Sixers try to bounce back vs. bumbling Bobcats
Basketball Betting Lines
01/27/2012 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers try to bounce back from a rare loss
at home this evening when they welcome the hapless Charlotte Bobcats to the
Wells Fargo Center.
Philadelphia lost for only the second time in 10 tries in front of its fans on
Wednesday, falling in overtime, 97-90, to the New Jersey Nets.
Lou Williams ended with 17 points and six assists for Philadelphia, which fell
to 8-2 at home this season. Elton Brand and Jrue Holiday had 16 and 14 points,
respectively.
Trailing by four, 88-84, with 2 1/2 minutes left in overtime, Philly ripped
off six straight points to take the lead. Holiday capped the surge with an
easy steal off an inbounds pass and slam, making it 90-88 with 1:18 to go.
But Deron Williams made a jumper and three-pointer around Jodie Meeks' missed
three-pointer to give New Jersey a 93-90 edge with 26.8 seconds left. The Nets
then sealed the win with four free throws.
"We had five fast break points tonight. That was the difference," said Sixers
coach Doug Collins. "We never could get out and run."
After winning nine of 10 games, the Sixers have now lost three of five and
have surrendered 95.4 points-per-game in doing so. Not helping any is the fact
that the team is without its two centers Spencer Hawes (Achilles) and Nik
Vucevic (quadriceps).
"We definitely need our bigs," Brand said. "We're looking forward to getting
them back, but we just couldn't get stops."
The Sixers added some depth earlier Friday by signing veteran free agent
center Francisco Elson.
"We are happy to pick up Francisco Elson, a veteran big man who can help
bolster our front court, Sixers president of basketball operations Rod Thorn
said when announcing the signing.
Charlotte, meanwhile, continues to be one of the league's worst teams at 3-16.
The Bobcats dropped their sixth straight game on Wednesday to the equally
anemic Washington Wizards, losing 92-75.
Matt Carroll scored 17 points in his first start of the year for the Bobcats,
who were without starters D.J. Augustin (toe) and Gerald Henderson (back).
The Bobcats got help from rookie Kemba Walker, who scored eight points to go
with four assists and six boards in place of Augustin; and Tyrus Thomas, who
added 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-high nine blocks for Charlotte,
which has dropped seven in a row on the road.
"As I said last night, take three or four of your best players off any team,
and you're not gonna play well," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said about his
team's recent injuries. "Our scorers, our two leading scorers are not playing,
how are we gonna score?"
The loss was the 12th in 13 tries for the Bobcats, who will be without
Augustin again tonight. Henderson will likely be a game-time decision.
Philadelphia could have an even bigger edge tonight, as the home team in this
series has won the last four and seven of the last eight contests. Charlotte
has also dropped 10 of its last 13 in the City of Brotherly Love.
<< Wolves welcome Spurs to the Twin Cities
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves were able to snap a 16-game
losing streak to the San Antonio Spurs when the two clubs met in early January
and shoot for a rare win streak in the series tonight at the Target Center.
The Timberwo
<< Bogut-less Bucks visit Bulls
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a season of frustration for Bucks center Andrew
Bogut and his latest setback will keep him out of action indefinitely. That
leaves Milwaukee a big hole in the middle this evening as it visits a Chicago
Bulls club
<< Cavs and Nets meet at The Q
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have yet to win consecutive games this
season. The Cleveland Cavaliers have done it just once.
Both teams will be trying to put together win streaks this evening at Quicken
Loans Arena.
The Nets have
<< Mavs hope to rebound with Jazz in town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celebrations don't seem to be agreeing with the Dallas
Mavericks and the reigning NBA champs are probably glad they can put the
ceremonies in the rearview mirror as they get ready to host the Utah Jazz.
The Mav
<< Nuggets aim to stay hot vs. Raptors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Denver Nuggets aim for a sixth straight win
tonight when they host a Toronto team that expects to be without leading
scorer Andrea Bargnani.
The Nuggets are fresh off a brilliant 5-0 road trip tha
Wagner will play FBS school for first time >>
Staten Island, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wagner College football program will
open its 2012 season at Florida Atlantic - the Seahawks' first game against a
Football Bowl Subdivision school.
Wagner announced an 11-game schedule on Friday, beg
Phillies sign OF Pierre >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies on Friday inked
outfielder Juan Pierre to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring
training.
The 34-year-old veteran finished 2011 with a .279 average, two home run
Inter aims to bounce back against Lecce >>
Lecce, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan will attempt to get back to
winning ways on Sunday at Lecce after the club saw its eight-match winning
streak halted in the Coppa Italia by Napoli in midweek.
The 2-0 setback prevent
Raptors' Bargnani out with calf issue >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani will be
out for an undefined period of time after aggravating a previous calf injury.
The 26-year-old suffered a strained left calf back on January 11 and missed
six
'Melo to sit two games >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is expected
to miss the next two games in an effort to heal a variety of injuries.
Anthony will sit out Friday's contest at Miami and will also miss Saturday's
contest at
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.
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