Slumping Lakers target win vs. Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers hope to avoid their longest losing streak in three seasons tonight when they hit the hardwood against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center.

The Lakers dropped their third straight game in Orlando on Sunday when Vince Carter scored a team-high 25 points, and Dwight Howard added 15 points and 16 rebounds, as the Magic escaped with a 96-94 win in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant, who missed a potential game-tying shot at the fourth-quarter buzzer, led all scorers with 34 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who have dropped three straight -- all on the road -- for the first time since January 23-27, 2008. Pau Gasol donated a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.

LA, which earned a 98-92 victory over the Magic on January 18 at Staples Center, defeated Orlando for the NBA title in five games last year. It was the Lakers' 15th title in franchise history.

With the Magic up 94-89 in the final minute, Bryant drained a corner three with 26.4 seconds on the clock. After Jameer Nelson was fouled and made 1-of-2 from the stripe, Bryant hit a long jumper from the top of the arc with 12.9 ticks left to cut LA's deficit to one.

The shot was originally ruled a three before the officials briefly reviewed it, and the replay clearly showed Bryant's foot was on the line. Carter was then fouled and made 1-of-2 with 9.7 seconds to go before Bryant's medium- range jumper was off the mark as time expired.

"I didn't release it the way I really wanted to so I tried to compensate for it because I felt the ball slipping," Bryant said. "That is my shot. You give that to me 10 times and I make it nine times."

The Lakers haven't dropped four in a row since April 8-13, 2007.

The Raptors, who are kicking off a four-game western road trip tonight, are coming off an embarrassing loss on their home floor to the woeful Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Thaddeus Young scored a career-high 32 points and rookie point guard Jrue Holiday had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in that one, as the Sixers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 114-101 win.

Jarrett Jack had a team-high 20 points to go along with nine assists for Toronto, which was coming off a 102-96 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. The Raptors, who shot 51.2 percent from the floor, have dropped six of seven overall, however.

Chris Bosh returned to the lineup after missing the previous six games because of a balky ankle and flu-like symptoms, and finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"I felt good, but anytime you are absent for any length of time, it's tough to get your legs back," Bosh said. "The main thing is I'm happy to be back playing."

Bryant has owned Toronto in Hollywood recently, averaging 43.4 points in the team's last five contests at Staples Center, including a career-high 81 on Jan. 22, 2006.

Overall the Raptors have dropped eight of their last nine games to the Lakers in LA but did snap a four-game skid to Phil Jackson's club with a 106-105 win north of the border back in January.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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