SportsBettingChamp.com Sports Blog

There are only 3 days left in the NBA before the regular season ends and there are still a few things left to sort out. One of these things is the battle for the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference and with Chicago and Detroit playing each other the 8th seed could be wrapped up tonight.

If Chicago can win at the Palace of Auburn Hills they would be assured of at least the 7th seed at the right to play Boston but could then still beat Philadelphia for 6th seed and the right to face Orlando. This game will be hotly contested as whoever loses is likely to face Cleveland in the first round and near certain elimination.

The Bulls have found form at the right time though and are on a 4 game winning streak, most of these have been at home though, Chicago have dropped 9 of their last 11 away games though, only winning at Washington and Oklahoma, two of the worst teams in the league. Coupled with the fact that Luol Deng is out and Tim Thomas is questionable for tonight’s game a win will be quite hard.

The Bulls will want to fall back on star man Ben Gordon who is averaging 20 points a game while hoping that Derrick Rose (who’s averaging 16 points) can chip in with an above average performance in a game that could determine how far each team goes in the post-season. Tip off is at 7.30pm ET and the game’s on NBA TV.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

6 games were played in the NBA last night starting at the first game in New Orleans. The Hornets played the first game of the day against Dallas and won thanks to a 4th quarter blitz. With the scores level at 69 after 3 quarters New Orleans turned up the heat on the Mavs and held them to 23 points in the final 12 minutes and outscored them by 10 points to win this one 102-92. Chris Paul and David West both had 31 points with Paul shooting 11 of 15 from the field and no doubt helping West with 17 assists. New Orleans now sit at the top of the pile of 3 teams that aren’t good enough to battle for the Western Conference’s 2nd seed (along with Utah and Dallas) and sit in 6th place.

Cleveland moved to 39-1 at home for the season with a blowout win over the Boston Celtics, their main rivals in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs held Boston to only 9 1st quarter points to give themselves a 19 point lead going into half time and won 3 of the 4th quarter of play. LeBron James led them with 29 points while Zydrunas Ilgauskas got a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cavs to a 107-76 victory. Cleveland, who have already clinched the Eastern Conference’s 1st seed, can clinch home court advantage in the Finals (if they get that far) with a win in Indianapolis on Monday.

In Miami the Heat held off the New York Knicks thanks to a show stopping 55 points from talisman Dwyane Wade. In a high scoring game Wade wasn’t the only one to put up very good numbers, Michael Beasley dropped 28 points himself, and capped the night off with a double double after jumping for 16 rebounds in a 122-105 win. This win puts Miami into 5th spot in the East after Philadelphia loss to Toronto and with two games to go and Wade seemingly back at his best they’ll hope to cling onto that seed.

The aforementioned Philadelphia 76ers damaged their chances to getting into the second round of the play-offs with a road loss to the Toronto Raptors, 104-111. This loss meant the 76ers were pushed down to 6th spot in the Eastern Conference with two games to go and means that if they can’t get back to 5th they will be playing Orlando in the first round, a daunting task. All five of Toronto’s starters had solid games last night and every one of them scored double figures. Power forward Chris Bosh led them with 22 points while Jose Calderon had 11 points and the same number of assists for a double double to give Toronto their 31st win of the season.

In Sacramento the San Antonio Spurs had to rely on their main two starters to overcome the Kings in a tight 95-92 win. With Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan still out injured the Spurs were led by Tony Parker, who scored 25 while their other big player Roger Mason dropped 22. This win kept San Antonio in the hunt for 2nd spot in the West and in a 3 way tie for 3rd place with Houston and Portland with two games to play.

Finally in Los Angeles the Lakers comfortably beat the Memphis Grizzlies 92-75. L.A encounted no trouble whatsoever winning 3 quarters of play and tying one in a game when they needn’t get out of first gear. They let most of their bench have time on the court and due to this Kobe Bryant only had 16 points while Andrew Bynum led with 18. Pau Gasol got his usual double double with 12 points and 13 rebounds but it looks like the Lakers will have to go into the play-offs without home court advantage all the way through since the Cavs don’t feel like losing any time soon.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

In the Western Conference where the battle for seeds are still ongoing, nearly every team has played 80 games, the one team that hasn’t are San Antonio, who for their 80th game of the season go to Sacramento to face the Kings.

