Sixers hand Bobcats 7th straight loss

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobcats coach Paul Silas wasn't on the court Friday night to see his team lose a season-high seventh straight game.

Ejected during a timeout, he missed the last 2 1/2 quarters of another bleak loss.

Lou Williams scored 17 points, Jrue Holiday had 15 and the Philadelphia 76ers easily handled Charlotte, 89-72, leading wire-to-wire and by as many as 30 points.

Silas was ejected as the game got out of hand, tossed after receiving two technical fouls during a timeout in the second quarter while his team trailed by 21.

The Bobcats, who are an NBA-worst 3-17, continue to deal not only with the frustration of losing, but also with injuries to some of their best players.

Gerald Henderson returned Friday from a one-game absence because of a bruised lower back, scoring seven, but D.J. Augustin missed his third straight game with a toe injury and D.J. White sat with a left knee contusion.

Shorthanded, the Bobcats lost their fourth straight game by at least 10 points after staying within single digits in their previous three losses. They also had a six-game losing streak earlier in the season,

The Atlantic division-leading Sixers, meanwhile, avoided losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Coming off an overtime loss to New Jersey on Wednesday, they opened with a 14-3 run sparked by Jodie Meeks' three-pointer and never looked back. Holiday scored the last seven points of the burst, including a three to cap it.

Meeks finished with 14 points for Philadelphia and Thaddeus Young had 10, while rookie Kemba Walker scored 14 to lead the Bobcats.

The Sixers held Charlotte to 21.1 percent shooting in the first quarter and had a 23-10 lead at the buzzer.

They continued to pour it on, scoring a season-high 36 points in the second quarter. Silas was ejected after the Bobcats took a timeout while trailing 46-25.

Meeks hit both technical free throws, ending an 18-4 run that pushed the lead from nine points to 23 with 4:48 remaining in the first half.

The Sixers led 59-37 at the break, shooting 56.1 percent in the first half, and carried a 26-point lead into the fourth quarter. They went ahead by as many as 30.

Game Notes

The home team has won the last five games in this series, and 19 of the last 22...The Bobcats have lost four of five and nine of their last 11 games at Philadelphia...The Sixers signed free-agent veteran center Francisco Elson earlier Friday to provide some depth at the position with Spencer Hawes (Achilles) and Nikola Vucevic (quad) missing time because of injuries. They are 2-1 on a seven-game homestand...The Bobcats return home to play Washington on Saturday.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

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