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02/07/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce is on the verge of passing a legend on the team's all-time scoring list and will lead the surging squad into tonight's showdown versus the lowly Charlotte Bobcats at TD Garden.
Pierce is 10 points shy of passing Larry Bird (21,791) for second on the team's all-time scoring list. John Havlicek has a comfortable spot at the top with 26,395 points. Pierce trimmed the margin with a 21-point effort in Sunday's 98-80 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies. Kevin Garnett had a season high-tying 24 points and nine rebounds in the recent win.
Ray Allen and Chris Wilcox each netted 12 points for the Celtics, who have won four in a row and eight of their last nine games. The Celtics, owners of a 9-6 mark as the host, also improved to 3-0 on a five-game homestand and will close out the residency Thursday versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
"I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and just give great energy. And that's what I did," said Wilcox, who tallied 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter and also grabbed five boards.
The Celtics had been 0-4 against Western Conference foes. Rajon Rondo had five points and tied a season-high with 14 assists in his second game back since missing eight in a row due to injury.
Not to make excuses for the struggling Bobcats but injuries have taken their toll on the team. Mired in a season-high losing streak of 11 games, Charlotte hopes to close out a four-game road trip tonight in Beantown.
The losing trend continued with Saturday's 95-89 loss at Phoenix, as rookie Kemba Walker had a team-best 22 points and Reggie Williams added 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his first start of the season. In his three games played, Williams has averages of 9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 23.0 minutes.
Boris Diaw finished with 13 points and Bismack Biyombo made his first career start in place of DeSagana Diop, notching 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who have lost 11 in a row for the longest slide since a franchise- record 13-game skid from Jan. 11-Feb. 1, 2006.
"We just missed some shots that we should have made and they came down and executed their offense and they made shots," said Walker, who is averaging 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals in his previous 13 contests. "That's just the way it went in the second half. They really just outplayed us in the fourth quarter."
The Bobcats are only 1-13 as the visitor this season and have lost their last 11 road games. That's the longest road losing streak since Nov. 7, 2007 - Jan. 4, 2008. Charlotte lost 12 straight games away from home Feb. 4-March 19, 2005 and dropped a franchise-high 14 consecutive road games from Jan. 2-Feb. 27, 2006.
On the injury front for Charlotte, guard Gerald Henderson will miss 2-4 weeks of action with a right hamstring strain and forward Corey Maggette is slated to miss that same amount of time because of a strained left hamstring. Point guard D.J. Augustin (toe fracture) is expected to miss 1-2 weeks of action and Diop is listed as questionable Tuesday due to a balky knee. Henderson has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games played, averaging 17.1 points on .496 shooting during that stretch.
After closing out the road trip in Boston the Bobcats will head home for three straight games versus the Bulls, Clippers and 76ers. The Bobcats haven't won since Jan. 14 versus Golden State and their last road victory was in New York back on Jan. 4.
Charlotte and Boston split four meetings a year ago but the Celtics have prevailed in 10 of the past 14 matchups between the teams. The Bobcats ended a five-game losing streak at TD Garden with an 83-81 victory last March 25. They have still lost 10 of the 13 encounters in Beantown.
<< Love-less Wolves welcome Kings to Twin Cities
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves will be without star forward
Kevin Love for the next two games because of a suspension and will move on
tonight versus the Sacramento Kings from the Target Center.
Love was slapped with
<< Durant leads Thunder into Golden State
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are only two teams Kevin Durant is averaging 30-plus
points against in his career and the Golden State Warriors are one of them.
Durant and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder will resume a five-game road
trip to
<< Li retires, Jankovic withdraws in Paris
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Li Na retired from her
first-round match Tuesday at the Open GDF Suez, while fourth-seeded Jelena
Jankovic withdrew from the tournament, citing a left thigh strain.
Bulgarian Tsvetana Pi
<< Bluejays set sights on Purple Aces in MVC action
Evansville, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Knocked down a few of pegs in the latest
top-25 poll, the Creighton Bluejays now head to Evansville ranked as the 17th-
best team in the nation as they clash with the Purple Aces in Missouri Valley
Conference a
Devils aim to keep rolling against East-leading Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils have matched their longest winning
streak of the season and will try to keep rolling tonight, when they face the
Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The Devils have u
Panthers, Caps again do battle for first place >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Another battle for first place in the Southeast Division is
on tap tonight, as the Washington Capitals host the Florida Panthers at the
Verizon Center.
Florida enters tonight with a one-point lead over the Capitals for the
Pens close out road trip with test against Habs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through a rough patch to
begin February, but they'll try to get back on track tonight when they visit
the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
The Penguins ended January on an eight-game
Elliott returns to Ottawa as Blues visit Sens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators decided last season that they wanted to
upgrade their goaltending position. Now the man that they dealt away reappears
in town as an All-Star.
Brian Elliott makes his return to Scotiabank Place this eve
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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