In the last five games San Antonio have won the 3 easier game but have fallen when tested against harder opposition, namely Cleveland and Portland. In their last game on Friday they managed a win against the seemingly hapless Utah Jazz, 105-99, and tonight’s game will again be against an easier team. The Kings have lost 7 straight including a home loss to Golden State and a road loss to the Clippers (to lose to the Clippers you have to be bad!) Despite having only win 16 games all season the Kings have averaged more points then the Spurs, 100 to 96 respectively. This shows the different types of play each team employs. San Antonio are a grinding, defensive team where as Sacramento realise the only way they will beat teams is by outscoring them.

One stat that will hearten San Antonio is the fact that the Kings have given up 109 points a game this season, so maybe the Spurs will decide to break out and score triple figures for once. They might have to do this without Tim Duncan (who averages 15 points a game) who is questionable for tonight’s game. Likewise the Kings only have one injury worry, Kevin Martin (who’s now famous for scoring 50 points in a game a few weeks ago) their small guard is questionable for tonight’s game. Tip-off is at 9pm ET.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

7 games were played in the NBA on Saturday and a few shocks were had:

First up in Indiana the Pacers carried on their good end of season form by beating the Detroit Pistons, 106-102. This win took the Pacers to 9th spot in the Eastern Conference and even though they can’t make the play-offs they will be delighted that they’ve saved face after a season when at one point they were second bottom in the Eastern Conference. In this game Danny Granger came through with 24 points while Brandon Rush had 21.

In New Jersey the Nets improved to 33-47 after a good win against the Orlando Magic. The Nets won this one 103-93 after stopping Dwight Howard from his nearly inevitable double double. Howard only managed 7 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes and the rest of his team didn’t do much better. On the other side Vince Carter led New Jersey with 27 points and 9 assists while Brook Lopez had 13 points and 11 rebounds for a double double. With this loss Orlando are now not able to catch the Boston Celtics for 2nd seed in the East and so will have to play either Philadelphia, Miami or Chicago in 6th spot.

Phoenix aimed to end their disappointing season on a high and went a step towards that goal with a road win at Minnesota, 110-97. Phoenix, who dropped out of play-off contention last week had major help from their bench; Leandro Barbosa, Jared Dudley and Alando Tucker all came off the bench to score double figures for the Suns while Grant Hill led the starters with 19. Shaq also had a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Chicago enabled Indiana to jump ahead of the Bobcats by beating them at the United Center, 113-106. A major part in their win was Ben Gordon who scored 39 points, shooting 13 of 25 from the field while Joakim Noah had a double double (11-10rebounds). This win also means Chicago have a chance at grabbing 6th spot from Philadelphia, a mean feat considering a month ago they were in 9th place.

There wasn’t a 23rd win for Oklahoma as they went down 115-98 in Milwaukee. Both teams are just playing out the rest of the season, Oklahoma never had anything to play for but Milwaukee blew their play-off chances after the All Star break, going on a terrible run which means they’ll probably end the season 4th from bottom in the East. In this game Richard Jefferson led the Bucks with 35 points while Luke Ridnour had 18 points and 8 assists to see the Bucks to an easy home victory.

Utah dropped to a new low when they lost to an injury ravaged Golden State at home, 118-108. Despite Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford, Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright all not play the Warriors still managed to win in Salt Lake, where before the game the Jazz had only lost 7 times all season. They did this by limiting the Jazz to only 20 2nd quarter points while scoring 36 of their own to go into the half leading by 13, a lead they didn’t let go of. C.J Watson had 38 points and 9 assist while Rob Kurz came off the bench to score 21 points. Any Jazz fans watching last night would have been despairing at how their team are going to pose any threat to their play-off opponents if they cannot beat the Warriors, a team that had only won 7 away from home before the game. Utah are now a game behind 7th placed Dallas with 2 to play and if they aren’t able to catch them then it will be the Lakers in the first round.

