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03/09/2010 - Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard was a force on the interior with 22 points and 15 rebounds, as the Clippers had no answer for the big man or the rest of the Magic in Orlando's 113-87 rout.
Jameer Nelson totaled 17 points with eight assists, Rashard Lewis chipped in with 15 points, Vince Carter contributed 13 points and Matt Barnes joined J.J. Redick in double figures with 10 points apiece for Orlando, which has won six straight.
Howard recorded his 51st double-double of the campaign as Orlando led by as many as 30 and only trailed briefly in the opening quarter.
Baron Davis led the Clippers with 16 points and nine assists off the bench, while Drew Gooden posted a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds, Chris Kaman notched 12 points and Steve Blake netted 11 with five assists.
The Clippers have lost four in a row overall, and put a stamp on their disappointing season by severing ties with general manager Mike Dunleavy Tuesday, just over a month after he resigned as head coach to focus exclusively on personnel matters.
Howard exerted his will in the opening 12 minutes, scoring 10 points with six rebounds as the Magic gained a double-digit advantage and control of the game. The Clippers' lone lead came at 2-1, and the Magic raced to a 15-8 edge on Howard's putback slam. Redick's 25-foot trey made the first-quarter margin 31-21.
The lead methodically grew to 15 and then 17 points at 53-36 on Carter's jumper with just over five minutes left in the half. The advantage hit 20 points at 61-41 on Howard's conventional three-point play, and grew to 26 points at 67-41 by quarter's end, as Los Angeles' last field goal came on a Rasual Butler three with 2:54 to play. Orlando scored the half's final 11 points capped by Nelson's jumper just prior to the horn.
Orlando's edge reached its highest margin of 30 points at 84-54 on Nelson's pull-up bucket with 4:35 remaining in the third and the lead stood at 91-68 heading to the fourth.
The Magic cruised to victory from there.
Game Notes
Butler had nine points for the Clippers...Orlando shot 48.9 percent from the floor, while the Clippers connected on 43 percent of their shots...The Clippers shot just six free throws, while Orlando was a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe...The Magic have won seven straight in the series.
<< Predators hold off Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Suter and Colin Wilson scored to
propel the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers at
Philips Arena.
Suter's tally came on a power play early in the first period, whil
<< Bourque highlights Calgary's win in Motown
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rene Bourque assisted on the tying goal early
in the third period and scored the game-winner less than two minutes later, as
the Calgary Flames edged the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2, at Joe Louis Arena.
Jarome Ig
<< Jones shines in Granger's absence as Pacers down Sixers
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dahntay Jones tied a season-high with 25
points and the Indiana Pacers overcame the absence of Danny Granger to beat
Philadelphia, 107-96, at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Granger, who is leading the Pacers at
<< North Texas takes Sun Belt championship
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh White hit the go-ahead bucket with 24
seconds left and George Odufuwa came up with a key block on the ensuing
series, as North Texas edged Troy, 66-63, for the Sun Belt Conference
Tournam
Kulemin lifts Leafs over Bruins in overtime >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nikolai Kulemin scored with 49.7 seconds left
in overtime, as Toronto tripped up Boston in a 4-3 final from Air Canada
Centre.
Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski broke out on a 2-on-1 following an end-to-
Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Recaps >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Harris scored a game-high 24 points as
he led the Massachusetts Minutemen to a 59-56 win over the Charlotte 49ers in
the first round of the 34th annual Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.
Harris finis
Flyers rally to down Isles on Gagne's late score >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Simon Gagne was credited with the game-
winning power-play goal with 6:06 remaining in regulation, as the Philadelphia
Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the New York Islanders, 3-2,
at Wach
Darche, Canadiens down Lightning >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mathieu Darche scored a pair of goals to help
the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3, at the Bell
Centre.
Scott Gomez had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who have won th
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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