Nuggets press on without Karl; meet Rockets

Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets continue their push toward the postseason without head coach George Karl tonight against a desperate Houston Rockets team.

The Nuggets have played without Karl, who is undergoing radiation and chemotherapy to combat throat and neck cancer, for the third straight game on Saturday against Memphis as the coach continues treatment. The veteran mentor is still adjusting to the feeding tube that was inserted into his stomach during a surgical procedure last Monday.

Denver has won six in row and is 3-0 on its current trip but sits just one- half game ahead of Dallas for the No. 2 spot in the competitive Western Conference.

The Nuggets, who are being piloted by lead assistant Adrian Dantley on their trek, last swept a four-game road trip in April of 2005. Meanwhile, the team is aiming to sweep the season series against the Rockets tonight for the first time since the 1977-78 season.

J.R. Smith scored 16 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter on Saturday, as the Nuggets used a huge final period to defeat the Grizzlies, 125-108. Smith made 11-of-16 field goals, including a 7-for-10 performance from beyond the arc.

"I got it going, but the most important thing was that we got it going as a team," Smith said. "We got out in the open court, (and we got some easy shots)."

Carmelo Anthony donated 24 points and six rebounds, while Chauncey Billups ended with 22 points. Nene donated 13 for the Nuggets, who outscored Memphis, 40-23, in the fourth.

The Rockets dumped hapless New Jersey on Saturday when Luis Scola poured in a career-high 44 points on 20-of-25 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds, as Houston got past the Nets, 116-108, at the Toyota Center.

Scola topped his previous career-high of 30 for the Rockets, who have won three of their last four games but are a distant 5 1/2 games behind Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

Kevin Martin chipped in with 20 and Aaron Brooks posted 18 and seven assists as Houston has now won eight straight against the Nets.

"It's a game obviously we really needed to get," said Rockets coach Rick Adelman. "People look at their (Nets) record and think it should be an easy win, but they have a very good center and a very good point guard. They seem to have a feel for how they want to play. I'm just glad to get this win."

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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