Finally in Los Angeles the Trail Blazers beat the Clippers in a grinding, defensive performance, 87-72. As you can tell from the scoreline this wasn’t a free scoring game and with the game tied at 17 after the 1st quarter Portland ultimately won the game with a 2nd quarter performance where they outscored the Clips by 15 points to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points and 9 rebounds while Joel Przybilla had a double double (10-14rebounds). This win leaves Portland tied for 3rd place with Houston in the Western Conference with both teams having two to play.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

7 games are being played tonight and all eyes are on the Jazz’ game at home to Golden State in Salt Lake City. The Jazz have only lost 7 games at home all season, the same number of games Golden State have won away from home, but after a bad loss at Dallas and then another loss at San Antonio Utah gave up the 7th seed that it’d held onto for so long. They’ll be aiming to get it back tonight though and could dearly use a win after dropping 4 of their last 5 including a home loss to Minnesota.

This will be the perfect opportunity for them then as the Warriors have a shed load of injuries. Monta Ellis is definitely out along with Corey Maggette while Jamal Crawford and Andris Biedrins are both questionable for tonight’s game. They may not be a better time to face Golden State, who will surely be fielding a make shift squad for a team that’s already looking towards next season. The Jazz have no injuries to speak of so will hope for solid performances all round to avoid becoming Golden State’s 8th win on the road. Tip-off’s at 9pm ET.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

A colossal 13 games were played in the NBA on Friday starting in Philadelphia where the Cavaliers secured the Eastern Conference’s top spot with an easy win over the 76ers, 102-92. The Cavs never looked in trouble in this game and had a 6 point lead at the half before coasting the rest of the way. LeBron James top scored with 27 and 10 assists while Mo Williams had 18. This loss leaves Philly still fighting for their seed, they’re only 1 game behind 5th placed Miami but only 1 game in front of 7th and 8th placed Chicago and Detroit respectively. Two losses in their final two games could see them playing Cleveland again the play-offs as 8th seed..

Atlanta secured 4th spot in the East with a hard fought victory over Indiana in Atlanta on a night where outside of the Philips Arena there was thunder and lightening. In a high scoring game Josh Smith led the Hawks with 30 points and 10 rebounds while Al Horford had 22 points and 15 rebounds for a double double to see Atlanta to a 122-118 victory.

The Celtics kept hold of 2nd spot in the East with a 105-98 win over the Miami Heat at TD Banknorth Garden. The difference in this game was Boston’s near impeccable free throw shooting, the Celtics shot 95 percent from the stripe, 20 points in total to see them past Miami. Paul Pierce scored 28 points while Glen Davis was next with 22.

At the Palace in Detroit the Pistons shut out the Bobcats from getting into the play-offs and secured their own passage into the post-season. With Charlotte losing and Detroit winning it was mathematically impossible for the ‘Cats to get back into the top 8. The Pistons beat the New Jersey Nets 100-93 with an assured performance against a team that’s often better away from home than at home. Will Bynum came off the bench to score a team high 20 points while starter Rasheed Wallace scored 15.

The New York Knicks virtually ensured that the Boston Celtics would have the 2nd spot in the East when they beat Orlando on the road, 105-95. This loss left Orlando with 3 games to play (the same amount as Boston) and 2 games behind Boston. With the Celtics holding the season series tie breaker it means that Boston would have to go winless for the rest of the season while Orlando go 3-0. New York won this thanks to Al Harrington’s 27 points and David Lee’s 20 points and 16 rebounds.

The aforementioned Charlotte Bobcats finally ended their play-off dream with a 84-81 loss at Oklahoma City. Charlotte, who have improved over the course of the season, just couldn’t keep up their intensity of a few weeks ago and the play-offs proved a step too far, they will however, be encouraged for next season when a shot at the post-season is a distinct possibility with their line-up. They went into the half 11 points down and couldn’t fully recover, Kevin Durant inflicted the most damage with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Nenad Krstic was next with 19.

Caron Butler’s 20 foot jumper at the buzzer gave Washington their 6th road win of the season, a 100-98 win over the Toronto Raptors. Late in the 4th quarter the Wizards had already given up a 6 point lead before Butler shot a fade away to win the game. He had 21 points on the night while Antawn Jamison led the Wiz with 24 and 12 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas again didn’t play.

