Wolves aim to snap long skid vs. Lakers

Basketball Betting Lines

01/29/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Lakers will finish a two-day tour of the Midwest on Sunday aiming for their 16th consecutive win over the much-improved Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Wolves haven't beaten LA since March 6, 2007 but this is a much different Minnesota team and for that matter a much more pedestrian Lakers club.

With a win tonight the Timberwolves would be at .500 after 20 games for the first time since it was 22-22 on Jan. 30, 2007. Meanwhile, LA is a very uncharacteristic 1-7 away from SoCal this season after falling, 100-89, to a Bucks team without Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson in Milwaukee on Saturday.

Kobe Bryant had 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in that one to lead the Lakers while Pau Gasol chipped in 12 points and 15 rebounds. Andrew Goudelock scored 13 off the bench and Andrew Bynum added 15 points and nine rebounds for LA.

"I can only speak about tonight (but) Milwaukee was a much more physical team defensively," said Bryant. "They made it uncomfortable."

LA's road record is currently the worst in the Western Conference with a very difficult stretch looming. After tonight's contest the Lakers will make a short stop home to face off with Charlotte before kicking off a six-game trek in Denver.

In its most recent affair, Minnesota topped San Antonio at Target Center, 87-79, behind Kevin Love's 18 points and 16 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season.

The Timberwolves scored the final 10 points of the game in that one to beat the Spurs for the second time in a row. Minnesota also topped San Antonio on Jan. 2 at home, snapping a 16-game losing streak in that series.

Rookie point guard Ricky Rubio scored 18 points with 10 assists while Nikola Pekovic had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

"We want to just continue to get better," Love said, looking forward to the chance to reach .500 this weekend, "and especially in the fourth quarter when it's close."

Love called Rubio, who entered the NBA with an already sparkling reputation as a playmaker, a "great" player. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich didn't need to be told that, calling the 6-foot-4 Spaniard a "heck of a passer" with a good ability to read situations on the court.

"He's like a football quarterback," Popovich said.

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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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