Evans, Kings cruise past lowly Timberwolves

Basketball Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyreke Evans came just shy of a triple double, finishing with 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings routed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 114-100, at ARCO Arena.

Donte Greene added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who had lost four of their previous five but snuck above the .500 mark at home with a 17-16 record thus far. Jason Thompson provided 15 points and eight boards, while Carl Landry had 13 points and six rebounds in the resounding win.

Al Jefferson scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the dismal Timberwolves, who have lost nine straight and 15 of 16. Wayne Ellington came off the bench to add 15 points, while Ryan Gomes contributed 14 points in defeat.

The Kings grabbed a 32-28 lead after the opening quarter, then stretched the lead to 45-33 early in the second behind an 11-2 run that ended on a Thompson reverse layup.

The lead hovered around 10 before a half-ending 8-0 burst, which gave Sacramento a 64-49 halftime lead after Evans' three-point play in the final minute.

Things only got worse for the T'Wolves in the third, when they were outscored by a 30-12 margin. The Kings scored the first 15 points of the second half, and Greene capped the burst with seven straight points for a 79-49 advantage with just under seven minutes left.

The advantage reached as high as 34 before Sacramento went into the fourth with a 94-61 lead. The Timberwolves outscored the Kings by 19 in the final quarter, but the flurry still did not pose a threat to the outcome.

Game Notes

Sacramento leads the season series, 2-1...Andres Nocioni scored 12 points for the Kings...Ramon Sessions had 13 points for Minnesota, which got 12 points from Jonny Flynn...The T'Wolves are a dismal 5-28 on the road.

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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.

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