Signs of wanting the season to be over shone through in the Suns weak performance against the Grizzlies in Memphis last night. Phoenix lost this one 106-89 and for the first time in ages were held to below 3 figures. Known that they could no longer make the play-offs might have had an impact in the Suns’ play, only 1 starter managed to get past double figures scoring-wise (Jason Richardson with 13). The Grizzlies were able to light up the court though with Rudy Gay and O.J Mayo dropping 20 points each and Hakim Warrick coming off the bench to collect 15 points and 10 rebounds to get Memphis their 23rd win of the season.

In Dallas the Mavericks overcame the New Orleans Hornets and in the process took 7th spot in the Western Conference from the Utah Jazz. This battle between Dallas and Utah for 7th spot is a big one, finishing in 8th would mean facing the Lakers in the first round while 7th will probably mean the Denver Nuggets, a much nicer prospect. Utah lost to San Antonio last night and at the same time Dallas beat their Western Conference rivals by 100-92 to leap frog them. Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki both had 25 points with Howard collecting 11 rebounds for a double double to see the Mavs into an all important seeding spot.

The aforementioned Jazz lost away to the San Antonio Spurs 105-99, carrying on their poor form away from home, form that looks to be their Achilles heel going into the play-offs. If they finish the season in 8th they’ll need to beat the Lakers at least once in L.A if they’re to have any chance of progressing and this looks unlikely the way they’ve been playing away from Salt Lake. In this game Tony Parker came up big for the Spurs, who without Manu Ginobili need all the points they can get from Parker. Parker scored 31 points, shooting 9 of 15 from the field in a win that leaves San Antonio in a tie for 4th spot with Portland with both teams a half game off of 3rd placed Houston.

Portland kept the pressure on 3rd placed Houston with a convincing win at home to the L.A Lakers, 106-98. Brandon Roy led the Trail Blazers with 24 points while LaMarcus Aldridge and Steve Blake both had 16 points a piece. Portland are gunning for a high seed and Brandon Roy has been the catalyst for that streak that’s seen them win 8 of their last 10 games. The Lakers look to have finally surrendered top spot in the NBA to the Cavs and are now 2 games behind them with only 2 to play.

Houston kept hold of 3rd spot in the West with a commanding win over Golden State, 113-109, in Oakland. Visiting the Warriors and coming away with a win is a tough thing to do but the Rockets managed this with the help of Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola, who scored 20 and 28 respectively. These performances made up for the loss of Yao Ming who played no part in Friday’s game. Dikembe Mutombo filled in at center and scored 10 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for a double double.

Finally in a pointless game the L.A Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings 109-78 in Los Angeles. The Clips held the Kings to 13 1st quarter points to take a 26 point lead into the half and the game was over from that point on really, Sacramento never really posed a threat. Brian Skinner led the Clippers with 21 and 10 rebounds while Eric Gordon had 20 points, shooting 8 of 11 from the field.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

With the season ending on Wednesday tonight could see a lot sewn up in the NBA, 13 games are being played and so a lot of teams’ fates are in the balance. The biggest game in the West is the clash between Utah and San Antonio in Texas. Both team’s have secured their play-off berth and are now looking at getting the highest seed they can before the season ends.

For Utah this task hasn’t been helped by their away form which has seen them win only 2 games at teams over .500, overall they’re 15-24 on the road. It’s their home form that’s seen them into the play-offs, they’ve only lost 7 times at home. This will give encouragement to the Spurs who have Manu Ginobili out for the season while Tim Duncan is questionable for tonight’s game. They’ll be hoping that the Jazz’ bad away from stays true so that they can earn a win that they desperately need.

A few weeks ago San Antonio were in the 2nd spot but they’ve only won half of their last 10 games to see them drop to 5th place in the West and out of home court advantage in the first round. Last night Houston snatched 3rd spot for themselves and the Spurs will want a win to create another tie for 3rd place. The win will be more difficult than usual, not only do they have injury problems Utah have none whatsoever.

