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02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves will have Kevin Love back in the lineup tonight versus the Dallas Mavericks at Target Center after serving a two-game suspension for stomping on Houston's Luis Scola during the third quarter of Saturday's 100-91 win.
Love, who leads the Wolves in both scoring (25.0 ppg) and rebounding (13.7), missed Tuesday's 86-84 win over Sacramento and Wednesday's 85-80 loss at Memphis. The All-Star forward should provide a big lift for a Minnesota team that had its three-game winning streak cut short against the Grizzlies.
J.J. Barea ended with 17 points and six assists, while Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams each scored 13 points for the Timberwolves, who got 10 points and nine rebounds from Nikola Pekovic and shot just 39.2 percent.
"We didn't come out with energy," Barea said on the team's website. "That put us in a deep hole. With teams like this, you can't fall behind."
The Wolves have won two in a row at home and will also welcome the New York Knicks to town on Saturday. They are 7-8 in the Twin Cities in 2011-12.
Dallas, meanwhile, will wrap up a three-game road trip this evening and put the brakes on a three-game slide with Wednesday's 105-95 triumph at Denver thanks to Dirk Nowitzki's 25 points and nine rebounds.
Vince Carter had 17 points and both Shawn Marion and Rodrigue Beaubois registered 13 for the defending NBA champion Mavericks, who have won seven of their last 11 games and improved to 6-6 away from Big D.
"When you're dealing with the altitude and all that," said Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle, "we had to have a lot of guys in and out of the game, and a lot of guys contributing and we did and that's the reason we won."
After tonight's game in Minnesota, the Mavs will return to Dallas for a three- game homestand versus the Blazers, Clippers and Nuggets. Nowitzki is averaging 26.3 points per game in his last three contests for a Dallas team that is 7-1 when scoring 100-plus points. Nowitzki has 23,179 career points and needs 156 to pass Boston legend Robert Parish (23,334) for 20th on the NBA's all-time scoring list. He is averaging 22.0 ppg in 46 career meetings with Minnesota and was just named to his 11th straight All-Star game.
On the injury front for the Mavs, guards Jason Kidd (calf) and Jason Terry (hip) are questionable for tonight. Kidd has missed six straight games and Terry played less than 28 minutes at Denver, scoring a season-low five points.
Dallas has lost the first two meetings with the Timberwolves this season, but is still a gaudy 18-3 in the past 21 matchups between the teams. Minnesota halted a nine-game home losing streak in this series with a 99-82 triumph at the Target Center on New Year's Day.
The Wolves haven't posted a three-game winning streak in this series since ripping off seven wins over the Mavs from Dec. 23, 1995 - Feb. 27, 1997.
<< Red Wings shoot for 19th straight home win vs. Ducks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forgive the Red Wings if they are looking past the Ducks
and towards this weekend when they could have a chance at matching the longest
home winning streak in NHL history.
After all, wins over Anaheim at Joe Louis Arena ar
<< Nets and Pistons finish home-and-home set
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-year center Greg Monroe is starting to heat up for a
Detroit Pistons team riding a season-high three-game winning streak and is
aiming for his fourth straight double-double tonight versus the New Jersey
Nets in the bac
<< Cavs and Bucks clash at the 'Q'
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving probably won't play
again tonight after suffering a concussion earlier this week, but Ramon
Sessions will be there to pick up the slack.
Sessions filled in nicely for Irving the prev
<< Heat visit nation's capital to take on Wizards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting their six-game road trip off to a poor start,
the Miami Heat will dust themselves off for tonight's showdown against the
lowly Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.
The Heat had won three straight and 11
Giggs to play another year at United >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United manager Sir Alex
Ferguson has revealed that midfielder Ryan Giggs will return to the club for
another season after signing a one-year contract extension.
The 38-year-old Giggs m
Blazers, Hornets tangle in the Big Easy >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland hopes a Western Conference-worst New Orleans team
proves to be a bit of a tonic after the Blazers dropped consecutive games in
Rip City.
A controversial goaltending call on All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge al
Avs aim to close homestand with win over 'Canes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche recently put their longest skid of
the season behind them and will try to close out a four-game homestand with
another victory when they face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at Pepsi
Center.
The Ava
New York signs midfielder Palsson >>
Harrison, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York signed Icelandic midfielder
Victor Palsson on Friday.
Palsson, 20, spent the last year at Scottish Premier League side Hibernian and
appeared in 34 games in all competitions. The defensive
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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