New-look Heat open in Boston as full NBA schedule is released

Basketball Betting Lines

08/10/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The new-look Miami Heat and two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers will both be in action on the first day of the 2010-11 NBA season, October 26.

The Heat will open the season in Boston against the Celtics in the first game of a doubleheader aired by TNT.

Miami will unveil its star trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in a potential Eastern Conference Finals preview. The Celtics are the defending East champions and also feature a 'Big Three' -- Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, who led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA title. This past season Boston pushed the Lakers to seven games in the Finals.

The opening-night doubleheader will continue with the Lakers, as they begin their quest for a third consecutive title at home against the Houston Rockets.

Led by two-time defending Finals MVP Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles was an antithesis of Miami this offseason, having made few big headlines but remaining a top contender for the title. One of the team's biggest questions was whether head coach Phil Jackson would return. However, Jackson announced last month he would be back for another year in an attempt to record his 12th NBA coaching championship.

The Rockets, meanwhile, expect center Yao Ming to return after he missed the entire 2009-10 season with a foot injury.

A set of premium matchups comes on October 29, when ESPN airs a doubleheader. In the first game, the Heat host Dwight Howard and Orlando in a Southeast Division battle. That contest is followed by the Phoenix Suns hosting the Lakers in a Western Conference Finals rematch.

James will make his highly-anticipated return to Cleveland with the Heat on December 2 and play host to the Cavaliers 13 days later. "The King" and his court will host his former mates again on January 31 and make a return engagement in Cleveland on March 29.

The NBA released a schedule of five Christmas Day games, highlighted by the Lakers playing host to Miami and Orlando hosting Boston in a rematch of the East finals. Additionally on Christmas, the New York Knicks host the Chicago Bulls, the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Denver Nuggets, and the Golden State Warriors host the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Magic and Celtics play again on January 17 as part of the Martin Luther King Day schedule, in Boston.

The Celtics and Lakers will renew their storied rivalry with two games in 11 days, meeting first in Los Angeles on January 30 and then again in Boston February 10.

The league's 60th All-Star Game will be played February 20th in Los Angeles.

The first-ever regular season games to be played outside of North America will be held in London, England between the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors March 4 and 5.

The post-season will begin the weekend of April 16-17 and ABC will have exclusive coverage of the NBA Finals for an eighth straight season.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

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.