Sixers stop slide, topple Nets

Basketball Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Iguodala netted 20 points and dished out eight assists as the Sixers took down the reeling Nets, 108-97, at the Wachovia Center.

Jrue Holiday netted 19 and Elton Brand added 12 points and eight boards as the Sixers swept the four-game season-series with the Nets.

Willie Green, Lou Williams and Rodney Carney each tallied 11 points for the Sixers, who snapped a five-game slide.

Chris Douglas-Roberts led New Jersey with 23 points off the bench as the Nets dropped their sixth in a row. They were without guard Devin Harris for the second straight game due to an upper respiratory illness.

Kenyon Dooling chipped in with 15 points, while Terrence Williams scored 13. Jarvis Hayes and Brook Lopez each racked up 12 points in defeat.

The Nets trimmed the Sixers edge to 83-70 on a Kris Humphries make almost two minutes into the final quarter, but the Sixers combated New Jersey's rally, pushing the advantage to as much as 18 before closing the game.

The Nets led by as many as four in the opening quarter at 11-7 on a Josh Boone reverse layup, but the Sixers tied the game at 13 and took the lead on a Green pull-up jumper with about seven minutes left in the frame. After tying the game at 18 on an Iguodola free throw, the Sixers mounted a 14-4 run to end the quarter up 32-22.

A Jason Kapono jumper at 1:30 into the second quarter pushed the Sixers edge to 11, but the Nets crawled back to within four with just over 7 1/2 minutes left in the half on a Humphries slam. The Sixers led by as many as 14 in the quarter and finished the first half up 60-49.

Philly widened its margin to 18 in the third on a Brand jumper with 8:48 to go and led by as many as 22 on a Kapono triple with 4:25 remaining.

Douglas-Roberts scored the last nine points for the Nets in the third and drained a long triple from the top of the key to trim the deficit to 81-68.

Game Notes

The Sixers shot 56 percent for the game...The Nets made 23-of-24 foul shots......The Nets have lost five straight on the road...Philly improves to 11-22 at home, while New Jersey dropped to 3-30 on the road.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.