Nets entertain improved Wolves

Basketball Betting Lines

02/03/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Improved play on the road has kept the Minnesota Timberwolves respectable this season and they'll try for a third straight victory as the guest tonight against the New Jersey Nets.

Minnesota is 5-4 away from the Twin Cities and has recorded back-to-back road wins over San Antonio and Houston. It is coming off Wednesday's 109-99 home loss to Indiana, as Danny Granger led the Pacers with a season-high 36 points.

Kevin Love had a double-double with 21 points and 17 rebounds for Minnesota, which had won three of four and six of its previous nine games. The Timberwolves are now two games under the .500 mark at 10-12.

"We had another shot to get to .500 tonight and eventually we'll get over that hump," Love said.

The Timberwolves got 16 points from Luke Ridnour and haven't won three straight on the road since April 3-8, 2009. Michael Beasley finished with 11 points and has played in four straight games since missing 11 in a row with a right midfoot sprain. He is averaging 17.5 ppg since his return.

Wolves center Darko Milicic played against Indiana after a three-game absence and posted four points in less than 19 minutes. He is questionable tonight with a sore knee.

Deron Williams and the Nets are coming off their third win in five tries and ended a two-game slide with Wednesday's 99-96 victory over Detroit. Williams scored 26 points and dished out nine assists, while Kris Humphries added 18 points and eight rebounds for New Jersey, which won despite only dressing eight players. Jordan Farmar had 15 points in the win and newcomer Keith Bogans added two in 17 minutes.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game for us with the lack of bodies," said Williams, who is averaging 26.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists in the Nets' eight wins this season.

Williams is the only player in the NBA to average 20-plus points and eight or more assists this season. He is tied with Minnesota's Ricky Rubio for the most points/assists double-doubles in 2011-12 with nine. Humphries is averaging a double-double with 13.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

The Nets are 3-6 at home this season and could be without guard Anthony Morrow (ankle) and center Johan Petro (ankle/illness) tonight. Both players are listed as questionable. Morrow is shooting .430 (49-114) from behind the arc.

New Jersey and Minnesota split a pair of meetings last season, as each team prevailed as the host. The Wolves are 10-5 in the past 15 matchups in this series, but have dropped nine of 11 encounters in the Garden State. Williams is averaging 18.6 points and 10.8 assists in 22 career matchups with Minnesota.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.