Lakers aim to continue success against Warriors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/25/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having stopped one streak, the Los Angeles Lakers will aim to extend another this evening when they travel to the ORACLE Arena to battle the Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers snapped a six-game losing streak with a 122-96 win over Boston on Friday. Kobe Bryant scored 22 of his 38 points in the first quarter to help Los Angeles stop the first six-game losing streak in coach Phil Jackson's 16- year NBA coaching career.

Bryant ended 13-of-23 from the field, including a 5-of-7 clip from three-point range, and also had nine assists as Los Angeles won for the first time since February 5 at Atlanta.

Andrew Bynum added 16 points for the Lakers, who avoided their sixth straight loss at the Staples Center. Now the Lakers take to the road where they are 11-16 on the season. Los Angeles, which is sixth overall in the West, will play at Utah on Monday.

On the injury front, Lakers forward Vladimir Radmanovic revealed on Friday that he injured his shoulder snowboarding, and not after slipping on a patch of ice last Saturday as he originally told the club. His injury is expected to keep him out two months.

The Lakers have won six in a row over the Warriors, including two games this season, and 11 of 12 overall in the series. The Lakers swept the four-game series last season.

LA has also won five of six at Golden State.

The Warriors had a two-game winning streak halted on Saturday, as Elton Brand scored 31 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked a career-high eight shots to lead the Los Angeles Clippers over Golden State, 103-90.

Al Harrington had 24 points and seven boards to lead the Warriors. Jason Richardson added 18 points for Golden State, which is a solid 20-9 at home this season and enters tonight's tilt one game out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Golden State will begin a five-game Eastern Conference road trip in Milwaukee on Tuesday and will also visit Chicago, New York, Washington and Detroit on the swing.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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