Atlanta's Horford grabs 22 boards in win over Miami

Basketball Betting Lines

02/27/2009 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Al Horford pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds to go with 21 points to power Atlanta to a hard-fought 91-83 victory over Southeast Division rival Miami.

Joe Johnson erupted for 24 points and five assists, while Josh Smith and Marvin Williams posted 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Hawks, who were coming off a 2-4 road trip.

"It was a big game for us," Horford said. "I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. That's the way that I tried to play throughout the night."

Smith (personal) and point guard Mike Bibby (flu) both missed Atlanta's previous outing. Bibby played just 19 minutes Friday, going 0-for-7 from the floor with two assists.

Dwyane Wade finished with 21 points and 10 assists, while Michael Beasley chipped in 23 points for Miami, which failed to win back-to-back games in February, alternating wins and losses in its last nine outings.

Udonis Haslem logged 10 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.

After an eyesore of a first half for both clubs, the Hawks came out of the break and hit four of their first six shots. Horford's dunk gave Atlanta a 45-35 lead and the hosts held a 64-53 edge after three quarters.

Smith's tip-in and uncontested layup midway through the fourth made it a 77-65 game. Miami scored seven of the next nine points to inch closer, and after exchanging a pair of free throws, Johnson's baseline jumper as the shot clock expired gave Atlanta an 83-74 lead with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Beasley and Wade buckets -- the latter coming as a result of Horford's goaltending violation with 1:36 to go -- made it a two-possession game, 83-78.

Atlanta's Flip Murray then made 1-of-2 from the foul line and Beasley got Miami within 84-80 with a nice drive and finish in the lane.

Johnson was bailed out on the next possession as he was off-balanced in the lane and Wade was whistled for a personal foul. The All-Star guard made two freebies and Miami's Mario Chalmers missed a wide open three-point attempt in the corner with under a minute to play to essentially seal the game.

Neither offense was productive in the first quarter, which ended with the Hawks holding an underwhelming 19-15 edge. Things got uglier in the second, and Atlanta limped to a 36-32 halftime margin.

"It took us a long while to get to the tempo of the game," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Defensively we did not play with a real sense of urgency until the fourth quarter."

Game Notes

Atlanta leads the season series, 2-1...Murray ended with 12 points in the win...Jermaine O'Neal made just three of his 10 shots, logging eight points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which received 11 points from Daequan Cook.

Wwwmsnmusic Basketball Betting News

<< Skid snapped: Hamilton highlights Detroit's win at Orlando
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Hamilton scored 19 of his 31 points in the second half, including nine in a pivotal third quarter, and the Detroit Pistons snapped a season-high eight-game skid with a 93-85 triumph over the Orlando

<< Osgood wins after two-week layoff, Wings top Kings
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Osgood was nearly perfect in net, stopping 30 shots, and Tomas Kopecky netted the game-winner early in the third period, as the Detroit Red Wings edged the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1, at Joe Louis A

<< Celtics best Pacers in Marbury's debut
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Allen scored a game-high 30 points to pace the Celtics to a 104-99 win over the Indiana Pacers in Stephon Marbury's debut with Boston. Allen shot a blistering 11-of-16 from the field, as the Celtics won

<< Bills ink QB Fitzpatrick
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills filled their backup quarterback role, signing free agent signal-caller Ryan Fitzpatrick. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fitzpatrick started 12 games for the Cincinnati Ben

<< Wizards work magic in front of Obama, down Bulls
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antawn Jamison scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead eight double-digit scorers, as the lowly Washington Wizards used a strong fourth quarter to hold on for a 113-90 win over th

Miller, Sixers continue mastery of Knicks >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Miller scored 25 points and doled out six assists to help the Philadelphia 76ers sweep the season series from New York for the first time since the 1985-86 season with a 108-103 victory over the Kni

Report: Eagles to ship CB Sheppard to the Jets >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles have reportedly agreed to ship cornerback Lito Sheppard to the New York Jets in exchange for two draft picks. According to Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia, the Eagles wil

Report: Rams sign C Brown >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams reportedly bolstered their offensive line Friday by signing free agent center Jason Brown. According to the Miami Herald, Brown was one of the top centers available on the market after st

Chandler helps Hornets sting Bucks >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyson Chandler provided the winning tip-in with 3.3 seconds remaining, as New Orleans beat Milwaukee 95-94 despite blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. David West had 28 points and

Roy, Portland crush Minnesota >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy scored 19 points and Rudy Fernandez provided a spark off the bench with 18 points as the Portland Trail Blazers downed a slumping Timberwolves squad, 102-82, at the Target Center. LaMarcu

With all the style and sex appeal of Las Vegas, MySportsbook.com is without a doubt the coolest online sportsbook on the Internet.

At MySportsbook.com, players get to enjoy the luxury of a five star sportsbook, a racebook that's second to none, a casino with all the bells and whistles, and a swanky new poker room!

MySportsbook also has a unique games room where players can go head-to-head for cash playing such things as sports trivia and fantasy games, popular arcade games, word and memory games, and more.

Throughout MySportsbook, visitors and members are treated to informative sports news and sports betting stats Sports matchup reports and sports betting trends as well as entertaining columns written by colorful personalities.

The management at MySportsbook has been in the online gaming business since 1997. As a result of this success, management has earned a coveted spot on eGaming Review's "Power 50" list, which recognizes leaders in online gaming.

With MySportsbook.com , management's goal is to provide players with an exciting place to experience the thrill of gaming in a safe and trustworthy environment.

Thus, players at MySportsbook are assured of getting top notch customer service while having a wickedly good time.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.