Bryant's late shot gets Lakers past Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant broke away from the double team of James Johnson and DeMar DeRozan while Metta World Peace led him perfectly into the right corner on the inbounds pass.

Bryant pulled up along the right baseline with 4.2 seconds on the clock and his jumper hit nothing but net, lifting the Lakers to a thrilling 94-92 win over the Raptors.

Following a timeout, Toronto was called for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds pass and Bryant made 1-of-2 from the line to make it 94-92. With 3.7 seconds remaining, DeRozan received the inbounds pass, but World Peace defended him well and his shot from the left corner at the buzzer came up well short.

"I like my money, what little bit of money I make. I don't want to send it to the league. Mr. Foster saw it different," Raptors head coach Dwayne Casey said of the five-second call.

Bryant finished with 27 points while Pau Gasol filled the stat sheet with 16 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who concluded their six- game road trip with a 3-3 mark.

"We just need to find some consistency," World Peace said of the road trip. "Once we have some consistency, we'll be a better team."

Jose Calderon netted a career-high 30 points for Toronto, which has lost four of its last five games.

The Raptors overcame an 18-point first quarter deficit and used a 7-0 spurt to take their first lead of the contest.

Trailing 84-81, Calderon tied the game with a trey and DeRozan fed Ed Davis for a two-handed slam to give the Raptors their first lead. DeRozan then stole Bynum's pass and fed Linas Kleiza for a driving hook shot to make it 88-84 with 2:11 left.

After Calderon's jumper made it 90-86 with 1:41 to play, Bryant took over for Los Angeles.

He pulled the visitors within one after nailing a trey from the left wing. Bryant stripped Kleiza on Toronto's next touch and fed a trailing World Peace for the easy layup to make it 91-90 with 31.4 to play.

Not to be outdone, Calderon gave the Raptors the lead right back as he pulled up from the right elbow and nailed the jumper with 16 seconds left.

With Los Angeles already holding a five-point advantage early on, the visitors stretched the lead to 22-6 following a 13-2 run. Gasol and Bynum recorded four points apiece during the surge.

By the time Bryant netted his first field goal midway through the opening quarter, the Lakers were already up 24-8. Gasol, who finished the stanza with eight points, five rebounds and four assists, gave the Lakers their largest lead of 18, 29-11, late in the frame.

The Lakers took a 34-19 lead into the second.

The Raptors outscored the Lakers 11-4 over the final 4:07 of the second quarter. Johnson's transition dunk with 0.8 seconds remaining pulled Toronto within 54-46 entering the break.

Bryant scored nine points in the third as the Lakers took a 73-67 advantage into the final quarter.

Game Notes

Jerryd Bayless missed the game for Toronto with a sore left ankle...The Lakers have won eight of their last nine games against the Raptors...Bynum had 14 points and nine rebounds...The Raptors were 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.

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MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines


Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow.  Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season.   Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints.  These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order.  As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS.  The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens.  The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.

MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:

Saints +6 @ Colts -6

Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)

Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)

Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5

Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1

Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3

Patriots -5 @ Jets +5

Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5

Steelers -4 @ Browns +4

Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6

Bears +6 @ Chargers -6

Lions +3 @ Raiders -3

Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5

Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4

Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3

Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3

 Super Bowl line (2008)

NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5

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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.