NBA Betting: Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Basketball betting storylines for the first month of the season have led to Thursday night’s matchup between the Miami Heat (-4.5) and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Online Sportsbook were projecting the Heat as nine-point favorites for this contest when the season began (with NBA Prospective lines), but given Miami’s current seven-game streak of losses against the spread (ATS), it’s a wonder they’re even favored at all.

Cleveland has posted a 4-4 ATS record the past while but they were underdogs in 7-of-8. The Cavs have an illustrious 5-0 record straight-up (SU) and ATS vs. Miami since March of 2009, but LeBron James was Cleveland’s leading scorer in four out of five games.

Ah yes, King James. Where would the Cleveland franchise be without their deserting leader? James averaged more than 28 points per game the past five years with Cleveland and so far this year with the Heat is netting just 23.7 points per contest.

James was good for 31.6 points in the past five meetings between these teams and this season through 17 games the King has crowned 32-plus points only three times.

Sportsbooks are giving bettors a chance to bet on nearly every aspect of this game, offering betting prop and Over/Under odds for how many points LeBron will score, does Chris Bosh remain an afterthought (O/U 19 points) and an exotic prop on whether or not James will do his patented powder move that became famous during his past seven seasons.

The routine involves filling his hands with white powdered rosin and tossing it above his head just before tip-off, creating a dust cloud that has become as much his signature as any powerful dunk.

All eyes in the basketball betting world will be on Cleveland Thursday night and the early public betting percentages show more than 70-percent of NBA picks lay with the favorite covering the spread.

As the betting action heats up and the shot clock to tip-off counts down, expect more betting options to come available.

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has thrown gas on the fire, hiring a law firm to investigate whether the Heat violated NBA rules in their recruitment of LeBron James.

It has all the makings of a mid-week drama. Just what the league was hoping for.

Enjoy the game!

NBA Betting – Boston Celtics Value

The demise of the Boston Celtics has been written over and over this NBA betting offseason. It seems many are giving the Miami Heat the best basketball odds to reach the NBA finals. Did we miss something here? Aren’t the Celts bringing back, essentially, the same team that was a few points away from winning the title?

Boston has been called aging and finished by the critics for a couple of years now. Still, their veteran stars continue to perform at a high level. NBA odds are starting to skew towards the Heat and all of their new acquisitions. However, basketball bettors at Sports Betting shouldn’t overlook the Celtics.

Boston had a very quiet offseason. They re-signed both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, two of their key veterans. Boston also managed to replace the retired Rasheed Wallace with Shaquille O’Neal. In Shaq, Boston loses some of the outside shooting ability that Wallace brought, but they now have less of a risk of technical fouls and they upgrade their rebounding ability. Boston was terribly outrebounded versus the Lakers in the final postseason game last year and knew they needed to correct that element.

Meanwhile, point guard Rajon Rondo continues to emerge for the Celtics. Each year, he becomes more critical to the Celtics success and his game becomes more well-rounded. If he can develop a reliable outside jump shot, Boston should be able to match up with anyone in the league, and yes, that includes the Miami Heat.

Right now the Celtics are a 10-1 shot to win the NBA title at the sportsbook. Now is the perfect chance to get in on those favorable future odds. With Miami and the Lakers listed as 6-4 co-favorites to win it all, the respect for Boston has waned considerably. Look for this experienced team to use this as motivation in their quest to get back to the finals and finish what they couldn’t this past June.

MLB Betting: Washington (3-5) Vs Philadelphia (7-1)

MLB Betting Washington (3-5) at Philadelphia (7-1): Philadelphia’s potent offense appeared to take a hit Wednesday, when shortstop Jimmy Rollins(notes) was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a calf strain. The three-time All-Star and 2007 NL MVP, who is batting .391 with eight runs scored, was injured during warmups before Monday’s 7-4 home-opening victory over the Nationals.

The Phillies (7-1) won 14-7, the sixth time they’ve plated at least seven runs. The top four batters in the order - Victorino, Placido Polanco(notes), Utley and Howard - went a combined 10 for 18 with 12 RBIs and nine runs. Victorino finished with four hits and a career-best five RBIs, and Utley hit two homers for Philadelphia, off to its best start since opening 8-1 in its 1993 pennant-winning season.

