Sports Betting

Sports Betting
Weekend Sports PreviewThe RCA Dome in Indianapolis plays host to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, which highlights a busy weekend in sports that also includes baseball's season opener, full slates of NBA, NHL, and Arena Football League games, and both Nextel Cup Series and Formula 1 events. Better stock up on snacks on Friday morning. First off, George Mason, Florida, LSU, and UCLA play in semi-final NCAA contests in Indianapolis on Saturday, with the winners advancing to Monday night's championship game. No top seeds made it past the Elite Eight in this year's tournament, making the UCLA Bruins (a No. 2 seed) the highest-seeded team remaining at the Big Dance. The Bruins play in the late game Saturday, an 8:47pm ET start against the LSU Tigers. The Tigers, who were a No. 4 seed in their region, are actually sitting as 2.5-point favorites in this game right now, with the contest's total at 121 points. LSU beat Texas in the Elite Eight to advance to this game, while UCLA knocked off top-seeded Memphis. In the other semi-final game it'll be the upstart George Mason Patriots versus the Florida Gators starting at 6:07pm ET. Oddsmakers like the Gators in this game, as they're sitting as 6-point favorites (with a total of 132.5). The Patriots knocked off UConn last game as a No. 11 seed, while the Gators as a No. 3 got past top-seeded Villanova. At the ballpark this weekend, Sunday night's MLB season-opener pits the defending-champion Chicago White Sox against the division-rival Cleveland Indians in the Windy City. Probable pitchers for the game are Mark Buehrle for the White Sox and C.C. Sabathia for the Indians. Baseball starts its schedule in earnest on Monday afternoon. Teams continue to jostle for playoff positioning around the NBA this weekend, with key games on tap all three days. On Friday night, the league's elite will be trying to pad their records against doormat opponents, as Dallas plays in Orlando, New Jersey travels to Atlanta, and Phoenix visits Toronto. Detroit plays host to Milwaukee on Friday night. On Saturday, the game of the day takes place in the afternoon, with the Cleveland Cavaliers hosting the Miami Heat. The Heat have already locked up a playoff spot, while the Cavs are trying to nail down the East's fourth seed. Central rivals Indiana and Milwaukee also play on Saturday, and the Spurs play host to the Wizards as well. Sunday sees three big matchups on the schedule as the Pistons play host to the Suns, the Mavericks get a visit from the Nuggets, and the Heat travel to New Jersey to play Vince Carter and the Nets. Also of note on Sunday are the Los Angeles Clippers at Sacramento, Houston at the Los Angeles Lakers, and Cleveland at Charlotte. It's also crunch time in the NHL this weekend, especially in the Western Conference where precious few points separate teams above and below the postseason cutoff line. On Friday night the Calgary Flames battle the Colorado Avalanche for top spot in the Northwest Division, while the Vancouver Canucks look to take care of the Minnesota Wild. The Dallas Stars play the Mighty Ducks in Anaheim in another Western matchup. On Saturday the Eastern Conference steps into the spotlight, with New Jersey visiting Philadelphia, the Maple Leafs hosting the Sabres, Boston playing in Montreal, Atlanta hosting Carolina, Tampa Bay battling Florida, and Ottawa playing Washington. Key Western games on Saturday include Calgary at Edmonton and Dallas at Los Angeles. A light Sunday in the NHL features only four games: Philadelphia at the New York Islanders, Detroit at Minnesota, New Jersey at Pittsburgh, and Vancouver at Anaheim. Austin and Philadelphia kick off Week 10 of the Arena Football League's schedule on Friday night, with the Soul listed as 6.5-point home favorites. On Saturday it's Grand Rapids at New York (-6), Utah at Tampa Bay (-7.5), Georgia (-9.5) at Kansas City, Columbus at Dallas (-10.5), and Nashville at Colorado (-4). Sunday features Chicago at Orlando (-3), Las Angeles at Las Vegas (-5), and Arizona at San Jose (-6.5). And on the auto racing scene, the Nextel Cup Series is at Martinsville Speedway this weekend for the DIRECTV 500. Matt Kenseth now leads the driver standings, as he sits just ahead of Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson. Overseas, the Formula 1 circuit is at Melbourne's Albert Park for the Australian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso continues to lead the F1 drivers championship, followed by Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher.
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NBA Betting

