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02/07/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce is on the verge of passing a legend on the team's all-time scoring list and will lead the surging squad into tonight's showdown versus the lowly Charlotte Bobcats at TD Garden.
Pierce is 10 points shy of passing Larry Bird (21,791) for second on the team's all-time scoring list. John Havlicek has a comfortable spot at the top with 26,395 points. Pierce trimmed the margin with a 21-point effort in Sunday's 98-80 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies. Kevin Garnett had a season high-tying 24 points and nine rebounds in the recent win.
Ray Allen and Chris Wilcox each netted 12 points for the Celtics, who have won four in a row and eight of their last nine games. The Celtics, owners of a 9-6 mark as the host, also improved to 3-0 on a five-game homestand and will close out the residency Thursday versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
"I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and just give great energy. And that's what I did," said Wilcox, who tallied 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter and also grabbed five boards.
The Celtics had been 0-4 against Western Conference foes. Rajon Rondo had five points and tied a season-high with 14 assists in his second game back since missing eight in a row due to injury.
Not to make excuses for the struggling Bobcats but injuries have taken their toll on the team. Mired in a season-high losing streak of 11 games, Charlotte hopes to close out a four-game road trip tonight in Beantown.
The losing trend continued with Saturday's 95-89 loss at Phoenix, as rookie Kemba Walker had a team-best 22 points and Reggie Williams added 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his first start of the season. In his three games played, Williams has averages of 9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 23.0 minutes.
Boris Diaw finished with 13 points and Bismack Biyombo made his first career start in place of DeSagana Diop, notching 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who have lost 11 in a row for the longest slide since a franchise- record 13-game skid from Jan. 11-Feb. 1, 2006.
"We just missed some shots that we should have made and they came down and executed their offense and they made shots," said Walker, who is averaging 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals in his previous 13 contests. "That's just the way it went in the second half. They really just outplayed us in the fourth quarter."
The Bobcats are only 1-13 as the visitor this season and have lost their last 11 road games. That's the longest road losing streak since Nov. 7, 2007 - Jan. 4, 2008. Charlotte lost 12 straight games away from home Feb. 4-March 19, 2005 and dropped a franchise-high 14 consecutive road games from Jan. 2-Feb. 27, 2006.
On the injury front for Charlotte, guard Gerald Henderson will miss 2-4 weeks of action with a right hamstring strain and forward Corey Maggette is slated to miss that same amount of time because of a strained left hamstring. Point guard D.J. Augustin (toe fracture) is expected to miss 1-2 weeks of action and Diop is listed as questionable Tuesday due to a balky knee. Henderson has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games played, averaging 17.1 points on .496 shooting during that stretch.
After closing out the road trip in Boston the Bobcats will head home for three straight games versus the Bulls, Clippers and 76ers. The Bobcats haven't won since Jan. 14 versus Golden State and their last road victory was in New York back on Jan. 4.
Charlotte and Boston split four meetings a year ago but the Celtics have prevailed in 10 of the past 14 matchups between the teams. The Bobcats ended a five-game losing streak at TD Garden with an 83-81 victory last March 25. They have still lost 10 of the 13 encounters in Beantown.
<< Love-less Wolves welcome Kings to Twin Cities
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves will be without star forward
Kevin Love for the next two games because of a suspension and will move on
tonight versus the Sacramento Kings from the Target Center.
Love was slapped with
<< Durant leads Thunder into Golden State
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are only two teams Kevin Durant is averaging 30-plus
points against in his career and the Golden State Warriors are one of them.
Durant and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder will resume a five-game road
trip to
<< 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
<< 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
Devils aim to keep rolling against East-leading Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils have matched their longest winning
streak of the season and will try to keep rolling tonight, when they face the
Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The Devils have u
Panthers, Caps again do battle for first place >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Another battle for first place in the Southeast Division is
on tap tonight, as the Washington Capitals host the Florida Panthers at the
Verizon Center.
Florida enters tonight with a one-point lead over the Capitals for the
Pens close out road trip with test against Habs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through a rough patch to
begin February, but they'll try to get back on track tonight when they visit
the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
The Penguins ended January on an eight-game
Elliott returns to Ottawa as Blues visit Sens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators decided last season that they wanted to
upgrade their goaltending position. Now the man that they dealt away reappears
in town as an All-Star.
Brian Elliott makes his return to Scotiabank Place this eve
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.
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