Anthony's 42 leads Nuggets past hobbled Jazz

Basketball Betting Lines

04/18/2010 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony poured in a playoff career-best 42 points and Denver pulled away for a 126-113 win over the injury-riddled Utah Jazz in the opener of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

J.R. Smith added 18 of his 20 points in the last quarter for the Nuggets, who came into the series as the No. 4 seed and Northwest Division champions thanks to Utah's home loss to Phoenix on the final night of the regular season. Smith made four three-pointers in the final quarter.

Last year, the Nuggets shed the moniker of consistently losing in the first round. This is Denver's seventh straight year in the postseason, but the Nuggets have gone past the first round just one time in that span. They made the conference finals last year before losing to the eventual world-champion Lakers in six games.

Anthony finished 18-of-25 from the field.

"'Melo was great," said Denver guard Chauncey Billups, who had 15 points and eight assists. "I could just see it early from the stuff he was hitting. He wasn't really hitting the rim. I didn't want to go to him too much because against a team like that you need two, three or four guys in double figures to be able to win."

Nene added 19 points, Arron Afflalo 12 and Ty Lawson 11 for Denver.

Deron Williams had 26 points and 11 assists for the Jazz, who are trying to avoid their second straight first-round exit. It doesn't help that Utah is severely hobbled by injuries. Already without forward Andrei Kirilenko (strained left calf) for this series, the Jazz lost the services of center Mehmet Okur in the second quarter with a left Achilles injury. He's due to have an MRI on Sunday.

Carlos Boozer started Saturday's game despite a strained right oblique muscle. He finished with 19 points and eight rebounds for Utah.

"I was proud of the fact that our guys played hard," Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan said. "We made some mistakes defensively. When you give up that many points it's difficult to win. But I was proud that we hung in there knowing we were shorthanded at times."

Game 2 is slated for Monday at the Pepsi Center.

With acting head coach Adrian Dantley handling the duties in place of a recovering George Karl, the Nuggets used a big fourth quarter to widen the distance and win going away.

Smith had 11 straight Denver points early in the fourth quarter, helping the Nuggets break a 90-90 tie and grab a 101-93 lead. Smith hit three shots from beyond the arc during the pivotal run.

A reverse layup from Wesley Matthews had Utah within 102-98 with under eight minutes left, but after Nene responded with a layup, Anthony hit two free throws and a bucket to move the margin to 108-98 with 6 1/2 minutes left.

Anthony's layup extended the lead to an insurmountable 120-104 score with 3:13 remaining.

Utah held a 30-28 lead after the opening quarter, but Okur suffered his injury while driving toward the basket with nearly eight minutes left in the half. the game remained tight with Denver holding a 57-56 edge at the intermission.

The Jazz erased an eight-point deficit early in the third and came back to take a three-point lead before surrendering it at 88-86 going to the fourth thanks to a late Anthony three-pointer.

Game Notes

Karl continues to recover from throat and neck cancer treatments...C.J. Miles had 17 points, while Paul Millsap ended with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Utah...Both teams shot well with Denver ending at 57.1 percent and Utah at 54.7, but the Jazz were muscled out of the paint by a 52-34 point margin.

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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl

NFL Super Bowl Betting

The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.

Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.

The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.