin Harris, Raja Bell and Paul Millsap for the entire fourth quarter.

"It's absolutely [disappointing]," Corbin said. "It's everything I thought it wouldn't be, it happened tonight. We thought we could just show up and win the ballgame."

"I thought we came out and played pretty well early. Surprisingly, it fell apart on us," Bell added.

The Thunder, meanwhile, have been resting since topping the Jazz last week behind All-Star Russell Westbrook's game-high 28 points.

Fellow All-Star Kevin Durant added 19 points and Serge Ibaka contributed a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Western Conference-leading Thunder won three of their last four games to wrap up a five-game road trip with a 3-2 record.

"We have always been a good bounce-back team after a loss," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks, who earned the right to coach the Western Conference at the All-Star Game later this month with the win. "Tonight was a good indication of how we play. We didn't have a lot of things going for us early. We were turning the ball over, but we fought, we stuck together and we competed."

OKC has won six straight on its home floor and is a stellar 9-1 at Chesapeake Energy Arena this season while Utah fell to 3-8 on the road with last's night setback in NOLA. The Thunder haven't started 10-1 at home since they were the Seattle SuperSonics back in 2004-05.

"It's just good to be home in our own house, our own city," Brooks told the Thunder's website. "We're going to be home for a while. That doesn't guarantee victories. We still have to work on a lot of the things that we need to improve and play with good energy, but it's nice to be in front of our home crowd for a while."

Oklahoma City, which plays six of its next seven at home, has won four consecutive games over the Jazz overall.

Wwwezsweeps Basketball Betting News

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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“You play to win the game!”

Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.

The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.

The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.

Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?

Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.

New York Giants betting lines

Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.

Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.

The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.

Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.

Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.

First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”

The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason. 

Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.

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