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06/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is nothing more deflating for an NBA team than watching a great shooter get a good look from the three-point line.
The ball comes off the hand and almost seems frozen in time for a second or two before splashing through the net, never touching the cylinder.
It's an almost helpless feeling.
At some point in the NBA Finals, you knew the Boston Celtics were going to exploit a mismatch in the backcourt.
Kobe Bryant may be the best on-ball defender in professional basketball but the aging Derek Fisher was going to have trouble matching up with either Rajon Rondo or Ray Allen.
As one of the best shooters in the history of the game, a date with Bryant's torturous defense used to be a virtual guarantee for Allen, but the emergence of Rondo has made things difficult for Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
It's almost a "pick your poison" type of decision for Jackson. Kobe can stifle just about anyone but if you put him on Rondo, Allen is going to get a lot of open looks. Shut down Ray's outside shooting, and you open up the lane for Rondo's penetration.
Jackson was clearly more concerned with Rondo's ability to get to the rim, and made his decision to place Bryant on Rondo in Game 1.
"Teams have done that all year," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "It's nothing new putting a big guy on Rondo and a small guy on Ray. And every time we do that we feel we can give Ray shots."
Jackson's roll of the dice worked and the Lakers earned a rather emphatic Game 1 victory as Allen struggled with foul trouble and was unable to take advantage of the 6-foot-1 Fisher's spotty defense.
"The other night was frustrating," Allen said of Game 1 "It was tough just trying to adjust the referees on the sideline. Physically I felt great. I was getting to the spots I needed to, just never really got in a great rhythm."
The NBA playoffs are all about adjustments between contests. Jackson stood pat in Game 2 and Rivers made sure his team understood what went wrong, reminding his players there was a significant mismatch to exploit. The result was Allen setting an NBA Finals record by sinking eight three-point shots in a 103-94 Game 2 win over the Lakers.
"I'm trying not to do too much," Allen said when describing Rivers' game plan. "Getting Fisher, run him off screens and forcing their bigs to help. That's somewhat the thought process. Making a hard cut from one side of the basket to the other."
Allen made his first seven from long range in the first half of Game 2 on the way to an incredible 27-point effort by halftime, boosting the Celtics to a 54-48 advantage.
"I thought they (Lakers) did everything they could to keep me from shooting threes and they worked tirelessly," Allen said. "We were setting great screens and I was getting to my spots."
The Lakers adjusted their defense on Allen after the first half but the damage was done. A deflated Celtics team was rejuvenated and able to take advantage of Bryant's own foul trouble to hold off LA.
"He was unbelievable," Pierce said of Allen. "He just came out here and shot lights out. You could tell he was frustrated from the last game because of the foul trouble and I think he showed us that Ray Allen is a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest shooters to ever play."
Allen canned the record breaker with 4:40 left in the third quarter, helping Boston even the best-of-seven series and seize home-court advantage. He finished the game with 32 points, going 8-of-11 from three-point range, breaking the mark he shared with Houston's Kenny Smith (1995) and Chicago's Scottie Pippen (1997).
"I don't know what record it is that people are telling me that I got, but it's great to have," Allen said after the game. "Great to be able to look back on it and say I did that. This is definitely the time. There is no better place, moment or time to play a game, to win a game than the finals."
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<< Selig and MLB slow to stifle replay controversy
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - To say Jim Joyce feels bad for costing
Armando Galarraga's chance at history would be a gross understatement. But
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the realization th
<< Dodgers, Cardinals to face off in NLDS rematch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing in close games has become a habit of the Los
Angeles Dodgers as of late. That wasn't the case the last time they faced the
St. Louis Cardinals.
Los Angeles and St. Louis square off for the first time since last sea
<< Rangers host Mariners at the Ballpark
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers will attempt to continue their season-
long success at home when the current American League West leaders welcome one
of the worst road teams in the majors, the Seattle Mariners, to Rangers
Ballpar
Etherington close to new Stoke deal >>
Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has
confirmed that Matthew Etherington is close to penning a new contract at the
Britannia Stadium.
The former West Ham star enjoyed a fine 2009-10 campaign and
Mauer leads AL All-Star voting, Morneau moves past Teixeira >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer continues to
be the top vote-getter after the third set of American League All-Star
balloting results, while his teammate, first baseman Justin Morneau, moved
into fi
Lennon named manager of St Mirren >>
Paisley, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St Mirren have named the highly-rated
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Krasic hopeful over Juventus deal >>
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CSKA Moscow's Serbia international playmaker
Milos Krasic is closing in on a move to Serie A giants Juventus.
The 25-year-old has been linked with a number of top clubs across Europe, but
is keen to try his
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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