Gasol, Lakers edge Mavericks
Basketball Betting Lines
02/23/2012 -
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pau Gasol had 24 points and nine rebounds on
Wednesday night, as the Lakers escaped with a 96-91 win over the Mavericks.
With the narrow victory, the Lakers improved to 2-0 this season against
Dallas, the team which swept them out of last year's Western Conference
semifinals.
The Mavericks trailed 93-86 with a minute to play and pulled within two,
93-91, behind six straight missed free throws from the Lakers, a three-
pointer from Jason Terry and a Dirk Nowitzki jumper.
The sixth missed free throw came from Gasol with 19 seconds left, but Matt
Barnes grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a pair from the line to make it
95-91.
Derek Fisher then made 1-of-2 foul shots between a pair of Terry missed
three-pointers to seal the Lakers' fifth win in six games. They face Western
Conference-leading Oklahoma City on Thursday.
Nowitzki scored 25 points to pace the Mavericks, who had won seven of eight
coming in. Vince Carter added 20 points and Terry had 16. Former Laker Lamar
Odom did not play due to family reasons.
"This was a nail biter tonight," said Mavericks forward Shawn Marion. "I think
we had our chances to gain a lead and keep it, but we had a few mishaps there
in the fourth. They still gave us a chance there, but we weren't able to pull
it out."
Fisher, who made the game-winning three-pointer in the teams' previous meeting
this season, played a pivotal role in a 9-0 Lakers run which turned a two-
point deficit into an 89-82 fourth-quarter lead.
After two free throws apiece from Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, Fisher knocked
down a three-pointer, then made a running floater in the paint to mark the
largest advantage of the second half for either team.
A baseline jumper from Terry and a 16-footer from Nowitzki made it 89-86 but
Bryant answered with successful lob passes on each of the Lakers' next two
touches.
The first went to Gasol, who finished with a second effort and the second saw
Bynum finish with a dunk for a 93-86 lead with 1:05 to play.
"I thought our guys did a nice job of executing down the stretch," said Lakers
coach Mike Brown. "I feel like offensively we're getting a little better, but
right now our end of game execution isn't quite where I want."
Gasol got off to a hot start scoring 12 first-quarter points en route to a
25-21 advantage.
The margin increased to 14 midway through the second, as Gasol's dunk made it
42-28. The Mavericks, though, closed the quarter on a 20-6 run to tie it 48.
Nowitzki scored Dallas' final six points before the break, making a pair of
foul shots, a shot step-back jumper and a game-tying 22-footer with seven
seconds to play.
Neither team led by more than four points in the third and it was knotted at
72 entering the fourth.
Game Notes
Bynum finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds while Bryant and Fisher both had
15...The teams previously met on January 16. Fisher knocked down a three-
pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining, lifting the Lakers to a 73-70 victory over
the Mavericks in that one...Los Angeles is now 6-11 on the road this season
while Dallas fell to 14-3 as the host.
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about another of Pl
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
New York Giants betting lines
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Dallas Cowboys betting lines
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
Oakland Raiders betting lines
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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