Celtics get back to work in Utah

Basketball Betting Lines

02/19/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics kick off the second half of their season tonight by resuming a torturous six-game road trip in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.

The Celtics improved to 2-0 on the trek before the All-Star break when Paul Pierce outscored the Mavericks in the final period, pouring in 18 of his 31 points down the stretch as Boston rallied to claim a 99-92 victory over Dallas last Thursday.

Boston outscored the Mavs, 30-17, in the final 12 minutes, led by plenty of daggers from Pierce. The All-Star's two biggest came in the closing minute- plus, with a fall-away jumper giving the Celtics a 93-91 edge with 1:12 on the clock and another tough mid-range bucket pushing the lead to four with 38.5 ticks to play.

Rajon Rondo allowed Boston to hang on in the early going, registering his second career triple-double. He finished with 19 points to go along with 14 assists and a team-best 15 rebounds, and achieved the feat with 53.2 seconds still left in the third quarter.

Kevin Garnett added 16 points and five rebounds and Ray Allen had 20 points, as Boston, which headed into the break with the most victories in the league at 44-11, has won three of four overall.

The C's have also won nine straight on the road and are 20-7 on the year as the visitor and will finish their current swing with games against Phoenix, Denver and the LA Clippers.

The Celtics did receive some bad news off the court, however. The team's top bench player, the athletic Tony Allen, underwent surgery to repair ligaments in his left thumb on Wednesday and will miss the next eight weeks.

The 6-foot-4 Allen is currently in his fifth season with the Celtics and is averaging 7.8 points and 1.25 steals in 19.1 minutes per game.

The Jazz, meanwhile, improved to 2-0 on a five-game homestand on Tuesday when C.J. Miles scored a game-best 24 points, Deron Williams added 20 and Utah welcomed Andrei Kirilenko back to the lineup in a 117-99 rout of Memphis.

Kirilenko, who missed 11 games after undergoing ankle surgery, played 17 1/2 high-energy minutes with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Ronnie Brewer chipped in 19 points and Williams added 15 assists to his point total. Paul Millsap tallied 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

"He (Kirilenko) made a big steal and then on the other end had a big basket and then blocked a couple of shots. That was something that we missed with him," Utah head coach Jerry Sloan said of Kirilenko.

Star forward Carlos Boozer (knee) remains out for the Jazz but center Mehmet Okur, who missed the win over Memphis with the flu, is expected back tonight.

Utah won its ninth consecutive game against Memphis and improved to an impressive 22-6 at home this season. It will conclude its homestand against New Orleans and Atlanta.

The Jazz had a 37-4 record at EnergySolutions Arena last season, the NBA's best home mark, but the Celtics were responsible for one of those losses. -- a 104-98 triumph on December 29, 2007. Overall, the Celtics have won two of their past three games with the Jazz, including a 100-91 win in Boston earlier this season.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

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