Hawks could make some noise in the East

Basketball Betting Lines

03/26/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - During the NBA's regular season, I generally do about three or four radio spots a week. That number could spike if a big story breaks but it usually stays steady until this time of year.

With the postseason lurking just around the corner, requests always go up and most folks want to talk about which teams are legitimate contenders for the NBA title.

The conversation usually starts with the obvious, teams like the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, the reigning Eastern Conference kings, the Orlando Magic, and the club with the NBA's best record, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Dallas, Denver, Utah and Boston have all had impressive stretches and generate some buzz. Even Oklahoma City gets some love as the most improved team in the league.

Nearly, everyone dismisses Atlanta, however, and its's hard to understand why.

Mike Woodson's team is deadlocked with the Celtics for the third best record in the East and is virtually assured of garnering home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

They have a veteran floor leader in Mike Bibby, a beast on the boards in Al Horford and legitimate candidates for Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year in Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford.

A record of 39-4 when leading with five minutes to go and a mark of 42-5 when frontrunning with three minutes on the clock tells you that Joe Johnson is an upper echelon closer. Meanwhile, the fact that the Hawks have gone 38 games without suffering a three-game losing streak, the longest stretch in the league, tells you they will be extremely tough to beat in a seven-game series.

Athleticism is Atlanta's hallmark and Smith may be the best pure athlete in the entire NBA. The former Oak Hill Academy standout is the only player in the NBA averaging at least 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, and at At 6-foot-9, "J-Smoove" is the tallest player in the league in the top 10 in steals and the shortest one in the top 10 in blocks.

Horford may be the quickest pivot in the game and Johnson is one of the top wing players. Marvin Williams may be the "weak-link" in the starting five but he's a former second overall pick in the draft that can jump up and bite you on any given night.

On the bench, Crawford has earned his nickname, "The Difference," this season, and has finally proven he can contribute to a good team. Always a dangerous scorer, Crawford leads the NBA among players who haven't started a game this season at 17.8 ppg and is an excellent free throw shooter in pressure situations.

Maurice Evans, Zaza Pachulia and battle-tested veteran Joe Smith give Woodson plenty of other options off the bench.

It's tough to say the Hawks are on the same plane as the Cavs or Magic yet but Smith's soaring one-handed putback dunk at the buzzer on Wednesday lifted Atlanta to a dramatic 86-84 win over Orlando...

It also secured a playoff berth and punctuated the fact that the Hawks have joined the conversation.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds

The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.

Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”

“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”

MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:

Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:

Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1

Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17

Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1

Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1

Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1

Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1

Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5

Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1

Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1

Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1

Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50

Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1

Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Cars": 1/3

"Happy Feet": 2/1

"Monster House": 20/1

Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:

"Water" – Canada: 22/1

"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2

"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1

"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1

"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10

Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:

"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5

"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2

"Helmer & Son": 5/2

"The Saviour": 6/1

"West Bank Story": 7/2

Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:

"Babel": 7/4

"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1

"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20

"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4

"The Queen": 5/4

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

"Babel": 11/4

"The Departed": 1/2

"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2

"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10

"The Queen": 20/1

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10

Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1

Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1

Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5

Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1

Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1

Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1

Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8

Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1

Film To Win Most Oscars:

Dreamgirls: 2/3

Pans Labyrinth: 6/5

The Departed: 6/1

The Queen: 11/1

Babel: 15/1

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1

Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1


Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.