Wizards try to pick up road victory in Houston

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards have had trouble the past two seasons playing well on the road and look to avoid an 0-8 start as the guest tonight against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.

The Wizards will play two straight and four of their next five games on the road and are off to their worst start away from home (0-7) since losing the first 25 road games last season. They are coming off a home win over the Charlotte Bobcats, a 92-75 triumph Wednesday at the Verizon Center in the debut of interim head coach Randy Wittman.

Nick Young scored 20 points and Andray Blatche posted 17 and 10 rebounds, a day after head coach Flip Saunders was fired in the midst of a 2-15 start. Wittman was a lead assistant for Saunders, who was just 51-130 in two-plus seasons as the team's head coach.

"I can't honestly say we needed a new voice. We just needed somebody to actually check us like Wittman did. That's what we needed," said Blatche.

John Wall netted 12 points and JaVale McGee posted six and 10 boards in a winning effort, helping the Wizards halt a three-game slide and improve to 3-15 on the season. It was Washington's second win in nine tries. The Wizards lucked out that Charlotte was minus leading scorers Gerald Henderson and D.J. Augustin.

The Wizards will also visit Charlotte before hosting Chicago, then will hit the road again for back-to-back contests in Orlando and Toronto. They didn't post their first road win of the 2010-11 campaign until Feb. 13 at the Cavs.

Houston will try to get back on track after having a season-high seven-game winning streak cut short with Wednesday's 105-99 loss versus Milwaukee in the opener of a four-game homestand.

Kevin Martin pumped in a game-best 29 points and Samuel Dalembert recorded a double-double with 13 points and 18 rebounds for the Rockets, who had also won five in a row as the host and fell to 7-2 in Space City.

"We gave up 63 points in the second half. There's no excuse for that," said Rockets coach Kevin McHale. "We had a great second quarter followed by a poor third quarter and then we couldn't ... we just never got any momentum in that game until late but when we started defending again it was too late."

A 20-0 burst bridging almost five minutes in the third and fourth quarters proved to be the difference for the Bucks, as they turned a 70-66 deficit into an 86-70 lead with 8:55 to go in the fourth. Houston, which got 18 points and eight boards from Luis Scola, dropped its first home game to Milwaukee since November 2, 1999 and was riding its longest winning streak since a 22-game run back in the 2007-08 campaign.

The Rockets will also host New York and Minnesota on the residency. The Rockets will try to keep Washington under the 90-point mark since they have won 18 straight games when doing so.

Houston defeated Washington, 114-106, on Jan. 16 this season in D.C. and got 25 points and eight assists from Martin. Dalembert had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who are 11-2 in the last 13 matchups in this series. Washington has lost two straight, 15 of 17 and 18 of its last 21 road encounters with the Rockets.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

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