Playoff-hopeful Rockets make a stop at Detroit

Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets are still fighting for a playoff spot in the crowded Western Conference. Their chances of gaining ground in the race look promising with tonight's matchup against the slumping Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Rockets are 4 1/2 games behind Portland for the eighth and final playoff berth in the conference, and they opened a three-game road trip with Saturday's 112-98 triumph at Minnesota behind a trio of high scorers. Kevin Martin led the way with 30 points, while Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola both had 25 for Houston, which improved to 14-16 as the guest. Scola also had a career- best 21 rebounds and Brooks handed out nine assists.

"That was a man's game by Luis," said Shane Battier, who posted 11 points and seven assists in the win. "He's playing great as of late. We told him that he had been sand-bagging us, but now that we know that he is capable of giving us twenty-twenty, we expect to see that a little more often."

Houston will also visit Washington on the road trip.

The Pistons will have more on their minds other than basketball after guard Rodney Stuckey's near-collapse on the bench during Friday's 99-92 road loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stuckey was taken from Quicken Loans Arena on a stretcher late in the third quarter. During a timeout, Stuckey was seen reaching out for Pistons strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander. Kander held him seated in place with Stuckey's head resting against the trainer's chest before he was gently lowered to the floor.

Stuckey was released from a Cleveland hospital on Saturday after undergoing tests, and the team posted on its Twitter page that all medical results were "normal," and added that he will undergo further tests upon his return to Detroit. Stuckey, who had 10 assists and eight points before leaving, is not expected to play Sunday.

Tayshaun Prince had 23 points and Richard Hamilton scored 20 for the Pistons, who have dropped six straight and will try to right the ship tonight in the opener of a three-game homestand versus the Rockets, Jazz and Wizards. Detroit is 14-17 at The Palace this season.

In other injury news for the Pistons, center Ben Wallace is doubtful against Houston because of a sore right knee.

The Rockets defeated Detroit, 107-96, back on December 15 at the Toyota Center and have won three straight in the series. Detroit, however, is 11-2 in the last 13 meetings as the host.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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