James, Cavs welcome Celtics to the "Q"

Basketball Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Eastern Conference heavyweights clash Sunday afternoon as LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers play host to the Boston Celtics.

James returned to the Cavaliers lineup Friday in Philadelphia after missing a pair of games with a balky right ankle and scored 23 points as Cleveland pulled out a tough 100-95 decision over the 76ers.

"The King" also handed out 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who went 1-1 in his absence.

Mo Williams chipped in 21 and Delonte West scored 17 points, while fellow reserve Anderson Varejao had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs, who have won eight of their last nine games.

"We executed defensively the right way," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown. "LeBron did a nice job trying to attack to get to the free throw line down the stretch. More importantly, defensively, we got stops at the right time."

Forward Antawn Jamison missed the game against the Sixers due to a cyst behind his left knee but hopes to return to the lineup this afternoon.

The Celtics, meanwhile, are coming off a blowout win over Indiana. Paul Pierce scored 20 to lead a balanced attack in that one, as Boston got back to its winning ways with a 122-103 rout of the lowly Pacers in Beantown.

Rajon Rondo added 16 points and 11 assists for the Celtics, who had lost two straight overall, in addition to eight of their last 15 games at home. Boston, which went 35-6 at TD Garden in each of the past two seasons, improved to just 19-12 as the host in 2009-10.

"(We) were stung the other night (in a 20-point loss to Memphis), but also I warned them going into tonight: just because you want to fix it if things don't start out right, you can't hang your head or panic about it," said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. "The difference (Friday) was we hung in there and we got some stops. And then we got on a run."

Nate Robinson and Glen Davis each came off the bench to score 15, and Ray Allen poured in 13 points in the win. Kendrick Perkins provided 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Cavs had won 11 straight at home against Boston - including the playoffs -- before dropping a 95-89 decision on Oct. 27. Cleveland then responded to even the season series with a 108-88 blowout win in Beantown on Feb. 25.

Overall, the Cavs are tops in the Eastern Conference while Boston has fallen to fourth and has been playing .500 ball (18-18) since Christmas.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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