Daily Sports Roundup
Sunday, February 7
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Magic meet the Celtics, the Habs take on the Bruins, and the Saints and Colts take to the gridiron for Super Bowl XLIV.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
Peyton Manning will be looking to lead the Colts to a championship for the second time in his career when he takes the field at Miami's Sun Life Stadium for Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night. The Colts surged in the second half to pick up a 30-17 home win over the Jets in the AFC Championship Game last time out. Manning went 26-of-39 for 377 yards passing in that game against New York, throwing for three touchdowns and no interceptions. Austin Collie, Pierre Garcon, and Dallas Clark all caught TD passes, while Joseph Addai rushed for 80 yards.
The Saints slipped past Minnesota for a 31-28 home overtime win in the NFC Championship Game last time out. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees was good on 17-of-31 pass attempts for 197 yards in that contest, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Reggie Bush, Devery Henderson, and Pierre Thomas had the TD catches for the Saints. Oddsmakers have the Saints pegged as 4.5-point underdogs against the Colts in the battle for the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night, while the total for the Super Bowl this year sits at 56.5.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has two games on tap for Sunday, with Sacramento at Toronto and Orlando at Boston. The Magic and Celtics last met on January 28 in Orlando, with Rashard Lewis picking up 23 points in his team's 96-94 home win. Dwight Howard was good for 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic in that contest, while Jameer Nelson had 12 points. Ray Allen scored a team-high 20 points in that losing cause for the Celtics, with Rasheed Wallace contributing 17 points off the bench. Kevin Garnett was held to six points and seven boards for the Celtics.
As well, there are just two ranked teams in action on the college basketball schedule for Sunday, with Iowa at No. 13 Ohio State, and No. 3 Syracuse at Cincinnati. The Orange moved to 22-1 (13-5 ATS) on the season with an 85-68 win over Providence last time out. Kris Joseph had 23 points in that game for Syracuse, which has won nine straight games. The Bearcats will be looking to bounce back from their 83-65 loss to Notre Dame in their last game on Thursday night. Larry Davis scored a team-high 12 points in Thursday's loss for Cincinnati.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, there are just two games on the National Hockey League schedule for Sunday, with Pittsburgh at Washington in the latest Crosby/Ovechkin battle, and Boston at Montreal in a rematch of their Thursday night contest. The Canadiens pulled out a 3-2 win in a shootout over the rival Bruins on Thursday, with Brian Gionta providing the game-winning goal. Glen Metropolit and Roman Hamrlik scored for Montreal in regulation time in that win, while Jaroslav Halak stopped 45 of 47 Boston shots. Mark Recchi and Blake Wheeler had goals for the Bruins.
Today's Wagering Tips
Sunday, February 7
Lines off the board
Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics – Paul Pierce (foot) missed the last two games and is questionable, but practiced with the team Saturday.
UNC-Wilmington at Delaware – Weather (see below).
St. Bonaventure at St. Joseph’s – Weather (see below).
Line to keep an eye on
More and more books are moving their Super Bowl spreads upward. By Saturday evening, the majority of shops were offering -5 in favor of the Colts with a few 5.5s on the board and even one 6.
In Vegas, Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood were both working with 5.5 on Saturday night.
The Super Bowl total appears to be on the rise with a handful of books now carrying 57 and most of the other dealing 56.5.
Weather to watch
A blizzard that covered the Mid-Atlantic with more than two feet of snow has created postponements for nearly a handful of sporting events.
The Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks were forced to scratch their matchup slated for Saturday night because neither team could get into the D.C. area after their games Friday. No makeup date has been announced and the Wizards will stay in Orlando for another day before traveling to Charlotte for a Tuesday game.
The Penguins got dropped by Montreal on Saturday afternoon and had to make travel contingency plans to get back to the East Coast for a game with the Capitals on Sunday. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the team was expected to fly to Newark, N.J., and then hop on buses to get to the nation’s capital, which takes about four hours. They were scheduled to arrive late Saturday night with a 12:08 p.m. (ET) start time scheduled for Sunday. The Pens are +155 underdogs to the red-hot Caps with a total of 6.5.
The UNC-Wilmington at Delaware game that was scheduled to happen Saturday was postponed and rescheduled for Sunday due to the inclement weather.
The St. Bonnie’s-St. Joe’s matchup wasn’t postponed until Saturday morning and is now scheduled for a 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday tipoff in Philadelphia.
The Saturday contest between James Madison and Towson was also rescheduled because of the snowstorm. The game will be played at 7 p.m. (ET) Monday and both teams have to turn around and play again on Wednesday.
Who’s hot
The Raptors have won six of their last seven games and six straight at home.
Syracuse has won nine straight and is 7-3 ATS in its last 10.
The Caps have won 13 straight games and are averaging 4.8 gpg during that span.
Indianapolis is 7-2-1 ATS in its last 10 games.
Who’s not
The Bruins have lost nine consecutive games and dropped three straight versus Montreal.
Jeremy Shockey has totaled 15 receptions, 170 yards and one TD in his last six games.
The Kings have lost five in a row and 19-of-22.
