Happy Returns: Nash leads Phoenix over Clips

Basketball Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash scored 13 points and dished out 12 assists before spending a large chunk of the second half enjoying his return to the lineup from the bench, as Phoenix cruised from the outset in a 115-90 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center.

Nash missed four games with a sore right shoulder, then didn't play in the All-Star Game on Sunday. He looked every bit the All-Star on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, connecting on 5-of-11 from the floor and handing out 12 assists to 4 turnovers.

Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire were the recipients of Nash's dishes, finishing with 31 and 22 points respectively. Both players also grabbed nine rebounds, as the Suns outrebounded the Clippers 50-38 in snapping a three-game skid.

Corey Maggette led the Clippers with 19 points, Elton Brand had 17 points and Daniel Ewing totaled 16 points in the loss. Sam Cassell didn't play in the second half, Chris Kaman missed the contest with the flu and Doug Christie stated publicly he just doesn't want to play for the club anymore.

In a state of flux, Los Angeles has dropped four straight and six of seven.

Phoenix stepped on the gas from the beginning, going on a 14-3 spurt to open a 33-19 edge in the first stanza. Stoudemire and James Jones capped the stretch with back-to-back jumpers.

After three straight jumpers from Maggette cut the deficit to 54-45 late in the first half, Phoenix reeled off eight straight points capped by Stoudemire's driving slam as the seconds ticked toward intermission.

Phoenix scored nine in a row during the midway point of the third stanza, and Nash finished it off with a driving layup for an 83-61 advantage with 4:32 remaining.

The Suns cruised to victory from there.

Game Notes

Boris Diaw didn't play with back spasms...Phoenix improved to 20-7 away from home...The Clippers dropped to 17-10 on the road...Attendance was 19,898.

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Betting Football

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.

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