Spurs hang on to beat Pistons

Basketball Betting Lines

02/14/2012 - Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Duncan had 18 points and 13 rebounds, as the Spurs hung on for a 99-95 win over the Pistons on Tuesday.

Tony Parker scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Spurs, who won their eighth straight and improved to 4-0 on their annual Rodeo Road Trip.

The Pistons trailed by 16 in the third quarter, but battled back to grab an 85-83 lead late in the fourth. They couldn't hang on, however, and dropped their second straight game.

Rodney Stuckey had 23 points and eight assists for Detroit, which had won a season-high four in a row before its recent slide. Tayshaun Prince added 18 points.

Despite the loss, Detroit's Ben Wallace celebrated a milestone, appearing in his 1,055th career game -- a record for an undrafted NBA player.

Kawhi Leonard opened the fourth with a three-pointer, giving the Spurs a 77-62 lead. But Wallace answered with a jumper, triggering a 16-2 Pistons run, which pulled the home team within one.

Late in the shot clock, Wallace hit the seventh three-pointer of his career to make it 79-70. Rodney Stuckey then converted a three-point play in between a baseline jumper and a trey from Jonas Jerebko and the Pistons trailed 79-78.

They took the lead, 85-83, on Brandon Knight's runout three-point play minutes later and Stuckey followed with a free throw for a three-point advantage.

Duncan, though, answered with four straight to put the Spurs back on top.

It was 91-91 when Parker took over. He began with a driving layup and, after Stuckey made 1-of-2 free throws, hit a running floater for a 95-92 lead with 27 seconds to play.

Ben Gordon then missed on a fadeaway baseline jumper out of a Detroit timeout and compounded the miss with a technical foul. Parker, who had already been fouled by Knight, made three straight free throws to put the game away.

Despite the loss, the Pistons competed intently. They were down 32-22 after one, but opened the second with a 12-3 run to make it 35-34. It was 49-44 in favor of San Antonio at the half and the margin stretched to 74-58 late in the third before Detroit began its late surge.

Game Notes

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili had one point on 0-of-4 shooting and seven assists in his second game back from a fractured left hand, which had kept him our for 22 contests...San Antonio will also visit the Raptors, Clippers, Jazz, Blazers and Nuggets on its nearly 8,000-mile trek...Wallace surpassed Avery Johnson for most NBA games played by an undrafted player.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.