San Antonio have won the season series though, including a win in Utah, 106-100, in late January. Both San Antonio wins have come when the Jazz’ have had injuries and with none to speak of this game will be a much harder test for the Spurs even if they’re at home. Tip-off is at 8.30pm ET at the AT&T Center.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

Only 3 games were played in the NBA on Thursday night so quite a sparse round-up:

First up in the Windy City Chicago took another step towards securing their play-off spot with a 113-99 win over Philadelphia at the United Center. The Bulls looked sluggish to start with before stepping up a gear to take a 10 point lead into the 3rd quarter, Ben Gordon and Tyrus Thomas led the Bulls with 24 points each and Brad Miller came off the bench to drop 15 points. This win took Chicago 3 and a half games in front of 9th placed Charlotte with 3 games to play. Charlotte have 4 games to play and will now surely set their sights on catching Detroit (who are only 3 games in front of them) but will surely need to win all of their remaining games to have a chance.

Next up Houston needed a good second half performance to take care of the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento. The Rockets were down 5 points at half time but proceeded to outscore the Kings by 22 to win this one 115-98. Ron Artest played a huge part in securing the win for Houston by scoring 26 points with Yao Ming coming up with another 20 points to compliment him. This win meant Houston took complete control of the Western Conference’s 3rd spot, at least for tonight. The team’s that were in a tie with the Rockets for 3rd place are both playing tonight (Portland and San Antonio) so it will be interesting where they stand once everyone’s played tonight.

Finally the L.A Lakers comfortably beat Denver at home to show everyone that they’re the Western Conference’s top seed. Both teams came into this game on hot streaks, the Lakers had won 4 straight and the Nuggets had won 8 straight but it was Los Angeles who came out with their streak intact after they won 116-102. Kobe Bryant looked back to his best with 33 points while Pau Gasol had his usual double double with 27 points and a big 19 rebounds, 11 of which were on the offensive side. Both teams are already in the play-off and are now just waiting to see who they’ll play in the first round. The Lakers will play 8th seed and Denver 7th seed, both are being contested by Utah and Dallas so unless one of the teams above slip up badly it looks like it will be one of those two.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

Since it’s a Thursday there are only 3 games being played and all have some play-off implications. We’ll focus on the later game of the 3, Denver’s trip to Los Angeles. This is 2nd against 1st in the West and could very well be the Western Conference Finals in a few weeks time. The thing that makes this game so tantalising is the fact that both teams are on hot streaks. The Lakers have won 4 straight and 8 of their last 10 while Denver have won 8 straight and 9 of their last 10.

For Denver this has been down to their two big contributors in the starting line-up Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony who’ve been averaging 18 and 23 points each respectively. The majority of the 8 wins have been at home though including wins over Oklahoma, Utah, New York and the L.A Clippers, all notoriously bad teams on the road.

This won’t dampen the Nuggets spirit though and they’ll be hoping to cage Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom and gather their 9th straight against a team over .500 on the road to show everyone they mean business for the upcoming post season. Tip off is at 10.30pm ET and the game’s on TNT.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

11 games were played in the NBA last night starting off with an easy win for the Cleveland Cavaliers who faced the Wizards at home. Cleveland raced out into a 13 point lead after the first quarter and never looked in trouble at the Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday night. They moved to 38-1 at home after this win in which LeBron James had 21 points to lead the Cavaliers to an 98-86 victory.

Indiana blew out the Toronto Raptors in 3 intense quarters of basketball which the Raptors had no answer to. The Pacers held a 9 point lead going into the 2nd quarter, 26 point lead into the 3rd quarter and 41 point lead going into the 4th before they decided to let Toronto save some face and close the gap a little bit. This game ended 130-101 with a couple of sturdy performances from the Pacers’ starters, Danny Granger had 29, Jarrett Jack had 23, shooting 9 of 11 from the field. 3 players also managed double doubles; Troy Murphy (14-14rebounds), T.J Ford, from the bench, (14-11assists) and Josh McRoberts, also from the bench, (12-11rebounds).

