Rockets hand 76ers a 5th straight loss

Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston's Luis Scola had 19 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 93-87 win over the 76ers.

Kevin Martin scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Kyle Lowry finished with 13 for the Rockets, who enter the All-Star break on a three-game win streak.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, saw its season-long losing streak reach five games.

The shorthanded 76ers, playing without forward Elton Brand and center Spencer Hawes, were led by rookie Nikola Vucevic's career-high 18 points. Lou Williams chipped in 17, Thaddeus Young had 15 and Jodie Meeks added 14.

Jrue Holiday's layup had Philadelphia up, 84-83, with two minutes to go, but Lowry responded with a three-point play to put the Rockets on top for good.

Williams' free throw pulled the 76ers within one, 86-85, but Young was called for a charge after Vucevic blocked Scola.

Lowry then struck again, driving hard, making a bank layup and drawing a foul on Young. The subsequent free throw made it 89-85 with under a minute to go.

Philadelphia followed with another gaffe, as Williams turned the corner on an elbow pick but fell out of bounds with the ball. Lowry's fadeaway jumper was off at the other end, but Young knocked the loose ball out of bounds with 25 seconds left and Martin and Courtney Lee closed with a pair of free throws apiece to seal the win.

The Rockets led 19-16 after one and 45-41 at the break before Chandler Parsons and Scola opened the third with back-to-back buckets for a 49-41 advantage.

The 76ers responded with a 15-5 run to grab their first lead since early in the first.

Williams began the burst with a three-point play and Meeks capped it with two- handed dunk for a 56-54 edge.

Later in the quarter, Scola's layup put the Rockets up, 60-59, but Philadelphia finished with baskets from Vucevic, Meeks and Young for a 65-61 advantage after three.

Houston opened the fourth with a layup from Patrick Patterson and a short jumper from Martin to tie the game at 65 and spark the back-and-forth finish.

Game Notes

Philadelphia hasn't scored 100 points in any of its past 17 games...The Rockets improved to 14-4 at the Toyota Center this season while the 76ers fell to 7-8 on the road...Philadelphia had won its previous four trips to Houston.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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