Blazers cruise past Hawks

Basketball Betting Lines

02/19/2012 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Batum led all scorers with 22 points as Portland cruised to a 97-77 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Rose Garden on Saturday.

LeMarcus Aldridge recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in his first game back after missing two straight with a sprained left ankle. Raymond Felton added 14 points and eight assists as Portland has now won two of its last three.

Joe Johnson scored 19 points and Willie Green netted 17 off the bench for the Hawks, who have lost three of their last four.

Portland trailed 13-11 early on but the Trail Blazers used a 12-2 run in the first quarter to jump out to a 33-25 lead after 12 minutes.

Portland would never trail again in the contest.

Atlanta would get as close as five on a Willie Green trey to start the second but Portland scored seven of the next eight points to take a 40-29 lead.

The Trail Blazers would lead by double-digits for the remainder of the game as they took a 52-37 advantage into the locker room.

A Felton three pressed the lead to 19 as Portland led by double-digits throughout the third to take a 72-56 lead into the final stanza.

In the fourth, Aldridge knocked down a turnaround jumper to give Portland a 22-point lead, its largest, with just over four minutes remaining.

The Blazers dominated the glass, outrebounding the Hawks 50-27, including 15 offensive boards, which led to 18 second chance points for the Trail Blazers.

"I thought we got in a good rhythm, we made our shots, and we stopped those guys," said Portland head coach Nate McMillan. "We mixed in some zone tonight and we continued to make shots. We continued to defend. In the fourth quarter we did the same thing. Whenever they made a big shot, we responded."

Game Notes

Portland will start a tough back-to-back when it visits the Lakers on Monday and host the Spurs on Tuesday...Atlanta will travel to Chicago on Monday before wrapping up a five-game road trip in New York on Wednesday...Portland shot 40.9 percent from long range while Atlanta shot just 25.9 percent.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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