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Nuggets entertain Lakers at Pepsi CenterBasketball Betting Lines02/03/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets shoot for a two-day sweep of Los Angeles when they welcome a Lakers team that has struggled on the road this season to the Rocky Mountains. The Nuggets were in the City of Angels on Thursday and summarily dispatched of the Clippers when Danilo Gallinari went 5-of-5 from behind the arc and scored 21 points, as Denver silenced the streaking Clips, 112-91, at Staples Center. The Clippers came in 10-2 at home and were riding a four-game winning steak that featured a win in Denver on Sunday. The Nuggets avenged that setback emphatically, taking control by outscoring the Vinny Del Negro's team by 32 points over the second and third quarters. "In the middle of the second quarter we started to be more aggressive," Gallinari said. "We were able to win the game in the third quarter." Ty Lawson finished with 18 points and six assists, and Arron Afflalo chipped in 15 points for the victors. Andre Miller, playing in his 1,000th regular season game, added eight points for the Nuggets, who shot 53 percent from the field and 12-of-21 from three-point range. The Lakers, meanwhile, are just 2-7 on the road as they begin a season-high six-game trek tonight. Things have been far different in SoCal for the Lakers and Kobe and Company improved to 11-2 as the host on Tuesday when Bryant led six scorers in double figures with 24 points as the Lakers cruised to a 106-73 win over the hapless Bobcats. Andrew Bynum, named a Western Conference All-Star starter along with Bryant on Thursday, added 20 points and 11 rebounds while rookie Andrew Goudelock chipped in 12 points for Mike Brown's club, which has won two straight and three of four overall. "We got a lot of good production from our team," said Brown. "Our bench was terrific. Our spacing is a lot better, we're moving the ball." The Lakers, who are off to their worst start on the road in nine years, will also visit the Jazz, Sixers, Celtics, Knicks and Raptors on the trip. Denver has won four of its last six regular season games over the Lakers at Pepsi Center. The last one was a 99-90 triumph back on New Year's Day when Bryant scored 16 points to become just the sixth NBA player to reach 28,000 in a career but shot a dismal 6-of-28 from the field.
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Horse Betting(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine). The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late. "You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest. "A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve." When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential: CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped. DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins. PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge. You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike. "You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders." Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of. (By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.) Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout." But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing." Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you." Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front." All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold. In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse. "Now," says Avello, "it's time for action." To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs. |
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