Magic Trick: Nelson, Howard power Orlando past Lakers

Basketball Betting Lines

01/17/2009 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jameer Nelson poured in 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, including a trio of three-pointers, as the Orlando Magic pulled off an unprecedented season sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers behind a 109-103 victory at Staples Center.

The Magic, which also defeated LA, 106-103, in Orlando back on December 20, had never in franchise history taken the home-and-home season series against the Lakers.

Nelson also doled out eight assists, while Dwight Howard was nothing short of spectacular with 25 points and 20 rebounds for the Magic, who improved to an NBA-best 16-5 on the road and 3-0 on their current four-game road trip.

Rashard Lewis' 16 points helped Orlando to its sixth straight win overall.

Rookie Courtney Lee added 12 points and did a terrific defensive job on Kobe Bryant, who shot just 3-for-12 in an abnormally poor shooting effort in the fourth quarter.

Bryant did finish with solid numbers, totaling his 15th career triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the Lakers, who have dropped back-to-back games for just the second time this season.

Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol each grabbed nine rebounds and added 17 and 13 points, respectively, as Los Angeles fell to 20-3 at home.

Things don't get easier for the Lakers, with the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers coming to town on Monday.

The entire game was a back-and-forth battle that featured 20 ties and 28 lead changes.

With the clubs coming into the came with near identical records, it came as no surprise that the outcome came down to the wire.

Nelson's second trifecta of the frame gave the Magic a 100-98 lead with 1:26 to go. Bryant came down and missed a pair of shots, but Odom's putback on the reigning MVP's missed three tied the game.

Odom missed his free throw after he was fouled on the layup, but Gasol tipped the miss back to the shooter before another foul put Odom back on the line.

The forward hit 1-of-2 for a one-point lead, and Howard followed with a make of his own from the stripe with 1:04 to play.

Gasol then cleaned up Bryant's forced runner with an easy layup, but it proved to be the last points the Lakers would put on the board. Nelson nailed a quick three with 35 seconds remaining for a 104-103 lead and followed Bryant's missed field goals with four consecutive makes at the free throw line. The last came with 7.9 ticks remaining for a 108-103 lead to seal the hard-fought win.

Orlando trailed for most of the first half. LA led, 23-20, after the first quarter and extended that advantage to 52-44 at the break.

A 9-0 run early in the fourth brought the Magic within striking distance, and it was a one-point Lakers lead, 75-74, leading up to a back-and-forth final stanza.

Game Notes

The Magic finish their four-game road trip in Denver on Saturday...The Lakers also dropped two in a row to Miami and Orlando back in December...Hedo Turkoglu had 13 points for the Magic, who hit 12-for-28 from three-point range...Vladimir Radmanovic and Andrew Bynum finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively, for LA, which made 39.8 percent of its shots and was outrebounded 54-40.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.