Celtics handle Grizzlies, earn fourth straight win

Basketball Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Garnett had 24 points and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics handled the Memphis Grizzlies, 98-80, at TD Garden.

Paul Pierce added 21 points while Ray Allen and Chris Wilcox each netted 12 as the Celtics won their fourth straight game and remained perfect in a five-game homestand.

Rudy Gay had 21 points and seven rebounds to pace Memphis, which wrapped up a three-game road trip with a 1-2 record by dropping its last two contests.

After an 8-2 spurt by the Grizzlies put them up, 12-6, in the first quarter, the Celtics reeled off 10 straight points to jump ahead and held a 24-16 lead after the opening frame.

Memphis then came out hot in the second, opening the quarter with a 16-3 run that included five consecutive Boston turnovers and eight points by O.J. Mayo to take a 32-27 lead with less than seven minutes to go in the half.

The Celtics, though, responded with their own 16-3 swing to close out the half and owned a 43-35 advantage at the break.

Neither team shot well from long distance in the first half, as Memphis went 1-for-7 from three-point range and Boston connected on 1-of-10 shots from beyond the arc. Both teams also had 10 turnovers apiece in the first 24 minutes.

But Boston found its three-point stroke in the third quarter, converting on 5- of-8 shots from long distance -- three from Allen -- as the Celtics led by no less than five points and by as many as 12 en route to a 69-61 lead at the end of three quarters.

The game was never in doubt in the fourth, with Boston leading by double digits for the majority of the quarter.

Game Notes

Boston improved to 9-6 at home this season while Memphis fell to 5-9 on the road...The Celtics will also host Charlotte and the Los Angeles Lakers in the homestand...Boston recorded its first win of the season against a member of the Western Conference. The Celtics had been 0-4 against Western Conference foes...Pierce sits nine points shy of tying Larry Bird (21,791) for second on Boston's all-time scoring list...Mayo finished with 15 points for the Grizzlies.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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