Billups, Nuggets snap Lakers' six-game win streak

Basketball Betting Lines

02/27/2009 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chauncey Billups logged 22 points and handed out six assists en route to orchestrating Denver's 90-79 victory over the Lakers, snapping Los Angeles' six-game winning streak in a battle of division leaders.

Carmelo Anthony recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds, while reserves J.R. Smith and Chris Andersen played quality minutes for the Nuggets, who have won back- to-back games on the heels of a season-long three-game skid.

Smith notched 22 points and Andersen scored 11 to go with 12 rebounds for Denver, which got an eight-point, seven-rebound effort from Nene after the center missed two straight games with a right knee contusion.

Kobe Bryant shot a mediocre 10-of-31 from the field, finishing with 29 points for the Lakers, who shot a woeful 29.8 percent from the field. Pau Gasol added 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Lamar Odom continued his solid play with 12 points and 19 boards in the setback.

Anderson opened the final quarter with a pair of buckets and Linas Kleiza tipped in an Anthony miss for a 72-63 lead two minutes in.

After the Lakers' sixth straight miss to start the quarter, Smith added two free throws for an 11-point lead. Bryant scored LA's next six points, but Smith drilled a deep jumper for an 80-69 score with less than five minutes to play.

Odom's three-point play on the next possession gave the visitors a breathe of life. Gasol tipped in an Odom miss with 3 1/2 minutes on the clock to cut the deficit to 81-74 following a Smith free throw.

Anderson pulled down a big defensive board for Denver a little later, and subsequently hit 1-of-2 from the foul line for an eight-point lead.

Odom then cleaned up his own miss with a tip-in, but the Lakers missed their next six shots, as the Nuggets cleaned up on the glass and continued to get to the line, where they hit 6-of-8 in the waning minutes to secure their signature win of the season.

The Lakers held a 19-16 advantage after an offense-starved opening quarter. Denver proceeded to wake up in the second, scoring the first 13 points of the frame, eventually taking a 46-40 edge into halftime.

The Nuggets made just one field goal in the first six minutes of the second half, as LA jumped out to a 55-50 lead on Derek Fisher's three-pointer with 7 1/2 minutes to play in the stanza.

Billups tied the game with a bucket and a three-pointer roughly two minutes later and nailed another from behind the arc late in the frame that resulted in a 66-63 advantage with one quarter remaining.

Game Notes

The Pacific-leading Lakers had won five straight regular season games over the Nuggets, who currently sit atop the Northwest Division...Neither team shot the ball well from three-point range, with LA hitting 2-of-21 and Denver making just 3-of-21 from downtown.

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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.