Carter scores 40 as Nets beat Knicks

Basketball Betting Lines

02/26/2007 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter poured in 40 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out eight assists as New Jersey dumped New York, 101-92, at Continental Airlines Arena.

Mikki Moore added 19 points for the Nets, who won their second straight game and moved to with 4 1/2 games of idle Toronto in the Atlantic Division. Bostjan Nachbar chipped in with 15 points and 10 boards, while Jason Kidd finished with 11 points and 14 assists.

"It's all created from defense," said Carter. "We boxed out and limited them to one shot which creates easy baskets. We started to feel good about yourself and really moved the ball well."

Stephon Marbury had 22 points for the Knicks, who have lost eight of nine games versus the Nets. Eddy Curry donated 18 points and Channing Frye tallied 15 points off the bench for New York.

The Nets entered the second half looking at a nine-point deficit but took control with a dominant third quarter. New Jersey outscored the Knicks 33-15 in the frame behind 12 points from Carter to take a 77-68 lead into the final frame.

"The third quarter is the thing that really killed," said Knicks coach Isiah Thomas. "Vince was an amazing part of that."

The Knicks refused to go away, however, and Jamal Crawford's three made it a one-possession game, 87-84, with 6:53 remaining.

But, New Jersey responded and put the game away with an 8-0 run. Moore capped the flurry with a jumper to make it 95-84 with just 2:18 left.

New York never seriously threatened from there.

The Knicks ran out to a 28-22 lead after the opening 12 minutes and extended their advantage to nine, 53-44, by intermission.

Game Notes

New Jersey took the first meeting between the two squads this year on January 19 and has won seven of the last eight in the series and 13 of the last 16...The Nets are now 16-14 at home this season...New York is 10-19 on the road this season...Knicks forward David Lee missed the game with a high right ankle sprain...Kidd nailed his 688th three-pointer with the Nets and passed Kerry Kittles for the all-time franchise lead...Nachbar's double-double was the first of his NBA career.

Ccasion Basketball Betting News

<< Webber's tip-in spoils Big Ben's return to Motown
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Hamilton poured in 22 points, but it was Chris Webber's tip-in with 2.2 seconds left in regulation that lifted Detroit over Chicago, 95-93, at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Webber, who finished w

<< Shaq picks up slack in Heat's win over Cavs
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shaquille O'Neal picked up the slack in Dwyane Wade's absence, scoring 19 points and pulling down 11 rebounds to lead Miami past Cleveland, 86-81, at AmericanAirlines Arena. Jason Kapono also posted a doub

<< Stoudemire leads Suns over Hawks
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amare Stoudemire poured in a season-high 43 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Phoenix Suns over the Atlanta Hawks, 115-106, at Philips Arena. "It feels good," said Stoudemire. "The main th

<< Lakers continue domination of Warriors
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maurice Evans poured in a career-high 26 points and Kobe Bryant also had 26 to power the Lakers to a 102-85 rout of the Golden State Warriors. Brian Cook ended with 11 points for Los Angeles, which has won t

<< Predators blow lead but top Blue Jackets in shootout
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexander Radulov scored the lone shootout tally, as Nashville coughed up a two-goal lead in the third period but was able to salvage a 4-3 win over Columbus at Nationwide Arena. Vernon Fiddler, Jean

Glidemaster named 2006 Standardbred Horse of the Year >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Triple Crown winner Glidemaster has been announced as the 2006 Horse of the Year in harness racing. The 2006 Dan Patch Awards for excellence in harness racing were presented at the annual awards dinner

Martin guides Kings past Pacers; Artest misses game >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Martin scored 35 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals as Sacramento downed Indiana, 110-93, at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Kings won despite toiling without the services of enigma

Niedermayer lifts Ducks over Avalanche >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Niedermayer's goal with 3:23 left in the third period proved to be the game-winner, as the Ducks earned a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. Niedermayer also had two assists, and Andy McDonald c

Damon rejoins Yankees >>
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon rejoined the team Monday after a two-day excused absence to tend to a personal matter.Damon spent the weekend at home with his family in the Orlando area. He didn't discuss specifics, but said th

Garciaparra healthy, ready to go for Dodgers >>
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) -Nomar Garciaparra couldn't help but smile when asked about the apparent power shortage in the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup.The question was reasonable, since the Dodgers ranked next-to-last in the NL with 153 homers last season

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.