Nash, Suns host Rockets in the desert

Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash celebrated his 38th birthday in style the last time out for the Phoenix Suns, who look to extend their season-high winning streak to four straight games this evening at home versus the Houston Rockets.

Nash posted a game-winning runner in the lane with five seconds left in Tuesday's 107-105 victory at Milwaukee and was one of six players to score in double figures with 18 points and 11 assists. The Suns led by 17 points at halftime and by as many as 21 points before a 27-4 second-half run by the Bucks made things interesting.

Michael Redd faced his former Milwaukee team for the first time and finished with 14 points in a reserve role.

"It was pretty much fun to watch. Mike [Redd] obviously had a huge career here. Trying to be back playing is amazing," Nash said. "For him to come back to Milwaukee under all the things he had to face with his injuries and put on a show like that in the first was exciting for all of us on the bench."

Redd, who signed with the Suns in December, had spent his entire career with Milwaukee, averaging 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 578 contests over 11 seasons. Channing Frye also had 14 points, while Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley posted 21 and 19 points, respectively, for Phoenix, which is 4-1 this month and hasn't won four straight since Feb. 23-28, 2011. The Suns are 5-2 in the past seven games.

Grant Hill contributed 13 points in a winning effort and Josh Childress had a game-high tying 12 rebounds off the bench, the most in the NBA this season by a bench player that did not score in the game.

The Suns, owners of a 5-6 record in the desert, are playing just their second home game over a nine-game stretch and will begin a three-game road trip Saturday against the Kings, Warriors and Nuggets. A win tonight would put the Suns within two games of .500 for the first time since Jan. 12 (4-6).

Meanwhile, Houston will continue a six-game road trip Thursday and improved to 2-1 on the swing with last night's 103-96 win at Portland.

Goran Dragic filled in for an injured Kyle Lowry and scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, while Chase Budinger had 22 points to lead the Rockets, who got a season-high 66 points from their bench on 24-for-43 shooting (.558), won for the 12th time in the past 16 games and pushed their road ledger to 5-8 this season.

"Our bench was fantastic. You have to reward the guys who are playing well," Rockets head coach Kevin McHale said. "They deserved to finish the game."

Lowry left the game late in the third quarter with a strained right elbow and finished the contest with 12 points. He is questionable for tonight. Courtney Lee and Luis Scola scored 16 and 12 points, respectively, in the win. The Rockets still have Golden State and Memphis to play on the trek.

In other Rockets news, the NBA announced Wednesday that Houston will host the 2013 All-Star game.

"I am thrilled the Rockets and the City of Houston have once again brought NBA All-Star to Toyota Center," said Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander. "The 2006 All-Star Game in Houston was a tremendous success and we plan to set the bar even higher in 2013. We take great pride in Toyota Center's standing as one of the premier venues in the country and are honored to be the first arena in Texas to host the game for a second time."

Houston just beat Phoenix, 99-81, last Friday at home thanks to Kevin Martin's game-high 16 points. Martin led seven players in double figures for the Rockets, who have won two in a row against the Suns since losing the previous seven meetings between the teams. Phoenix, however, has won four in a row and 10 of the past 14 encounters with Houston in the Valley of the Sun.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

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As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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