Thunder down Blazers in OT

Basketball Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook blocked Nicolas Batum's drive to the hoop in the closing seconds of regulation, then hit the go-ahead basket in overtime, as the Thunder handed the Trail Blazers their second home loss of the season, 111-107.

Prior to Westbrook's block, LaMarcus Aldridge was whistled for a controversial goaltending violation on Kevin Durant's layup attempt, tying the game with six seconds remaining.

Portland shot just 1-of-9 from the field in the extra session to fall to 11-2 at Rose Garden this season.

Durant finished with 33 points, Westbrook added 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Serge Ibaka chipped in 12 points and 13 boards for Oklahoma City, which was coming off Saturday's loss at San Antonio.

Aldridge led the Blazers with 39 points, but was called for goaltending despite appearing to get a piece of Durant's scoop before it hit the backboard.

Batum drove to the basket with time winding down, only to be met in the lane by Westbrook, who was able to hang in the air long enough to get a piece of the ball and send the game to overtime.

Westbrook opened the OT scoring with a pullup jumper, and Harden added a dunk off a Jamal Crawford turnover with 2:53 on the clock.

A Crawford basket cut the deficit to two, but Batum and Crawford each missed shots in the final minute, the latter getting blocked by Kendrick Perkins with under 10 seconds to play.

Durant slammed the door with a dunk.

Reggie Jackson's three-pointer near the first-quarter buzzer pulled Oklahoma City within 31-29, and the Thunder scored the final eight points of the half to build a 60-52 advantage.

The difference moved to 12 early in the third, but Portland responded with the next 13 points to continue a back-and-forth affair that featured 13 ties and just as many lead changes.

Oklahoma City owned an 85-79 edge heading to the fourth, and it was a two- possession game the entire final stanza.

Game Notes

The Thunder committed 20 turnovers, but scored 23 points off 13 Portland giveaways...Wesley Matthews and Crawford totaled 18 and 17 points, respectively in defeat...Oklahoma City had 20 fastbreak points to the Blazers' seven in transition.

Wwwgotocasino Basketball Betting News

<< Ducks beat Flames in lengthy shootout
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Niklas Hagman scored the game-winner in the eighth round of the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks continued their dominance of the Calgary Flames at home with a 3-2 decision. Bobby Ryan and Matt Belesky score

<< Griner leads No. 1 Baylor over Oklahoma
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brittney Griner netted 27 points to go with eight rebounds and eight blocks as No. 1 Baylor remained undefeated with a 81-54 win over Oklahoma. Odyssey Sims had 14 points while Destiny Williams snat

<< Gallinari suffers left ankle injury
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari exited Monday's game against the Houston Rockets after suffering a chip fracture in his left ankle. The injury came with 9:38 left in the third. From t

<< Rockets outlast Nuggets
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Scola scored 25 points to go with eight rebounds while Kyle Lowry added 20 points and six assists as the Houston Rockets downed the Denver Nuggets, 99-90. Chase Budinger nailed four treys and fin

<< Eagles, Terriers to clash again in Beanpot final
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Whitney tallied twice and Johnny Gaudreau once in a three-goal second-period burst as Boston College subdued Northeastern, 7-1, to reach the Beanpot final for the third straight year. Gaudreau

Clippers' Billups helped off the court >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chauncey Billups, a veteran playmaker on the upstart Clippers, was helped off the court in the fourth quarter after suffering an injury to his lower left leg. The Los Angeles Times reported Billups

Wildcats and Gators collide in matchup of SEC's best >>
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked Florida Gators have a tough task ahead of them, as they invade Rupp Arena this evening, to take on the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in a battle between the Southeastern Conference's top two squ

Buckeyes meet Boilermakers in Big Ten battle >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will try to keep sole possession of first place in the Big Ten Conference as they welcome the Purdue Boilermakers to Value City Arena for a league battle. This will be the

Bluejays set sights on Purple Aces in MVC action >>
Evansville, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Knocked down a few of pegs in the latest top-25 poll, the Creighton Bluejays now head to Evansville ranked as the 17th- best team in the nation as they clash with the Purple Aces in Missouri Valley Conference a

Li retires, Jankovic withdraws in Paris >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Li Na retired from her first-round match Tuesday at the Open GDF Suez, while fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic withdrew from the tournament, citing a left thigh strain. Bulgarian Tsvetana Pi

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.