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02/22/2012 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston's Luis Scola had 19 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 93-87 win over the 76ers.
Kevin Martin scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Kyle Lowry finished with 13 for the Rockets, who enter the All-Star break on a three-game win streak.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, saw its season-long losing streak reach five games.
The shorthanded 76ers, playing without forward Elton Brand and center Spencer Hawes, were led by rookie Nikola Vucevic's career-high 18 points. Lou Williams chipped in 17, Thaddeus Young had 15 and Jodie Meeks added 14.
Jrue Holiday's layup had Philadelphia up, 84-83, with two minutes to go, but Lowry responded with a three-point play to put the Rockets on top for good.
Williams' free throw pulled the 76ers within one, 86-85, but Young was called for a charge after Vucevic blocked Scola.
Lowry then struck again, driving hard, making a bank layup and drawing a foul on Young. The subsequent free throw made it 89-85 with under a minute to go.
Philadelphia followed with another gaffe, as Williams turned the corner on an elbow pick but fell out of bounds with the ball. Lowry's fadeaway jumper was off at the other end, but Young knocked the loose ball out of bounds with 25 seconds left and Martin and Courtney Lee closed with a pair of free throws apiece to seal the win.
The Rockets led 19-16 after one and 45-41 at the break before Chandler Parsons and Scola opened the third with back-to-back buckets for a 49-41 advantage.
The 76ers responded with a 15-5 run to grab their first lead since early in the first.
Williams began the burst with a three-point play and Meeks capped it with two- handed dunk for a 56-54 edge.
Later in the quarter, Scola's layup put the Rockets up, 60-59, but Philadelphia finished with baskets from Vucevic, Meeks and Young for a 65-61 advantage after three.
Houston opened the fourth with a layup from Patrick Patterson and a short jumper from Martin to tie the game at 65 and spark the back-and-forth finish.
Game Notes
Philadelphia hasn't scored 100 points in any of its past 17 games...The Rockets improved to 14-4 at the Toyota Center this season while the 76ers fell to 7-8 on the road...Philadelphia had won its previous four trips to Houston.
<< Wichita State downs Illinois State, claims MVC crown
Normal, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Ragland paced four Wichita State players in
double figures with 14 points as the Shockers took down Illinois State by a
68-55 count on Wednesday to lock up the Missouri Valley Conference title.
Garrett
<< No. 10 Marquette sends Rutgers to another loss
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jae Crowder scored 27 points, Darius Johnson-
Odom had 21 and No. 10 Marquette handed Rutgers its sixth straight loss on
Wednesday night, 82-65.
Vander Blue added 10 points for the Golden Eagles (23-5, 12-3 B
<< Thunder top Celtics for 11th straight home win
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook scored 31 points,
dished out six assists and pulled down five rebounds, as the Oklahoma City
Thunder held off the Boston Celtics, 119-104.
Kevin Durant added 28 points, nine bo
<< Magic beat Nets for 9th straight time
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard had 20 points and 17 rebounds, but
the Orlando Magic may have made their biggest run of the game with him on the
bench Wednesday night in a 108-91 win over the New Jersey Nets.
Orlando beat New J
Ridnour lifts Minnesota over Utah >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Ridnour finished with 17 points, none
bigger than his floater at the final buzzer, lifting the Timberwolves to a
100-98 comeback victory over the Jazz at Target Center on Wednesday.
With seven t
Bruins hang rare home regulation defeat on Blues >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Marchand scored twice as Boston doubled
up St. Louis, 4-2, at Scottrade Center.
Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic each posted a goal and one assist for the Bruins,
who had lost three of four coming in.
Ti
No. 6 Michigan State edges Minnesota >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keith Appling's go-ahead free throws with
32 seconds remaining lifted No. 6 Michigan State to a 66-61 victory over
Minnesota on Wednesday.
Austin Hollins airballed a three-pointer from the right w
Packers TE Finley tweets 2-year deal >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers and tight end Jermichael Finley have
agreed on a two-year deal.
Finley confirmed a report of the deal on his Twitter account Wednesday night,
saying:
"It's TRUE! Thank you so much to the Packers
BILLS (+10) at Steelers SPORTSBOOK LINES
It's impossible to gauge how a team will react after something like the Steve Everett situation, and it probably doesn't matter. That being said, the Bills are going to lose several games this year where they keep things close but fall short in the end to superior teams. Ben Roethlisberger and company could have a field day against Buffalo's decimated defense, but I like the Bills to cover.
BENGALS (-7) at Browns SPORTSBOOK LINES
All you can ask out of your NFL team is that it has a plan. You may not always agree with it as a fan, but as long as it appears the organization is going in some sort of direction, you have to go with it. Which brings us to the Cleveland Browns. You flip a coin to determine whether Chuck Frye or Derek Anderson should start the preseason opener. You start Frye in Week 1, but pull him in the first half. And then you deal him to the Seahawks for a sixth-round pick? Hmm... the Bengals could get six turnovers again this week.
