Bryant leads West to easy All-Star game win

Basketball Betting Lines

02/19/2007 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, dished out six assists and had six steals to lead the West to an easy 153-132 win over the East in the 56th annual All-Star Game at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Bryant was named the MVP of the contest for leading a West team that registered an All-Star game record 52 assists and fell just two points short of its own All-Star game record for points -- 155 set in 2003.

Amare Stoudemire added 29 points and nine rebounds for the West, who snapped a two-game skid in the event. Carmelo Anthony chipped in with 20 points and nine boards, while Shawn Marion finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.

"We wanted to come out and play pretty well," said Bryant. "We lost the last two games and wanted to get back in the win column. We had a blast. If you had a shot you took it, otherwise you penetrated and dished it."

LeBron James -- who was the MVP in last year's game -- netted 28 points, six rebounds and six assists for the East. Dwight Howard was a force inside in his All-Star debut with 20 points and a game-high 12 boards, while Joe Johnson had 12 points.

The opening quarter featured some sloppy play early but the West heated up quickly. Anthony's fade away jumper from the right corner gave them a 10-point advantage, 35-25, with just over a minute to go in the stanza.

Less than 30 seconds later, Vince Carter provided a spark for the East and electrified the crowd with a slam off a beautiful spin move but the West still managed to keep a 39-31 advantage after the opening 12 minutes.

Carter continued to provide a show for the fans early in the second quarter, taking a Chauncey Billups feed off the glass and depositing another slam. But, it was the West establishing control in the frame. Dirk Nowitzki's three, with 9:44 remaining before the half, made it a 51-35 game.

The West continued to dominate the next few minutes. A 7-0 run, featuring back-to-back layups by Nowitzki and Marion and a McGrady triple, gave the West its first 20-point cushion, 59-39, with a little over seven minutes to go in the second

The teams then traded baskets for the rest of the half and the West took a 79-59 edge into the locker room. Bryant led the West with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while James paced the East with 16 points and shot 6-of-10 from the floor.

The West continued to run away early in the third quarter. Ray Allen's three, with 4:08 left in the frame, gave the West a commanding 108-76 advantage.

Nowitzki then capped the scoring in the frame with a jumper to make it 119-88 heading into the final frame.

The East failed to make any kind of serious run in the fourth quarter. A Dwyane Wade jumper cut the deficit to 25, 129-104, with 7:53 left in the game but Bryant stemmed any momentum by draining a three 17 seconds later.

The Lakers' star then got loose for a reverse dunk on the baseline and Marion followed that with another reverse jam to extend the West's advantage to 136-106 with 6:51 on the clock.

The West coasted to the finish line from there. Bryant capped his MVP performance with a spinning slam with 30 seconds left.

Game Notes

This was the first All-Star game held outside an NBA franchise city...Bryant captured his second All-Star MVP award. His first was in his hometown of Philadelphia during the 2002 game...Wade's follow shot in the lane with 16.6 seconds remaining rallied the East past the West, 122-120, at Houston's Toyota Center in last year's game...The East still holds a commanding 35-21 advantage in the all-time series...New Jersey guard Jason Kidd was originally named as a reserve to the East squad, however but was sidelined with a back injury and did not play in the contest. Meanwhile, the Western Conference was without ailing center Yao Ming and guards Steve Nash of the Suns and Denver's Allen Iverson...Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton entertained the crowd before the game while the city's nine time entertainer of the year Andy Gans sang the National Anthem...Six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton and Christina Aguilera headlined the halftime show.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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