Slumping Lakers target win vs. Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers hope to avoid their longest losing streak in three seasons tonight when they hit the hardwood against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center.

The Lakers dropped their third straight game in Orlando on Sunday when Vince Carter scored a team-high 25 points, and Dwight Howard added 15 points and 16 rebounds, as the Magic escaped with a 96-94 win in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant, who missed a potential game-tying shot at the fourth-quarter buzzer, led all scorers with 34 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who have dropped three straight -- all on the road -- for the first time since January 23-27, 2008. Pau Gasol donated a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.

LA, which earned a 98-92 victory over the Magic on January 18 at Staples Center, defeated Orlando for the NBA title in five games last year. It was the Lakers' 15th title in franchise history.

With the Magic up 94-89 in the final minute, Bryant drained a corner three with 26.4 seconds on the clock. After Jameer Nelson was fouled and made 1-of-2 from the stripe, Bryant hit a long jumper from the top of the arc with 12.9 ticks left to cut LA's deficit to one.

The shot was originally ruled a three before the officials briefly reviewed it, and the replay clearly showed Bryant's foot was on the line. Carter was then fouled and made 1-of-2 with 9.7 seconds to go before Bryant's medium- range jumper was off the mark as time expired.

"I didn't release it the way I really wanted to so I tried to compensate for it because I felt the ball slipping," Bryant said. "That is my shot. You give that to me 10 times and I make it nine times."

The Lakers haven't dropped four in a row since April 8-13, 2007.

The Raptors, who are kicking off a four-game western road trip tonight, are coming off an embarrassing loss on their home floor to the woeful Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Thaddeus Young scored a career-high 32 points and rookie point guard Jrue Holiday had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in that one, as the Sixers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 114-101 win.

Jarrett Jack had a team-high 20 points to go along with nine assists for Toronto, which was coming off a 102-96 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. The Raptors, who shot 51.2 percent from the floor, have dropped six of seven overall, however.

Chris Bosh returned to the lineup after missing the previous six games because of a balky ankle and flu-like symptoms, and finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"I felt good, but anytime you are absent for any length of time, it's tough to get your legs back," Bosh said. "The main thing is I'm happy to be back playing."

Bryant has owned Toronto in Hollywood recently, averaging 43.4 points in the team's last five contests at Staples Center, including a career-high 81 on Jan. 22, 2006.

Overall the Raptors have dropped eight of their last nine games to the Lakers in LA but did snap a four-game skid to Phil Jackson's club with a 106-105 win north of the border back in January.

Casiogames Basketball Betting News

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Best Horse Betting Online

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.