Bobcats knock off road-weary Warriors

Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.J. Augustin scored 19 points off the bench, as the Charlotte Bobcats took down the Golden State Warriors, 101-90, at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Gerald Wallace added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who have won the first two games of their three-game homsetand that ends Tuesday against the Heat.

Boris Diaw donated 14 points and 12 boards. Stephen Jackson and Theo Ratliff chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Charlotte, which shot 46 percent from the field.

Stephen Curry finished with 25 points for the Warriors, who fell to 0-4 on their five-game road trip that concludes Monday versus the Hornets. Corey Maggette added 19 points, while Anthony Morrow had 11 points for Golden State, which made 38.2 percent of its shots.

Ahead 86-85 midway through the fourth, the Bobcats went on a 15-2 run to claim victory.

After Chris Hunter's tip-in cut the gap to 94-87 for the Warriors, Jackson made a jumper and Augustin drained a three-pointer to extend Charlotte's lead to 99-87 with three minutes to play.

Diaw then capped the burst with a layup to put the Bobcats ahead 101-87 with a minute remaining.

The Bobcats scored the final six points of the first quarter to take a 24-19 lead after 12 minutes.

Golden State surged ahead in the second and led for a majority of the period before taking a 54-53 margin into the locker room.

The third was a closely contested frame that ended with Augustin's three-point play, giving Charlotte an 81-76 lead.

Game Notes

The Warriors have lost a season-high 10 straight road games...Charlotte outrebounded Golden State, 60-36...The Bobcats had 20 turnovers, leading to 23 Golden State points...Warriors leading scorer Monta Ellis (back) missed his fifth straight game, and center Andris Biedrins (groin) sat out his fourth consecutive contest.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.