Bobcats hope to halt franchise-record skid against Sixers

Basketball Betting Lines

02/13/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats try to avoid a 15th straight loss this evening when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to Time Warner Cable Arena.

Charlotte established a new club record for futility on Saturday, as it dropped a 111-86 decision to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kemba Walker continued his impressive rookie campaign, pacing Charlotte with 19 points. Corey Maggette, making his first start since a hamstring strain shelved him in early January, added 12 and six rebounds and Tyrus Thomas had 11 points off the bench for the Bobcats, who haven't won since beating Golden State on January 14.

"In the fourth quarter I thought we picked it up and played a little bit better," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said. "But that's about it. We did not shoot the ball well. We did not defend well. When you start games, have open looks and cannot make shots, it's a real problem."

Things have been really ugly lately, as the Bobcats have been outscored by an average of 24.9 points over their last six games.

"We're just not playing hard as a group," said Maggette. "We're just not doing the right things right. Ultimately we need to make shots. We're shooting like 32 percent as a group and thats not going to cut it, especially against a good team."

The Sixers, meanwhile, snapped a two-game slide on Saturday, as Jrue Holiday led a balanced Philadelphia attack with 20 points in a 99-84 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lou Williams added 19 points, Thaddeus Young had 16, Elton Brand dropped in 11, and Jodie Meeks and Nikola Vucevic each contributed 10, helping the Sixers win for the seventh time in their last 10 tries.

"It was a big bounce-back game for us. We had to have it," said Brand. "It was as much of a must-win as we've had this season. We lost two tough games in a row, so we wanted to win this game."

A win tonight would make the Sixers the fourth team this season to reach 20 wins, a feat they didn't accomplish last season until game No. 45.

"Our goal was to get to 20 wins before we get to 10 losses," head coach Doug Collins said. "That would be a hell of a start."

Philly beat the Bobcats back on January 27 and has won three of the last four meetings. However, the home team in this series has won five straight and eight of the last nine.

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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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