Key stat
10.0 – Average margin of victory during Toronto’s six-game home winning streak (4-2 ATS). The Raptors have also won five straight at home versus their Sunday opponent, Sacramento, going 5-0 ATS in those games. Toronto is favored by 8.5 points over the Kings.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Raptors starting point guard Jose Calderon missed the team’s last game because of a sprained ankle. He is probable for the game on Sunday but should he not play Jarrett Jack will see extended playing time. Jack contributed 17 points and nine assists in Wednesday’s win over the Nets. Calderon leads the team with nearly six assists per game. Hedo Turkoglu and DeMar DeRozan also missed Toronto’s last game and are probable.
Games of the day
New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts (-4.5, 56.5)
Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals (-175, 6.5)
Notable quotable
"I think he'll be back and playing third downs. And I think he'll be effective, until I see something different."
Colts lineman Raheem Brock said when asked if he expects Dwight Freeney to play on Sunday. Brock would see the majority of the playing time at defensive end if Freeney is limited in the Super Bowl.
Tips and notes
It appears Hedo Turkoglu will be back in the Raptors lineup after missing two games but is butting heads with the GM and training staff who have advised him to wear a protective mask. He said, “I'm a grown man and make my own decisions.” This could be another distraction in Turkoglu’s already disappointing season.
Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt doesn’t expect the speedy Colts defensive ends to “get the quick get-off on a grass field” that they normally would in the RCA Dome which is field turf. The Saints gave up the fourth-fewest (20) sacks in the league this year. The prop sack total for the Colts is 2 (+225/over).
Vince Carter recorded the second-worst shooting percentage in NBA history during January so the Magic brought in his old coach, Lawrence Frank, for advice. The magical turnaround hasn’t occurred yet as Carter went 5-of-17 from the floor Friday. You might want to find a total points prop for Carter on Sunday and play the under.
The Penguins could be a little jetlagged coming back from their trip into Canada. See weather note above.
Hi. I found your site and was hoping you can help me. I wagered with SBG Global on what I thought was the Daytona Bud Shoot Out. I had Harvick. Now I am not sure if it was for the Shoot Out because I haven't been paid yet and the pending bets in my account read "betting for Daytona 500") I saw a printout from you on-line that indicated SBG had odds posted for the Shootout, which is what I thought I bet on. I noticed the odds were removed and there are no odds posted for 500. Can you respond via my e-mail. Thanks.
Hi. I found your site and was hoping you can help me. I wagered with SBG Global on what I thought was the Daytona Bud Shoot Out. I had Harvick. Now I am not sure if it was for the Shoot Out because I haven't been paid yet and the pending bets in my account read "betting for Daytona 500") I saw a printout from you on-line that indicated SBG had odds posted for the Shootout, which is what I thought I bet on. I noticed the odds were removed and there are no odds posted for 500. Can you respond via my e-mail. Thanks.
I know they had odds up for both races cause I looked yesterday and unfortunately it looks like you did bet on the 500 instead of the Bud Shootout.
They always take down odds for a race before the first practice,qualifying and in this case next weeks race so nobody pounds a driver who looks good,qualifies well etc and that is why they aren't up now for the 500.
I will give the boss a heads up on this but it does look like you bet the wrong race.
Books grade wagers immediately after an event so if you haven't been paid you bet on the Daytona 500, not the Bud Shootout.
On the bright side, Harvick should have a good car in the 500!
Thanks for your help. I was wondering when they posted the odds for the Bud Shootout? When I went in and made the wager on the 5th, the "500" was the only race up. So you are saying they had odds posted for the shoot-out? Again, thanks.
I am not sure when they came out, you would have to ask them.
But if you were able to bet on them, they were up then.
It's not unusual for odds for several events to be up at the same time, especially in a week like this. When I was looking around the other day I was able to view odds for the 500, Shootout and odds to win the 2010 Sprint Cup.
As long as the cars aren't on the track odds will be posted for every event that has an entry list. When the cars are on the track the odds are unavailable for betting but usually still listed, just grayed out.
BTW, welcome to the site. 😉 forgot to mention that in my previous post.
We have lots of good NASCAR stuff here that Blade posts!
Thanks for your help. I was wondering when they posted the odds for the Bud Shootout? When I went in and made the wager on the 5th, the "500" was the only race up. So you are saying they had odds posted for the shoot-out? Again, thanks.
I know they had odds for both races posted and like I said earlier it looks like you bet the wrong race by mistake which sucks which I know cause I did it last year when I bet a race but actually bet to win the Championship, and of course he won that week.
It sucks making a bet and making mistake but your not the first and won't be the last trust me.
Makes sense...oh, well. And thanks for the welcome, Michael. And you're right, at least I have good odds with Harvick for the 500. (20-1). And thanks again to all for helping clarify my issue.
Makes sense...oh, well. And thanks for the welcome, Michael. And you're right, at least I have good odds with Harvick for the 500. (20-1). And thanks again to all for helping clarify my issue.
I was hoping he wouldn't do well last night cause I like him next and after a so so qualifying effort I was hoping to grab him around 30/1 for the 500 which won't happen now. If it is any consolation I also think you have a good bet for next week as well.