Kings and Suns square off in Sac-Town

Basketball Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After unseating the Western Conference-best Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sacramento Kings hope to keep the momentum going this evening versus the Pacific Division-rival Phoenix Suns at Power Balance Pavilion.

The Kings recorded their third straight win at home with Thursday's 106-101 victory over the Thunder in which Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins provided 22 and 19 points, respectively. Marcus Thornton hit two big three-pointers in the closing minutes and finished with 15 points for the Kings, who used an 18-4 run late in the game to win for the fourth time in five tries overall.

"We've improved as a team, we're on the right path now," Cousins said on the Kings' website. "We're a lot better than our record (10-16) shows. We've grown so much from the team we used to be."

Jason Thompson had 11 points and 10 rebounds to help Sacramento snap a six- game losing streak to the Thunder. The Kings scored 28 points off of 23 Thunder turnovers. OKC entered the game with the league's highest winning percentage.

After hosting the Suns in California's capital, the Kings will head east for a six-game road trip against Chicago, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Miami and Washington. On the season, the Kings are 7-4 at home and 3-12 on the road. The last time the Kings won four straight home games was Nov. 25-Dec. 2, 2009.

Cousins has recorded 17 double-doubles this season (third-most in the NBA), while Evans has scored 20 or more points in three of the last four games. Thornton is averaging 19.4 ppg in his past four outings.

Phoenix looks to get back on the winning path in Sacramento tonight and had won a season-best three straight games until dropping a 96-89 decision versus the Houston Rockets Thursday in the Valley of the Sun.

The Suns, who will kick off a three-game road trip against the Kings, Warriors and Nuggets this evening, received a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds from Channing Frye. Steve Nash, named to his eighth All-Star team on Thursday, did not miss a shot (7-for-7), scoring 14 points to go with 13 assists.

"We just didn't execute down the stretch," said Frye, who is averaging 18.0 points in his last three games. "We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make every play and be perfect at the end and we can't do that. We have to make sure we are in a good rhythm and establish how we are going to play in the first half."

Marcin Gortat had 16 points and Jared Dudley recorded 14 in defeat. Phoenix struggled on the boards to the tune of a 44-31 difference and shot 47.3 percent for the game. Houston's bench outscored the Suns' reserves, 57-13.

Phoenix and Sacramento are playing the first of three meetings this season and will also battle on March 4 in Phoenix and April 3 at the Kings. Sacramento took three of four matchups from the Suns a year ago after Phoenix won all four encounters during the 2009-10 campaign. Phoenix has won 12 of the last 16 games in this series, but has dropped 14 of 22 trips to Sac-Town.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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