Orlando squeaked out a win to stay a game behind 2nd placed Boston in the Eastern Conference at home to Memphis. In a game that should have been easier than the scoreline suggested the Magic were surprised at the tenacity of the Grizzlies play that led to them leading by a point at the half. This continued into the 3rd quarter when Memphis allowed Orlando to score only 10 points, ensuring they led going into the final 12 minutes. The Magic however, were obviously kicked into action by their coach and overcame an 8 point deficit to eventually win this one 81-78 after a blistering final quarter. Dwight Howard achieved another double double for the Magic (14-13rebounds) while Hedo Turkoglu led the team with 20 points, shooting 50 percent from the field.

In San Antonio the ‘Blazers created a 3-way tie for 3rd place in the Western Conference when they beat the Spurs, 95-83. Portland, who’ve been gunning for a top seed for most of the second half of the season, really showed why they should have home field advantage in the play-offs by beating one of their main rivals in their backyard. They did this with big contributions from Brandon Roy, who had 26 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 20. On top of this they came back from a 17 point first quarter deficit and have won 7 of their last 10, form that will get them up the West standings with 4 games to play.

In Boston the Celtics countered Orlando’s close win with a close win of their own. They beat the New Jersey Nets 106-104 despite going down by 10 after the 1st quarter. Vince Carter led the Nets with 33 points and 12 rebounds but his points tally was effectively nullified by Rajon Rondo’s 31. This win keeps Boston in 2nd place in the East, one game ahead of the Magic with both teams having 4 games left to play.

In New York Detroit gave a performance that made them look like they were back to their old best, blowing out the Knicks, 113-86. They ended this game effectively in the 1st half outscoring the Knicks by 24. Antonio McDyess (13-16rebounds) and Rasheed Wallace (14-12rebounds) both scored double doubles and Rip Hamilton led with 22. This win virtually insures the Pistons of a play-off place with 4 games left to play, they’re 3 games ahead of Charlotte, who are in 9th place, so would need to go winless to give the Bobcats any chance of catching them.

On a night when their play-off hopes were finally extinguished Phoenix produced a grinding performance against a team that had already confirmed it‘s place in the play-offs. They went into New Orleans knowing that they needed to win every one of their remaining games to have a chance and then hope that Dallas didn’t win one of theirs and showed that they had that in mind when they beat CP3 and co. 105-100. Steve Nash had 24 points, shooting 7 of 9 from the field and Shaq had a double double (17-11rebounds) but that was only enough for the Suns to win this game. They won’t be in the play-offs this season though as Dallas responded by winning later on in the day.

In Milwaukee the Hawks held the Bucks to 12 3rd quarter points to win this game 113-105. After going into the half 9 points down Atlanta came out with all guns blazing and outscored Milwaukee by 19 to take the game by the scruff of the neck and the Bucks never recovered. Joe Johnson scored 30 with 3 3-pointers while Mike Bibby dropped 22. This was the perfect time to face the Bucks who, after this loss, have only won one of their last 10 including their last 4 and are looking like they might finish the season 3rd bottom in the Eastern Conference. For the Hawks it’s full steam ahead to the play-offs to face either Miami or Philly depending on who finishes in 5th spot.

Denver easily disposed of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who never posed a real threat. It took the Nuggets a while before they started playing though, down 3 after the first half they outscored the Thunder by 8 points to snatch the game away from them. Carmelo Anthony had 31 points, shooting 11 of 21 while Nene had 23 and 10 rebounds for a double double. This win means Denver will almost certainly earn the 2nd seed in the West with 3 games to play, they’re now 2 and a half games ahead of 3rd place and have won 8 straight.

The aforementioned Dallas Mavericks confirmed their play-off berth and drew level with Utah for a tie of 7th place in the West with a convincing victory over them at home. The Mavs won every quarter of play to end this one 29 point winners, 130-101, and with the win shut out Phoenix from the play-offs. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 31 while Erick Dampner had a double double (10-10rebounds).

Finally in Oakland the Minnesota Timberwolves beat a team only slightly better to them to earn their 24th win of their season. Sebastian Telfair came off the bench to lead the ‘Wolves with 21 points while Kevin Love led the starters with 20 and 12 rebounds to see off Golden State, 105-97.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!