Banged-up Nuggets try to snap skid vs. Warriors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets are not making excuses that injuries are the main reason why they're mired in a season-high four-game losing streak.

"We have a lot of young talent and a lot of players with experience. We have a long bench and at this moment with the injuries, we have to find a way to play better and more aggressively," said Nuggets reserve guard Rudy Fernandez.

The Nuggets hope to right the ship tonight in the finale of a three-game homestand versus the Golden State Warriors at the Pepsi Center and have been dealing with a rash of injuries to leading scorer Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and the absence of Corey Brewer, who is dealing with the death of his father. Gallinari is expected to miss about a month with an ankle injury and Mozgov is nursing the same kind of injury.

Denver did get a healthy Aaron Afflalo (ankle/toe) and Nene (heel) back in Wednesday's matchup with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, but dropped a 105-95 decision. Al Harrington and Fernandez each scored 17 points, while Ty Lawson chipped in 16 points and 10 assists in the Nuggets' sixth loss in seven tries since a season-best six-game winning streak.

"I don't think we're playing bad basketball, I just don't think we're playing winning basketball," said Nuggets coach George Karl about his team's skid. "I think right now we're doing the [right] things probably 30-35 minutes a game."

Nene added 16 points and grabbed 10 boards, and Afflalo finished with 12 points. Andre Miller posted 11 in a losing effort. The Nuggets, who are 7-6 at home this season, will play four of five games on the road following tonight's test with the Warriors.

Warriors leading scorer Monta Ellis is averaging 33.0 points over his last three games and his career-high 48-point performance in Tuesday's 119-116 loss versus Oklahoma City wasn't enough to lift his team to victory. Ellis has averaged 19.4 points in 16 career games against Denver and hopes to improve that number Thursday night in the Rocky Mountains.

"It was just going in for me tonight," Ellis said after the loss. "Unfortunately we didn't get the win. Our effort was there, we played them hard the whole game and it just came down to one shot."

David Lee had a triple-double with 25 points 11 boards and 10 assists in the loss to the Thunder, while Stephen Curry recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists for Golden State, which has lost two straight and six of its last nine contests. The Warriors shot 55 percent and still lost. Dorell Wright had just nine points, but is averaging 16.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.40 steals in his last five games.

Lee's second career triple-double was the first by a Warriors power forward since Chris Webber back in 1993. The Warriors look to build on their 2-6 road record this evening and have dropped two straight as the guest. They are 3-9 against the West this season and will have several chances to improve that record in a current stretch of 15 games in a row against the conference (3-4).

Warriors guard Nate Robinson (groin) is questionable against the Nuggets.

Golden State lost two of three meetings with Denver a year ago and has dropped 10 of the past 12 matchups between the teams. The Warriors haven't played so well lately in the Rockies either, losing six straight and 13 of 14 visits there. They haven't won a set with the Nuggets since a four-game sweep in 2002-03.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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