Spurs, Hawks tangle in Atlanta

Basketball Betting Lines

03/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of playoff-caliber teams get together this evening at Philips Arena in Atlanta, where the Hawks will try to snap a seven-game losing streak to the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs have also won 10 of the last 11 meetings with Atlanta, which hasn't defeated tonight's opponent since a 94-84 triumph back on December 10 of the 2005-06 campaign. San Antonio is unbeaten in its last three visits to Dixie and leads the all-time series 40-35, with the Hawks holding a 23-14 advantage in home games.

San Antonio is currently seventh in the Western Conference, just a half-game ahead of Portland, and has a tough stretch of games on the horizon against the Hawks, Thunder, Lakers, Cavs and Celtics. It is four games off the Southwest lead and posted a 147-116 drubbing of Golden State the last time out on Friday in the Alamo City. Manu Ginobili led the way with 23 points and a season-best 11 assists, while Richard Jefferson added 21 points and Tim Duncan ended with 17, six rebounds and five assists for the Spurs, who have won five of their last six games.

"We basically have the tough 15, the last 15 games are going to be rough," said Ginobili, who is averaging 19.6 points since the All-Star break. "It's good to get a win and have time to rest a little bit. We have a really rough back-to-back coming up in Atlanta and Oklahoma City. They are both good teams, strong at home so we are going to have to do very good against them."

The Spurs recorded their biggest point total since beating Denver, 161-153, on November 7, 1990, and got a career-best 16 points from Malik Hairston off the bench. Reserves Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair both chipped in 14 points. San Antonio will visit the Thunder on Monday and is 16-16 away from the AT&T Center in 2009-10.

Atlanta will shoot for its sixth straight home win Sunday and is coming off Friday's thrilling 93-92 overtime victory versus the Charlotte Bobcats. Joe Johnson tied the game at the end of regulation and then made a 21-foot jumper as time expired in overtime, finishing with 18 points after missing the previous two games because of a strained Achilles.

"It felt great when it left my hand," Johnson said of his game-winning shot. "I couldn't even see the basket after I shot. But if felt so good, I pretty much knew it was in the bucket. I just got a clean look."

Josh Smith also contributed 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Jamal Crawford chipped in 16 points for the Hawks, winners of four of their last five games overall. Atlanta, which is 27-7 at home and four games off the Southeast lead, is fourth in the Eastern Conference standings, only a half- game behind No. 3 Boston.

Crawford, a leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, is averaging 20.5 points per game this month and leads the NBA in scoring among players that have not started a game.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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