Paul, Hornets sting Hawks

Basketball Betting Lines

03/01/2007 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Paul posted 24 points and 13 rebounds, as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets got their sixth straight win at home with a 107-100 win over the Atlanta Hawks at the Ford Center.

Devin Brown scored 19 points for the Hornets, who have won three of their last four. Tyson Chandler notched 18 points and 13 boards, David West had 17 points and 14 boards, and Desmond Mason added 16 points.

The Hornets have won 12 of their last 13 at home and are 19-11 on the season as the host. The Hornets will play in Chicago on Friday.

Joe Johnson posted 27 points and eight assists for the Hawks, who lost for the fifth time in six games. Josh Smith notched 17 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, while Anthony Johnson netted 13 points. Marvin Williams added 12 points and eight boards.

The tilt was the second of a quick three-game road trip for Atlanta that concludes in Washington on Friday. The Hawks are just 12-19 as the visiting team this season.

With Atlanta trailing 100-92 in the final minute, Smith drilled a three- pointer with 33.3 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. West then converted a pair of free throws one second later, but Johnson responded on a layup with 27.7 seconds remaining

Brown hit a free throw at 26.4 seconds, but Salim Stoudamire's trey with 19.1 seconds to go kept Atlanta alive with a 103-100 deficit.

However, Paul hit a pair of free throws with 14.1 seconds left and Smith came up short on a three-point attempt. Mason then converted a pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds on the clock to seal the win.

The lead went back and forth several times through the first quarter, and Atlanta edged a 30-27 advantage heading into the second.

After Zaza Pachulia's layup 23 seconds into the second, the Hornets went on a 10-2 run capped by a West jumper with 8:44 remaining for a 37-34 lead. They retained control down the stretch for a 59-50 halftime advantage.

The Hawks regrouped and came out of the locker room on an 8-1 spurt sparked by a Johnson free throw 12 seconds into the second half, and trailed just 77-76 heading into the fourth.

The Hornets reclaimed control by starting the final stanza on a 13-4 burst finished by a Chandler alley oop dunk with 5:17 left for a 90-80 lead heading down the stretch.

Game Notes

The Hornets controlled the glass, outrebounding Atlanta 46-32, and outscored the Hawks 30-12 at the free-throw line...New Orleans has been solid against the Hawks as of late. The Hornets took the first meeting of this two-game season series between the teams on January 10 despite playing without Paul, Peja Stojakovic, West and Bobby Jackson, and have won four of five overall against Atlanta.

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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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