Nuggets aim to stay hot vs. Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Denver Nuggets aim for a sixth straight win tonight when they host a Toronto team that expects to be without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani.

The Nuggets are fresh off a brilliant 5-0 road trip that was capped with a 122-93 blowout win in Sacramento on Wednesday. Danilo Gallinari led seven players in double figures with 23 points in that one as Denver recorded its first perfect five-game trek since joining the NBA prior to the 1976-77 season.

Gallinari, who signed a contract extension earlier Wednesday, went 8-of-12 from the field and added five assists. Nene notched 16 points and Andre Miller had 15 and 10 assists.

"We made a point not to settle for jumpers because that is a team that's struggling defensively with their identity," said Nuggets forward Al Harrington. "There were so many open things, so we just tried to pick one of them and really attack and that was the rim."

Denver's ultra-quick point guard Ty Lawson left in the second quarter against the Kings after spraining his left ankle and is expected to miss tonight's game. He hopes to return Sunday against the LA Clippers.

Denver, which is 6-2 at the Pepsi Center this season, will finish a quick two- game homestand against the Clips.

The Raptors, meanwhile, are coming off back-to-back impressive road wins.

Toronto improved to 2-1 on a five-game trek on Wednesday when Bargnani and Linas Kleiza, an ex-Nugget, scored 25 points apiece as the Raptors snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Utah Jazz with a 111-106 win in double- overtime.

It was Toronto's first win in the series since December 22, 2004.

Bargnani, who played his second game after missing the previous six with a strained calf, scored all of his points in regulation. He played 3:55 in the first overtime before sitting the rest of the game after aggravating the injury, however.

"This time it's bad," Bargnani, who is averaging 23.5 ppg this season, said. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to be out for a while."

Jose Calderon knocked down a three-pointer with 13.3 seconds remaining in regulation for Toronto, tying the game, while Paul Millsap buried a three with 3.0 seconds left in the first overtime to knot the contest for Utah.

The back-breaker in the second overtime was Calderon's three-pointer from 10 feet behind the arc to beat the shot clock, giving Toronto a six-point lead with 86 seconds left.

It was the second time in two days that the Raptors snapped a long losing streak to another team. They beat Phoenix, 99-96, in Bargnani's return on Tuesday for their first win over the Suns since February 10, 2004.

DeMar DeRozan scored 17 for Toronto, Leandro Barbosa added 13 and Calderon had 12.

"Everybody that got on the court tonight contributed and fought to win a double-overtime game," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey.

Toronto, which has lost eight straight and 13 of 14 vs. Denver, hasn't won three consecutive on the road since Dec. 11-18, 2007. The Raptors have dropped seven in a row and nine of 10 contests in the Rockies.

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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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