Mavs at 44-9 after edging Rockets

Basketball Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks came back to topple the Houston Rockets, 80-77, to win their ninth straight game entering the All-Star break.

Jerry Stackhouse contributed 17 points off the bench for the Mavs, who have won 30 of 32. Josh Howard added 15 points and 11 boards for Dallas, which enters the break at a league-best 44-9.

Tracy McGrady scored 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who had won two straight entering the game. Juwan Howard scored 14 points for Houston, and Shane Battier added 11 points.

Houston had a chance to win the game, holding the ball with the shot-clock turned off, but Luther Head forced an off-balance jumper in the lane with just under five seconds left. Jason Terry collected the rebound and was fouled, hitting two free throws to put the Mavs up 80-77.

The Rockets still had 4.2 seconds left to hit a game-tying three, but Dallas trapped McGrady as he received the inbounds pass, and the Rockets could not get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

Houston had led 77-74 with three minutes left, but could not score another point, and four points from Terry, including a pull-up jumper in the lane, put Dallas ahead 78-77 with 1:09 left.

Houston suffered through a cold spell in the third quarter, scoring only 12 points. Dallas capitalized on Houston's struggles to regain the lead, but only barely, entering the fourth quarter.

Despite an inability to hit shots from the field, a McGrady three boosted the Rockets lead to 55-46 with 4:25 left in the third. The Mavs finally heated up, though, ripping off a 12-0 run, capped by back-to-back threes by Stackhouse that put Dallas ahead 58-55 with 24 seconds left in the third. Juwan Howard hit a jumper in the waning seconds of the stanza, though, and the Mavs lead stood at 58-57 entering the final 12 minutes.

The Rockets struggled early, and the Mavs led 21-12 with 3:21 left in the quarter. A McGrady jumper fueled a 9-0 run to close the quarter, though, and the Rockets edged into a 23-21 lead heading into the second.

Houston held a 45-38 lead at the break.

Game Notes

Dallas won the season series between the clubs, 3-1...Dallas improved to 20-6 on the road this season, where they have won four straight...Both teams shot 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from behind the three-point line.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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