Pacers try to stay hot vs. Magic

Basketball Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers will try to extend their season-high winning streak to five games when they entertain the Orlando Magic tonight in the opener of a modest two-game homestand.

Indiana has won four in a row and seven of its last nine games, including Friday's 98-87 triumph at Dallas. Paul George sank seven three-pointers en route to a career-high 30 points and also collected nine rebounds and five assists to lead the victors.

David West finished with 20 points and six boards, while Danny Granger added 16 points and five rebounds for the Pacers, who won in Dallas for the first time since January 9, 2004, halting a seven-game skid in Big D. Darren Collison donated 13 points and six assists in the victory.

"Obviously really excited about the win; a team effort indicative of 25 assists on 37 made buckets," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "Stellar defense, in particular in the second half, and in that first half, too; they were hitting a lot of tough shots."

The Pacers will also welcome Utah to Indy and are 6-1 as the host. They are currently 1 1/2 games behind Chicago for the Central Division lead.

Orlando has won back-to-back games since losing four straight and six of eight, and recorded a 102-94 victory versus Cleveland last night at Amway Center courtesy of 19 points and 16 rebounds from All-Star Dwight Howard.

"I just tried to be aggressive on the defensive end and block shots," Howard said. "The last couple of games we've been playing against a lot of quick guards who take it and go. So I was just trying to be the guy back there for us who could block shots and make our defense work."

Jason Richardson scored 19 points as well and Hedu Turkoglu added 18 for the Magic, who shot 42.5 percent and were coming off a win over Washington. Ryan Anderson netted 17 points and Von Wafer added 11 in a reserve role.

The Magic have been without starting point guard Jameer Nelson since January 27 because of concussion-like symptoms and the former Saint Joseph's star will most likely miss tonight's game. After visiting the Pacers, Orlando will play three straight and six of seven games in central Florida. It is 6-5 away from home this season.

Magic center Glen Davis is eligible to return from a two-game suspension Monday. Davis was penalized for conduct detrimental to the team, general manager Otis Smith announced Friday. Davis, who was acquired during the offseason via a trade with the Celtics, missed Friday's game against the Cavaliers and is averaging 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 22.3 minutes in 22 games this season.

The Magic handed Indiana its first home loss of the season with a 102-83 victory on Jan. 24, but the Pacers evened the season set thanks to a 106-85 triumph five days later. Orlando is 12-3 in the past 15 meetings with the Pacers, who have dropped four in a row as the host in this series.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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