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**flashypants** · 11-17-2010, 07:02 PM

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**StarDust Bum** · 11-17-2010, 07:28 PM

NBA betting rematch for Hornets, Mavericks

Coming into play on Monday night, the New Orleans Hornets were the only team in the NBA that didn't have a loss to their credit. That was all stopped at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, where the Dallas Mavericks knocked them off, 98-95.

Now, these same two teams head down to the Bayou on Wednesday where they will meet for the second time in just three days.

Dallas can move into a tie for first place in the Southwest Division if they can sweep this mini two-game series. Their stars came to shine on Monday for certain, as Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd were all phenomenal.

Nowitzki led the way with 25 points and 10 boards, while Kidd stuffed the stat sheet as usual, scoring 16 points, bringing in eight boards and dishing out six assists. Terry came off the bench with a flurry and scored a game-high 26.

Just like the Hornets, these Mavericks play fantastic defense. They are holding teams to just 42.2 percent shooting from the field, the best in the league. The efficiency has kept up on the other side of the court as well, where Dallas is shooting 48.6 percent, ranking No. 3 in the NBA coming into play on Tuesday night.

Caron Butler, the team's third leading scorer at 14.7 PPG, is suffering from back spasms that have caused him to miss three straight games. He is questionable for Wednesday's encounter.

This will be a chance for New Orleans to redeem itself after the shoddy outing against the Mavs on Monday. The offense shot just 44.2 percent from the field. Chris Paul did pour in 22 points and dish out nine assists, but aside from that the rest of the team was kept relatively quiet. Peja Stojakovic was the second leading scorer on the day and was the top man off the bench with 17 points.

The encouraging thing that the Hornets can look at this year is the fact that they are playing tremendous defense. The team ranks No. 2 in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage (30.8%), No. 3 in field goal percentage against (43.0%), and No. 2 in scoring average (90.7 PPG).

The little things are happening as well. Emeka Okafor is leading the squad with 21 blocks on the year, erasing the majority of the team's 45 swats on the campaign. There have been 74 steals as well, creating a slew of fast break opportunities and easy buckets the other direction. There are also only two players on the team, Okafor and rarely used Didier Ilunga-Mbenga that have more turnovers than assists.

Though the Hornets might not be undefeated anymore, they are still undefeated from an NBA bettors perspective. New Orleans is 8-0-1 ATS this year and is 10-0-1 ATS in its last 11 dating back to last season.

More good news for New Orleans: The home team in this series is 5-1-2 ATS and 8-0 in the last eight meetings. The Hornets are also 6-1-2 ATS in the last nine dating back to January 2009.

Dallas was favored by three points at home on Monday, and we expect to see a similar number hit the board in favor of the Hornets on the NBA odds on Wednesday.

**StarDust Bum** · 11-17-2010, 07:30 PM

Midweek NCAAF betting, Falcons at Rockets

The Mid-American Conference takes center stage Wednesday night when Toledo hosts Bowling Green. The Rockets (6-4 straight up, 5-5 against the spread) saw their chances of winning the MAC West Division take a major hit their last game, while the Falcons (2-8 SU, 5-5 ATS) are playing out the string.

Toledo will be hampered in this contest since quarterback Austin Dantin is ‘out’ indefinitely with a shoulder injury.

Don Best's Real-Time Odds has the Rockets as a 10-point home ‘chalk’ over Bowling Green, with the total set at 54. ESPN2 will provide coverage of this midweek MAC matchup beginning Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT from Toledo’s Glass Bowl.

Bowling Green fell to Miami (Ohio) last Wednesday in foggy conditions as a 2 ½-point home underdog, 24-21. The combined 45 points failed to topple the 52-point closing total, helping the ‘under’ cash the third consecutive contest.

The Falcons trailed the Redhawks in first downs (20-11), rushing yards (156-44), passing yards (221-176) and time of possession (33:10-26:50). The game wasn’t decided until Miami kicked a 33-yard field goal on the final play.

Bowling Green quarterback Matt Schilz was 17-of-29 passing for 176 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Running back Willie Geter had 16 carries for 34 yards and two scores in the setback, while wideout Kamar Jorden caught four passes for 95 yards.

Toledo was throttled by Northern Illinois Nov. 9 as an 11 ½-point road underdog in a battle of the top two teams in the MAC West Division, 65-30. The combined 85 points soared past the 51-point closing total, enabling the ‘over’ to improve to 4-1 its past five outings.

The Rockets entered halftime losing by four touchdowns (28-0), and finished the contest by trailing the Huskies in first downs (28-20), rushing yards (422-194), turnovers forced (1-0) and time of possession (37:31-22:29). Toledo signal caller Terrance Owens was 18-of-38 passing for 186 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while running back Adonis Thomas carried the ball 10 times for 152 yards and two scores.

