Bulls open homestand against Kings

Basketball Betting Lines

02/14/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back home after a successful and lengthy road trip, the Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls are scheduled to play their next six games on familiar territory and will host the Sacramento Kings tonight.

The Bulls own an Eastern Conference-best 23-7 record -- the fourth-best start in franchise history -- and went 6-3 on the nine-game road trip which was culminated by a 95-91 loss in Boston on Sunday. Celtics guard Rajon Rondo posted a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, while the Bulls were led by 22 points from both Carlos Boozer and C.J. Watson. Watson filled in for an injured Derrick Rose for a second straight game and is averaging 15.6 points and 6.4 assists in five starts this season.

"Our energy wasn't there tonight," Rose said after the loss. "We didn't pick up our energy to the full court."

Rose has missed back-to-back games with an ailing lower back and the team is 5-2 without him in the lineup this season. An MRI revealed no structural damage and the reigning MVP is listed as day-to-day for a Chicago team that had a five-game winning streak stopped in Boston. Rose has also missed time this season because of a toe injury and is averaging 22.0 points, 7.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 23 games.

Joakim Noah tallied 16 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, which will also welcome the Celtics, Nets, Hawks, Bucks and Hornets to the United Center on the upcoming homestand and is 9-1 as the host. Dating back to last season, the Bulls are 45-6 (.882) in the Second City. The Bulls have been perfect this season when scoring 100-plus points, going 11-0 when doing so.

Sacramento will head east to begin a six-game road trip tonight and is only 3-12 away from California's capital this season. It will also makes stops in New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Miami and Washington, and had won four of five games until dropping a 98-84 decision versus Phoenix on Saturday.

DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton scored 26 and 21 points, respectively, for the Kings, who made just 35.1 percent of their shots and also received nine rebounds out of Cousins.

"They play well as a team," Kings forward Chuck Hayes said about the Suns. "Everybody plays with their man, they play their strengths, nobody tries anything extra and they actually play really hard."

The Kings are currently bottom feeders in the Pacific Division. Cousins has recorded 17 double-doubles this season (third-most in the NBA), while Thornton is averaging 19.7 ppg in his previous six contests. Tyreke Evans scored four points versus Phoenix after averaging 21.4 ppg in the previous seven games.

The Kings lost to the Bulls by a 108-98 score back on Dec. 29 this season at home, as Rose dropped 19 points and dished out eight assists to lead his team to victory. Cousins finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds in that one for the Kings, losers in three straight and six of the past seven matchups in this series. Sacramento, however, is 8-4 in its past 12 trips to the Windy City.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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