Bobcats continue push towards postseason, host Clippers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats aim to maintain their recent winning ways and further solidify their postseason hopes in tonight's clash with a Los Angeles Clippers team that'll be seeking to end a five-game slide when it pays a visit to Time Warner Cable Arena.

Charlotte has never reached the playoffs or had a winning season since entering the NBA in 2004-05, but a current stretch of four straight victories has put the club at 32-31 and into a tie with Toronto and Miami for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Three of those wins have come at home, where the Bobcats have amassed an excellent 23-8 record this season.

The team's latest win occurred on the road, however, a 102-87 triumph over sagging Philadelphia on Wednesday. Charlotte built a comfortable 62-44 lead at intermission and was up by as much as 29 points in the second half.

"I didn't love our finish, but [the 76ers] had a lot to do with it," head coach Larry Brown told the Bobcats' official site afterward. "But all-in-all, on a back-to-back [set of games] and how we've struggled on the road, this was a big win for us."

Gerald Wallace led six Charlotte scorers in double figures with 28 points on 9-of-10 shooting, with Stephen Jackson amassing 24 points and 10 rebounds on the evening.

The Bobcats will be trying to win five in a row for the first time since a six-game tear from January 9-20. They've taken four of their last five meetings with the Clippers, although Los Angeles' only victory during that span was a 98-94 decision at the Staples Center on February 22.

The Clippers have gone just 2-7 since that game, however, and had their present skid extended with Wednesday's 108-97 defeat at Miami. The loss kept Los Angeles winless on a five-game road trip that concludes Saturday in San Antonio.

Rasual Butler poured in 31 points for the Clippers and knocked down back-to- back three-pointers that brought his team within 75-70 midway through the third quarter. However, the Heat countered with a 15-2 run to extend the margin back to double digits, and Los Angeles never got closer than nine points down the rest of the way.

"[The Heat] came out and shot the ball really well," Clippers head coach Kim Hughes said. "We missed a ton of layups and struggled with easy looks."

Los Angeles, now 7-26 on the road this season and losers of eight straight as the visitor, received 16 points from Chris Kaman and 12 out of Steve Blake in Wednesday's setback. The Clippers haven't prevailed in an enemy arena since a 90-82 win over Chicago on February 2.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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