Bowling Green is 3-0 SU and ATS the previous three meetings with Toledo, while the ‘under’ has cashed each time. The Falcons prevailed last season as a 7 ½-point home favorite, 38-24, while the combined 62 points failed to topple the 66 ½-point closing total.

Bowling Green is 20-7-1 its previous 28 road games, while the ‘under’ is 7-3 its last 10 outings in November. Toledo has seen the ‘over’ go 12-4 the past 16 games when listed as the favorite. The home team is 9-2 ATS the last 11 meetings in this series.

Bowling Green centers Scott Lewis and Ben Bojicic are ‘questionable’ versus the Rockets due to undisclosed reasons. The Falcons conclude their regular season Nov. 26 with a home game against Western Michigan.

Toledo running back David Fluellen will miss this matchup due to a leg injury. The Rockets wrap up their regular season Nov. 26 at home versus Central Michigan.

Wednesday’s forecast for Toledo calls for a 40 percent chance of rain and winds around 15 miles per hour, with a high of 55 degrees and a low of 37.

**StarDust Bum** · 11-17-2010, 07:31 PM

Rangers, Bruins clash on NHL odds slate

Don’t expect the goal judge to be very busy Wednesday when the Boston Bruins travel to Madison Square Garden to take on a New York Rangers squad that is riding a three-game winning streak. The ‘under’ has cashed in each of the last six series meetings between these Eastern Conference foes.

These two rivals have already met once this season (Oct. 23), with the Rangers upsetting the Bruins as 165 road underdogs, 3-2. The combined five goals slithered below the 5 ½-goal closing total, leaving the ‘under’ 20-8-1 in the last 29 series matchups.

The Bruins lost the game despite out-shooting the Rangers, 37-30. Each team went 1-for-6 on the power play, but that was just part of the penalty story. There were six fighting major penalties handed out in the first period alone, including misconduct and instigating penalties to New York bad boy Sean Avery.

New York netminder Henrik Lundqvist stopped 35-of-37 shots to register the win, while Boston’s Tuukka Rask blocked 27-of-30 shots in a losing effort.

Artem Anisimov, Alexander Frolov and Marc Staal registered goals for the Rangers, with Anismov’s marker occurring on the power play. Zdeno Chara notched a first-period power play goal for the Bruins, while Nathan Horton concluded Boston’s scoring in the second period.

The Rangers might not be as lucky to face Rask again on Wednesday, as No.1 goalie Tim Thomas has started the season hotter than a July day in Las Vegas.

The Bruins and Thomas are off Monday’s 3-0 shutout victory against New Jersey as 175 home favorites. The combined three goals dipped below the five-goal NHL odds total, enabling the ‘under’ to go 10-4-1 in Boston’s first 15 contests.

Thomas stopped all 28 New Jersey shots to register his league-leading fourth shutout and raise his record to a sizzling 9-1-0-0. The 36-year-old Michigan native also leads all starting goalies with a 1.32 GAA and .960 save percentage.

The Bruins were 1-3-1 in their previous five games, all of which began with the other team scoring first. Boston solved that hex when right winger Michael Ryder scored during a 5-on-3 power play at 15:26 of the first period.

Boston killed off all three New Jersey power plays, which is not unusual considering the Bruins rank second on the penalty kill with an 88.9 percent success rate.

Playing on the road hasn’t fazed the Bruins so far this season, evidenced by their 6-1-0-0 ledger in their first seven road encounters.

The Rangers extended their winning streak to three games with Monday’s 3-2 overtime victory at Pittsburgh as 140 road underdogs. The combined five goals ducked below the 5 ½-goal closing total, enabling the ‘under’ to go 11-7-1 in New York’s first 19 outings and 7-2 in its last nine.

Ryan Callahan scored 3:38 into overtime to provide the Rangers with a come-from-behind victory, as they scored twice over the final 5:04.

Callahan tapped in a perfect feed from Brandon Dubinsky on a 2-on-1 break for his fifth goal of the season and first in seven games. Dubinsky also assisted on Marc Staal's short-handed goal with 1:26 left in regulation.

New York won the game despite getting outshot by the Penguins, 39-25. The Rangers were aided by a much-improved penalty killing unit that did not allow the Penguins a goal during six chances with the man advantage.

John Tortorella’s troops have now yielded just one power play goal in their last six games spanning 21 chances. Though this is one area where the Rangers have improved lately, they still rank 21st on the penalty kill with an 81.3 percent success rate.

The Rangers hit the highway this weekend for back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday against the Avs and Wild, respectively. The Bruins will return home for a Thursday contest against the Florida Panthers.

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The Bum's Wednesday's Best Bets NCAAF-NCAAB-NBA-NHL !

The Bum's Wednesday's Best Bets NCAAF-NCAAB-NBA-NHL !

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