Bulls continue long trip in Milwaukee

Basketball Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls are in the midst of a nine-game road trip and will continue the lengthy trek tonight against the Central Division-rival Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center.

The Bulls improved to 2-2 thus far on the road swing following Thursday's 105-102 victory over the New York Knicks behind Derrick Rose, who scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and added 13 assists and four rebounds. Rose was held to 18 points in a loss at Philadelphia the night before and has now scored 30-plus points in four of his last five games, averaging 30.6 ppg in that stretch. He had a season-best 35 points against Washington on Monday.

"I think the good teams in this league find ways to win games. Most nights if you can be consistent with your defense it gives you a chance to win if you are not shooting well. We were fortunate tonight because we were able to score. We have to continue to improve our defense," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver scored 16 points apiece, while C.J. Watson finished with 12 points and Joakim Noah added 10 and nine rebounds for Central Division-leading Chicago, which improved to 10-5 as the guest and won for the 12th time in its last 16 tries. The Bulls shot 52.7 percent for the game and were without forward Luol Deng (wrist) and guard Richard Hamilton (groin/thigh). Both players are day-to-day.

Chicago leads the NBA in road wins with 10. Oklahoma City and Indiana are each second with nine road victories.

The Bulls' nine-game road trip is the longest since the 1992-93 season, when they went 6-3 on a nine-game trek. In 1974-75, Chicago played a team-record 11 straight games away from home (7-4). It will also make stops in New Jersey, New Orleans, Charlotte and Boston.

Milwaukee is back at home after losing by an 88-80 score last night in Detroit and will play back-to-back games in Brew City. It is 7-2 as the host and got 20 points from Brandon Jennings.

Shaun Livingston had 14 points and Ersan Ilyasova chipped in nine and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who had won three in a row and six of eight games before shooting 35.1 percent from the floor at The Palace.

"Well we were terrible in every aspect of the game," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "There's no reason to sugarcoat, our effort was awful; total lack of focus and concentration."

The Bucks will try to extend their home winning streak to four games and will also welcome the Phoenix Suns to the Bradley Center.

Milwaukee lost a 107-100 decision at Chicago on Jan. 27 this season, as Rose poured in 34 points to lead the way. Jennings led Milwaukee with 25 points and seven rebounds. The Bulls have won five straight and eight of the past 11 meetings between the teams. Since the 2003-04 season, Chicago has gone 23-10 against Milwaukee.

These two teams have split the last six meetings at the Bradley Center. In 13 career games against the Bucks, Rose is averaging 20.5 ppg. Jennings is posting 13.0 points per game in seven career matchups with the Bulls.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

Football Betting Lines

The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.

Bet NFL Sports Lines

Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.

Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.

A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.

Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.

Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.

And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.

2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win

Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1

Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1

Donald Brown (IND) 5/1

Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1

Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1

Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1

Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1

Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1

Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1

Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1

Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1

Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1

Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1

Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1

Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1

Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1

LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1

Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2

Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1

Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1

Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1

Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1

Jason Smith (STL) 40/1

Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1

Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1

Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1

Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2

Pat White (MIA) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 9/1

Betting Line

To visit this sports betting site go to BettingExpress.com for all your football betting lines needs.

For sports betting with credit cards site go to BettingExpress.com as well.