Clippers edge Rockets; Yao suffers knee injury

Basketball Betting Lines

12/24/2006 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Thomas scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the LA Clippers past Houston, 98-93, but the Rockets suffered a potentially season-killing blow early on when Yao Ming left with a knee injury in the first quarter.

Yao collapsed with just over six minutes left in the first quarter after leaping for a blocked shot. Yao's knee was caught under Chuck Hayes and Thomas, and the Rockets center grabbed his right knee in pain. He was helped off of the floor and taken to a local hospital for an MRI test, where it was revealed that Yao had suffered a non-displaced fracture in a bone under his right knee, and will miss at least six weeks, although Houston officials indicated that the injury should not require surgery.

Houston is already without Tracy McGrady, who is battling back spasms.

Thomas was joined by five other Clippers with double figures. Cuttino Mobley scored 18 points for LA, which snapped a six-game losing skid with the win. Elton Brand scored 16 points and grabbed seven boards. Chris Kaman scored 15 points and pulled down 11 boards, and Corey Maggette and Shaun Livingston contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Shane Battier led the Rockets with 28 points, and Luther Head scored 22 points in the loss, their second in three games. Rafer Alston scored 21 points.

A Bonzi Wells layup brought the Rockets to within 76-74 with 8:21 left in the game, but the Clippers answered with a 17-5 run that sealed the win. Thomas drilled a three to kick off the run, which put the Clippers up 93-79 with just under three minutes left in the game.

The Clippers trailed 50-39 after Battier opened the second half with a hook shot, but LA went on a 14-3 run to tie the game. Thomas and Mobley hit back- to-back threes, and a jumper by Mobley tied the game at 53-53 with 6:43 left. The Clippers took a 69-67 lead into the fourth quarter.

LA trailed 23-22 after the first quarter, and 48-39 at halftime.

Game Notes

The Clippers hit 54 percent (7-of-13) from behind the arc...The Rockets will play their first game without Yao on Tuesday, Dec. 26 at Indiana.

Sportslone Basketball Betting News


<< Shocked again: USC hands Wichita State second-straight loss
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Young scored 24 points, as the USC Trojans downed the eighth-ranked Wichita State Shockers, 60-56, in the third- place game of the Las Vegas Classic. Young drilled a jump shot with 1:03 remaining

<< Vikings, tackle Williams agree to contract extension
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Williams has a brand new contract sitting under the Christmas tree, as the Minnesota Vikings and the Pro Bowl defensive tackle agreed to a contract extension. According to the St. Paul Pio

<< Sakoda kicks Utes to bowl win over Tulsa
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louie Sakoda connected on all four of his field goals as Utah downed Tulsa, 25-13, to win the Armed Forces Bowl. Brett Ratliff threw for 240 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Utes (8-5),

<< Tellqvist, Coyotes blank Ducks
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikael Tellqvist stopped 29 shots for his first shutout of the year, as the Phoenix Coyotes registered a 2-0 win over the Western Conference-leading Anaheim Ducks. Shane Doan and Fredrik Sjostrom tall

<< Wolski's pair send Avs over Blackhawks
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Wojtek Wolski tallied two goals to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Pepsi Center. Joe Sakic added a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who returned

Williams leads Bucks over Nets >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mo Williams posted 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, as the streaking Milwaukee Bucks downed the New Jersey Nets, 115-104, at the Bradley Center. "I feel much better," Williams said. "

Yao fractures bone in knee, will miss 6 weeks >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Rockets center Yao Ming suffered a non- displaced fracture in a bone under his right knee in Saturday's 98-93 loss to the LA Clippers, an injury that Houston officials say should not require surgery

Allen, Sonics outlast Raptors >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Allen returned from a nine-game absence and scored 28 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists to lead Seattle past Toronto, 110-97, at KeyArena. The All-Star guard missed time with a

Nabakov, Sharks stop Flames >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-1, at HP Pavilion. Marcel Goc, Milan Michalek, Mark Smith and Scott Hannan all scored for the Sharks, who won their seco

Cowboys and Crimson Tide roll into Shreveport >>
Shreveport, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Alabama Crimson Tide are set to collide in the PetroSun Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. Oklahoma State owns a mediocre 6-6 record, but the team ha

Credit Card Betting: Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards

Online Sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard

MySportsbook.com is the best at processing US credit cards for deposits. Welcome to the most player friendly online sportsbook on the planet!

The principals behind MySportsbook are obviously a management group that understands the players needs as evidenced by their commitment to provide easy depositing with their high credit card acceptance rate and free weekly $10 bets they offer to clients with active betting accounts.

The perks don't end there! MySportsbook offers casino, poker and horses as well. Twice named Best Sportsbook by eGaming Review, this place is rock solid financially so you don't ever have to sweat the payout as you may with some other online bookies operating with less betting volume and client base.

Sign up today and grab your share of a 10% bonus that is added instantly to your betting account. Enjoy 52 risk free bets throughout the year as well!

Reasons to Play There: You have to see their no hitter, cycle hitter and slaughter rule promos for baseball. Worth a laugh and probably a few bucks throughout the MLB season. They offer supersized bonuses of 15% if you up your minimum deposit to $500 or more. Lay -105 on Friday NBA! Contests during the NFL football season!


Online Sportsbook Football Betting

The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.