NBA Handicapping
Bets on Nets Have Been ProfitableMarch is a month of madness in the basketball world. Most of the madness is confined to the NCAA, but it looks like a little Vin-sanity has spilled into the NBA. The New Jersey Nets have been surging this month and a big reason has been the play of star Vince Carter. The Nets have won eight games in a row straight up (SU) and now have a commanding 8.5-game lead atop the Atlantic division standings (as of Monday). Among those wins was a 79-74 victory over the first-place Pistons in Detroit as 7-point dogs on Sunday. The Nets also downed the Mavs 100-89 as 2-point home dogs last Sunday. Jersey is now tied for third overall in the Eastern Conference behind Detroit and Miami and is on the verge of locking up a playoff spot. Bettors placing wagers on the Nets have also been cashing in on the team's success. Through their eight-game win streak, the Nets are 6-1-1 against the spread (ATS). During the stretch, Carter has led the team in scoring six times and has averaged 25 ppg. Overall, Vince is scoring 24 ppg, 12th most in the NBA. Carter's recent surge reflects his growing chemistry with point guard Jason Kidd, who has been getting Vince the ball. Kidd has led the team in assists in all but one game this month and is now averaging 8.5 apg, fifth most in the NBA. Interestingly, during the Nets' winning streak, six of eight games have fallen UNDER the posted total. In other words, during those wins New Jersey concentrated more on defense and limited their opposition in scoring. Conversely, in the eight games prior to the win streak, six games went OVER the total. And during that stretch the Nets were 3-5 SU and 0-7-1 ATS. One of the highlights of the Nets' strong defensive play came late in the game against the Pistons. With 2.1 seconds remaining and the Nets clinging to a 77-74 lead, Carter leapt up to deflect an in-bound pass by Ben Wallace and then stole the ball. The play likely saved the win for Jersey. "Vince must have been a high-jump champion somewhere, because that was an amazing play," Nets coach Lawrence Frank told reporters afterward.
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Sports Betting

Sports Betting
Handicappers May Want To Look At The UnderJust a week or so ago both the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres were looking like strong contenders to win their respective divisions in the Eastern Conference. However, both teams have fallen on hard times recently, with the Rangers losing three straight games and the Sabres having been defeated five times in a row. Those skids have allowed their division rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators, to parlay their own strong play into a strengthened position in the standings. The Senators now look like they've wrapped up the Northeast Division title, while the Flyers have come all the way back to sit tied with the Rangers atop the Atlantic Division. So Monday night's game between the Sabres and the Rangers could serve to get one of those two teams back on track, or at the very least put an end to their concerning losing streak. Handicappers will note that Buffalo has had the slight edge in the season series to this point, winning two of the three games, including their only meeting at Madison Square Garden (which is the site of Monday night's contest). Another trend to note is that the Sabres and Rangers have played three low-scoring games against each other this season, and all turned out to be UNDER plays. In October, the Sabres picked up a 3-1 victory, the Rangers won 3-2 in their November meeting, and the Sabres came back with a 2-1 win at the end of January. Those game results mirror the two teams' overall OU records on the season, as Buffalo goes into Monday night's game with a 27-41-2 OU mark, while New York sits at 29-40-2 on the season. However, during their current losing streak the Sabres' defense has been especially porous, as they've let in 21 goals in their past five games. As well, the Rangers have given up 13 goals in their last three games, all of which were losses. The home team has been favored in all three Sabres/Rangers clashes this season, and expect handicappers to make the Rangers the choice on Monday. New York is 25-19 when listed as the fave this year, while Buffalo boasts an 18-13 record as the underdog. Overall, the Rangers are 22-8-6 at home, while the Sabres are 21-11-2 on the road. Both will be hoping to improve on those marks when the final buzzer goes on Monday.
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