Baseball Betting: Washington (3-5) Vs Philadelphia (7-1)

Washington (3-5) has lost eight straight at Citizens Bank Park, and 13 of 14 there. Utley and Howard have been instrumental to that dominance.

Utley, who also homered Monday, is batting .413 with five home runs, 16 RBIs and 19 runs in the last 13 home games against the Nationals. Howard is hitting .320 with four homers and 17 RBIs in the last 14.

Howard looks to continue that success against one of his favorite pitchers.

The 2006 NL MVP is hitting .483 with two homers and three doubles lifetime against scheduled starter Scott Olsen(notes)—Howard’s highest average against any pitcher he has had at least 13 at-bats against.

This will be Olsen’s season debut after missing half of 2009 because of a shoulder injury. The left-hander went 2-4 with a 6.03 ERA in 11 starts before undergoing surgery in July. He faced the Phillies twice, going 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA.

Olsen made a minor league start Friday, allowing four runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings for Triple-A Syracuse.

Philadelphia counters with J.A. Happ(notes) (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who is hoping to go a bit deeper after struggling at times during his 2010 debut.

Happ went 10-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 23 starts as a rookie last season, but allowed six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in five innings of an 8-0 win at Houston on Friday. Although he kept the Astros off the scoreboard, he threw 103 pitches.

“I am happy with it, but it would have been nice to have been a little more economical,” the left-hander said

In his only career start against Washington on May 29, Happ gave up three runs, three hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings of a 5-4 win.

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College Basketball Betting- Cremins signs extension through 2014-Online Sportsbook

Cremins signs extension College of Charleston athletic director Joe Hull announced Friday that men's basketball coach Bobby Cremins has signed a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2013-14 season.

The Cougars have posted a 65-37 record and made a pair of Southern Conference championship game appearances during Cremins' three years at the helm.

Now, with Wildcats' star Stephen Curry gone to the NBA, College of Charleston likely will be the favorite to win the SoCon title -- and return Cremins to the NCAA college basketball betting tournament.

"Yeah, we hope to get there one day," he said. "We'll see."

Charleston returns one of the Southern Conference's top players in Andrew Goudelock, who averaged 16.7 points a game -- fourth-best in the league -- and made the postseason all-conference first team. The schedule, though, could make things difficult with games against Clemson, Tennessee and, in Charleston, defending NCAA college basketball betting champion North Carolina.

"I love online basketball betting at College of Charleston and I'm excited about the direction of the program," said Cremins. "I really appreciate the support of the College of Charleston and its administration." Cremins made a name for himself with Georgia Tech, guiding the program to 14 winning seasons and 14 postseason berths in his 19 years as bench boss. The Yellow Jackets won three Atlantic Coast Conference tournament titles, one ACC regular-season crown and reached the Final Four in 1990. He departed as the school's all-time winningest coach.

"We are thrilled to have Bobby Cremins as our head basketball coach," said Hull.

"Bobby is a proven winner, a terrific person and a great fit for the College of Charleston." Cremins' trophy case is also full of personal accolades, taking home National Coach of the Year honors in 1985 and 1990, while capturing ACC Coach of Year in 1983, 1985 and 1996.

Online Sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.COM gives more information about Cremins signs extension.

When the wins didn't come as frequently, Cremins was let go by Georgia Tech after the 2000 season. He spent his time as a college basketball analyst and playing tennis on Hilton Head -- until joining the College basketball betting of Charleston.

Cremins would be nearing 67 when his new deal runs out. He's watched Penn State's Joe Paterno coach into his 80s and isn't ready to put a time limit on his basketball coaching career.

For more betting on sports check out Online Sportsbook

NBA Betting-NBA Insider-Raptors Trade for Belinelli

Andrea Bargnani won’t be the only Italian Stallion on the Toronto Raptors anymore. The Raptors shipped newly acquired Devean George, who Toronto received in the mega deal that shipped Shawn Marion to Dallas and allowed the Raps to sign Turkoglu, to Golden State in exchange. It’s not the biggest move, but it proves that Toronto is still looking to the future. Their willingness to continue to build a team around Chris Bosh, so that he resigns in Toronto, is priority one amidst all of these shifty moves by Colangelo.

