Celtics, Sixers to tussle in South Philly

Basketball Betting Lines

11/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Now that Rajon Rondo's pockets will be fatter thanks to a new multi-year contract, he can focus on leading the Boston Celtics to a 5-0 start tonight against the Atlantic Division-rival Philadelphia 76ers at the Wachovia Center.

The Boston Herald is reporting the point guard's deal is for five years, starting with the 2010-11 season, and is worth about $55 million. Rondo is averaging 6.5 points and 11.8 assists per game this season for Boston, which has won its first four games of the season, including Sunday's 97-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in the finale of a three-game homestand at TD Garden. Paul Pierce scored 27 points to help keep the Celtics unbeaten, while Ray Allen finished with 17 points in a winning effort.

Kevin Garnett contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and both Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace netted 12 points for Boston, which is 4-0 for the first time since opening the 2007-08 NBA championship season with eight consecutive victories.

"Give them credit, they made a lot of shots down the stretch," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of the Hornets. "I told our guys, so far this year, we've done a great job of each game building and improving. This was not one of those nights."

The Celtics will also visit Minnesota on the brief road trip.

Philadelphia has won back-to-back games since opening the season with a loss at Orlando. It grinded out a 141-127 overtime victory against the New York Knicks on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, as Andre Iguodala recorded 32 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to lead the way. Lou Williams also filled the stat sheet for the 76ers, posting 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand registered 25 and 16 points, respectively, for Philadelphia, which scored the final 17 points of the extra period to seal the win in the Big Apple. Marreese Speights came off the bench and ended with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

"Both teams really gave it all, both teams gutted it out," Sixers head coach Eddie Jordan said. "Both teams were determined and we just got loose [in the overtime]...We just continued to attack and attack."

Boston won all four meetings with Philadelphia a year ago and is 10-4 over the previous 14 matchups between the clubs. The Celtics are unbeaten in their past four trips to the City of Brotherly Love.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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