Hornets buzz into Windy City

Basketball Betting Lines

03/02/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls play the finale of a three-game homestand, as they welcome the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets tonight to the United Center.

This is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs. On December 1st, Andres Nocioni scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Chicago edged the Hornets, 111-108, at the Ford Center.

Nocioni is currently sidelined with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

The Hornets have lost two of their last three at Chicago. The Bulls have won two in a row in the series.

Chicago attempts to win back-to-back games this evening. Ben Gordon scored 22 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out six assists as the Bulls used a dominant third quarter to crush the Golden State Warriors, 113-83, at the United Center.

Thabo Sefolosha scored a career-high 19 points, while Adrian Griffin posted a career-high 17 points for the Bulls, who outscored the Warriors 33-11 in the third quarter for the decisive victory.

Tyrus Thomas tied a career-high with 14 points and Luol Deng contributed 13 points, five boards and six assists as Chicago put the brakes on a two-game skid and improved to 23-8 at home this season.

Forward P.J. Brown (bruised left knee) is questionable for tonight's game. Brown is averaging 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 51 games for Chicago this season.

New Orleans/Oklahoma City has won three of its last four games overall. Chris Paul posted 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Hornets got their sixth straight win at home with a 107-100 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday at the Ford Center.

Devin Brown scored 19 points in the win over Atlanta for the Hornets. Tyson Chandler collected 18 points and 13 boards, while David West had 17 points and 14 boards in the victory.

The Hornets are just 9-19 on the road this season. They are scheduled to host the Utah Jazz on Sunday at the Ford Center.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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