Belinelli is the 18th overall pick from the 2007 NBA Draft, and was drafted right behind guys like Al Thornton, Rodney Stuckey and Nick Young. Though he averaged just 8.9 points per game and 2.1 assists in 42 games during the 2008-09 NBA Betting Online season, Bellini did have a 13-game stretch where he averaged 16.0 points per game. The Italian shooting-guard made a name for himself during the 2006 FIBA World Championships where he played for the national team of Italy and averaged 13.5 points per game. Against the U.S. National Team, Belinelli scored 25 points in a preliminary game loss. In short the kid has talent, but we just aren’t sure how much.

Don Nelson was extremely high on Belinelli after the 2007 summer league and the injuries the Italian sustained that have kept him in only 75 games in two seasons allowed the staff in Golden State to lose some faith in the speedy guard. Trading Belinelli to the Raptors had more to do with the pressing financial situation of the Warriors. Toronto will assume most of George’s contract with the cash considerations paid to Golden State in the trade.

This move alone isn’t enough to secure Bosh. But Belinelli, DeRozan, Calderon, Turkoglu, Jarrett Jack and Bargnani will have to prove that the Raptors are a team worth signing on to long-term. For the short-term, they are slowly inching towards respectability in the eyes of their gambling online faithful who were burned at the stake by Toronto.

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March Madness Bets - Arena Wars: Freedom Hall vs. Rupp Arena

Welcome to another edition of our summer series Arena Wars, where we've summoned the fans to defend their home court. 

Each week we pit two arenas and fans against each. Could be arenas of rival teams, arenas with similar characteristics or arenas that are simply historically significant. Then it's put up to vote and you decide which arena has the greatest home-court advantage. 

We turn to the bluegrass state for this week's featured matchup and that can only mean one thing -- the University of Kentucky's Rupp Arena vs. the University of Louisville's Freedom Hall. The state loves its basketball and both arenas annually rank top five in attendance and you place March Madness Bets.

Freedom Hall, 20 years the elder of Rupp having opened in 1956, has been a great arena for the Cardinals, who have posted a home record of 669-137 through the years. Alas, its days are numbered. Following the 2009-10 season, the Cardinals will move to a new state-of-the-art arena in downtown Louisville featuring a minimum capacity of 22,000 for men's basketball. 

While Kentucky's Rupp lacks the amenities of most arenas of its size, it hasn't kept fans from turning out in record numbers. In fact, it's the bleacher seating and absence of luxury boxes that allows Rupp to cram 23,000+ into the arena for every home game. Since opening in 1976, the Wildcats have lost just 60 home games while claiming 426 victories. 

If you've visited either of this week's featured arenas, chip in with your experiences in the March Madness Bets.

Basketball Odds -Kidd Re-ups With Mavericks

After losing to the Hornets in the first round of the 2008 playoffs, Avery Johnson was fired, and Rick Carlisle was hired as the new head coach for the Dallas Mavericks. After getting off to a rocky start at 2-7, the Mavericks eventually found themselves with the sixth spot in the western conference playoff bracket for 2009. This was after going 50-32 (ninth consecutive 50+-win season) and about three to four weeks earlier, weren't even sure if they were going to make the eighth and final spot. But a run of 5-1 in their last six regular season games got them to a game over the Hornets for sixth place. Dirk Nowitzki also entered the postseason with a streak of twenty-five consecutive games of scoring 20 or more points, which was ended in the first game of the quarterfinals series verses the arch-rival, San Antonio Spurs.
The Mavericks surprised many people by winning Game 1, 105-97 in San Antonio. The Spurs would come back to win Game 2 though, by twenty-one points, as the series shifted to Dallas, as the two teams had both won a game. Dallas, who had only lost one game at home after the All-Star Break, won both Games 3 and 4 at home, by twenty-one and nine points, 88-67, and 99-90. San Antonio was just trying to win Game 5 to extend the series, but they couldn't do it as the Mavericks eventually took over and won by thirteen, 106-93, clinching the series, as they would get out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2006 playoffs when they advanced all the way to the Finals.
Point guard Jason Kidd has re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks for three-years at over $25 million reports ESPN.

The Mavs are listed at +1800 to win the Western Conference next season.

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