Suns host Pacers in the desert

Basketball Betting Lines

03/02/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns try to get back on the winning track, as they host the slumping Indiana Pacers tonight at US Airways Center.

Phoenix, which returns home after going 3-1 on a four-game road trip, opens a five-game homestand. On Wednesday, Andre Iguodala finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Philadelphia 76ers kept Phoenix from a historic feat with a 99-94 win at the Wachovia Center.

All-Star Amare Stoudemire had 31 points and 13 boards for the Suns, who were looking to become the first team ever to sweep its interconference road schedule (14-1). Regardless, Phoenix finished interconference road play with the highest winning percentage all-time. Reigning MVP Steve Nash ended with 23 points and nine assists, while Raja Bell scored 13 against his former team in defeat.

On the injury front for Phoenix, forwards Boris Diaw (back spasms) and Shawn Marion (bruised right hand/bruised left quadriceps) are questionable for tonight's contest. Marion, who leads the Suns in rebounding (10.2 rpg), and Diaw did not play against Philadelphia.

The Suns are an impressive 21-6 at home this season. They will also host the Lakers, Bobcats, Hornets and Rockets on the current homestand.

Indiana has dropped three in a row and begins a four-game road trip. The Pacers' last loss was on Tuesday against the Suns.

Nash had 25 points and 11 assists as the Suns came back from an 18-point, third-quarter deficit for a 103-92 victory over the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Jermaine O'Neal finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, and six blocked shots, but couldn't prevent the third straight setback for the Pacers. Darrell Armstrong scored 17 points for Indiana, while Mike Dunleavy added 16 points in defeat.

The Pacers are 11-15 on the road this season. They will also visit the Clippers, Kings and Jazz on the swing.

Indiana has lost two straight and six of its last seven games at Phoenix. The Suns have won three in a row in the series.

This is the final meeting of the season between the squads.

Wwwentercasino Basketball Betting News

<< Pistons, Heat set for South Beach battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An Eastern Conference Finals rematch is on tap tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena, as the defending world champion Miami Heat welcome the Detroit Pistons. Detroit has won five of six and seven of its last nine at Miami.

<< Red Wings begin homestand against hapless Blackhawks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings open a five-game homestand this evening, when they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings last played Tuesday evening against the Blackhawks and posted a 4-1 road vic

<< Surging Senators, struggling Thrashers set to face off
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Ottawa Senators will try for their ninth win in 10 games this evening, when they visit the Atlanta Thrashers at Philips Arena. The Senators have gained a point in nine straight games (8-0-1) and are fourth in

<< Magic pay a visit to San Antonio
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having temporarily fallen out of the playoff picture, the Orlando Magic will try to rebound tonight when they visit the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. The Magic have lost five of their last six and are now one

<< Hawks, Wizards square off in D.C.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards will try and stop a four-game losing streak tonight when they resume their homestand against the division-rival Atlanta Hawks at the Verizon Center. Washington, which owns a 3 1/2-game lead

Knicks host Warriors at MSG >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors aim to stop a four-game losing streak this evening when they battle the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Golden State has lost the first two games of its current five-game r

Rockets aim to burn Nuggets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets attempt to extend their winning streak to three games when they welcome the Houston Rockets tonight to the Pepsi Center. Denver plays the middle contest of a three-game homestand. All-Star gu

Salukis begin defense of MVC Tournament title >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and 11th-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis begin defense of their Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title today, as they take on the ninth-seeded Drake Bulldogs in the quar

Big West: Lakers, Kings to battle in LA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pacific Division rivals battle tonight, as the streaking Los Angeles Lakers welcome the Sacramento Kings to the Staples Center. This is the second of four meetings between the clubs this season. On January 4th, supers

Roma attempt to keep focus against Ascoli >>
Ascoli, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roma's chances of challenging Inter Milan for the Serie A title all but vanished on Wednesday as the club failed to take advantage of a rare Inter draw. Roma was held 2-2 on Wednesday by a bottom- half Ch

Since the late 1990's, MySportsbook.com has been an online sportsbook / poker room / casino that focuses on quality.. MySportsbook caters to the experienced sports fan who values reliability and accuracy, with great attention to detail. MySportsbook's success over the past 3 years has made them the envy of the sports gambling industry. There are hundreds of sites appearing all over the Internet claiming to be the next best sportsbook online, each one is trying to use the same marketing techniques as MySportsbook originated.

If you want to try the most stylish and reliable type of online sportsbook, go with MySportsbook. Most online sportsbooks give you live odds and plenty of games and events to bet on, at MySportsbook they'll give you that and more. While perfection may be a lofty goal, MySportsbook attempts to achieve that goal. All sorts of ways to bet on football, football betting, Super Bowl betting lines.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

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.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.