COLTS (-7) at Titans SPORTSBOOK LINES
Tennessee signed ex-Colts cornerback Nick Harper in the offseason so that should help slow down Peyton Manning. Just ask Jason David and the Saints. Oh wait... One of these weeks, I'm going to learn to not pick against Tennessee, which has won seven of its last eight games. But it's not happening against Indy.
TEXANS (+6.5) at Panthers SPORTSBOOK LINES
Houston's Mario Williams, the first pick in the '06 draft, has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush after one week. Somehow I don't see that lasting. Meanwhile, Carolina bottled up what was expected to be a pretty high-octane offense in St. Louis in Week 1. Could this be the Panthers' defense everyone expected last year? Maybe. This feels like a 20-16 Carolina win.
RAMS (-3) vs. 49ers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Absolutely love this game. Everyone's favorite pick for this year's surprise team -- the 49ers -- laid an egg on Monday night (not that anyone was watching with the game ending in the middle of the night for those of us on the East Coast). St. Louis wasn't much better, delivering a lackluster effort against the Panthers that included two Steven Jackson fumbles and panic from his fantasy owners. Jackson rebounds this week, and the Rams get their first win.
PACKERS (+1.5) at Giants SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Do you really trust this guy to win an NFL game if Eli Manning can't go? I say no. I'd feel alot better about this Packers team if it had any semblance of a running game, but I still think Green Bay's defense is good enough to give it a 2-0 start.
JAGUARS (-10) vs. Falcons SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Does it scare me to pick Jacksonville to cover a double-digit spread after it scored just 10 points last week against the Titans? Absolutely. But can I bring myself to pick Atlanta under any circumstances? No. Check out this poll on ajc.com. It asks what Atlanta's most urgent deficiency is: offense, defense, specials teams or all of the above. "All of the above" has 57 percent of the votes. Ouch.
SAINTS (-3) at Buccaneers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
I'm picking way too many road teams this week. Oh well. New Orleans has had some time to reflect on its lackluster showing in the opener, and the Buccanneers just aren't a very good football team. Anyone else surprised Tampa Bay hasn't made a move to sign Byron Leftwich? I thought that's what they do.
VIKINGS (+3) at Lions SPORTS BETTING LINES
Run the ball and stop the run. Minnesota can do both, and that will keep them in a lot of games this season. Even though it was only one week, Adrian Peterson looks like he was a steal at No. 7 in last year's draft. Not only will he produce, but Peterson delivers excitement to what otherwise would be one of the league's most boring teams.
DOLPHINS (+3.5) vs. Cowboys SPORTS BETTING LINES
Lost in the Tony Romo lovefest is just how bad the Cowboys' defense was last week. I know they're banged up, but Dallas' 'D' allowed 438 yards to the Giants' offense, and backup running back Derrick Ward averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Cam Cameron's decision to split carries between Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman sounds about as can't-miss as Larry David's plan to show up to Marty Funkhouser's party a night late. Still, gotta go with Miami to cover at home.
SEAHAWKS (-2.5) at Cardinals SPORTS BETTING LINES
I'm probably missing something, but this game seems too easy. Arizona blew Monday night's game against the 49ers in typical Cardinals fashion, and the Seahawks beat Tampa Bay by two touchdowns. Love Seattle in this one.
BRONCOS (-9.5) vs. Raiders SPORTS BETTING LINES
Special teams was a major story line in Week 1. Take a look at the Broncos. They had to rush on to the field to get a Jason Elam field goal as time expired against the Bills. Denver drove into Buffalo territory on eight of 10 drives but came away with just a pair of field goals and a touchdown. Look for more scoring from the Broncos this week against an Oakland defense that gave up 36 points to Detroit in Week 1.
BEARS (-12) vs. Chiefs SPORTS BETTING LINES
Everyone talks about Rex Grossman when dissecting the Bears' offense, but Chicago's quarterback got no help in last week's loss to the Chargers. Meanwhile, Kansas City confirmed what we all thought while watching Hard Knocks: The Chiefs are going to stink this year. It could be a rough first month for Larry Johnson fantasy owners. Kansas City's RB was limited to 43 yards on 10 carries in Week 1, and the Chiefs face the Bears, Vikings and Chargers the next three weeks, all formidable run defenses.
RAVENS (-10) vs. Jets SPORTS BETTING LINES
A big dose of Willis McGahee and a usual sound defensive effort will give the Ravens their first win. According to Football Outsiders, no team in the NFL rushed only three defenders on pass plays last year more than the Jets. And according to my special Jets correspondent Ben Stauber, New York did the same in Week 1. Whoever starts at quarterback for the Ravens should have all day to throw.
PATRIOTS (-3) vs. Chargers
Friends and I were discussing how Bill Belichick goes about paying his $500,000 fine for cheating. Does he just write one check to the NFL? Do you need some sort of clearance to make such a monstrous financial transaction? I guess I shouldn't complain about the security deposit I have to put down on my new apartment. Anyway, two of the league's best teams square off in what should be a good one Sunday night. The Patriots always respond well just when you think they're in trouble. And their offensive attack was the story in Week 1.
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.
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