Heat and Hawks clash in Atlanta

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to tighten things up in the Southeast when they entertain division-leading Miami at Philips Arena.

The star-studded Heat lead the Hawks by two games entering tonight's contest and improved to 1-1 on a season-long, six-game road trip in the nation's capital on Friday. Dwyane Wade scored 26 points in that one to lift Miami to a 106-89 victory over woeful Washington.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points to go with 11 rebounds, while LeBron James added 18 points and nine assists for the Heat, who bounced back from a loss at Orlando on Wednesday to win for a fourth time in their past five games overall.

"We all had a good feel for the ball tonight," said Bosh. "The way you start is usually the way you're going to play for the rest of the night."

Miami, which is 8-5 as the visitor on the season, will also visit Milwaukee, Indiana and Cleveland on its current trek.

The Hawks have hung tough despite a litany of injuries, especially in the middle where centers Al Horford (torn left pec) and Jason Collins (sprained left elbow) remain sidelined.

Atlanta won its second straight contest on Friday in Orlando when Josh Smith scored 23 points and pulled down a season-high 19 rebounds as the Hawks escaped Amway Center with an 89-87 overtime win over the Magic

"I thought our guys did a great job in just responding to the challenge. We really wanted to come in here and play with aggression," said Atlanta head coach Larry Drew. "I thought we really did a great job."

Joe Johnson added 14 points and Marvin Williams and Jeff Teague scored 13 apiece for Atlanta, which has won the two straight since snapping a three-game losing streak on Wednesday.

The Hawks, who are 9-4 in the ATL on the season, are a perfect 7-0 when Smith scores 20-or-more points.

This will be the third meeting between the two clubs this season. Atlanta topped the Heat in South Florida back on Jan. 2 but Miami responded and won a triple-overtime contest in Atlanta three days later despite missing both James and Wade.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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