Blazers, Knicks set for battle in Rose City

Basketball Betting Lines

03/31/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Portland Trail Blazers team aiming to improve their position in the Western Conference playoff standings welcomes the New York Knicks to the Rose Garden tonight.

The streaking Blazers won their third straight game and for the eighth time in nine contests on Sunday when Andre Miller scored 26 points and Portland continued its ascent up the ladder in the West with a 92-87 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Brandon Roy chipped in 20 points and seven assists, while Marcus Camby tallied 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who are just one-half game behind the Thunder for sixth in the conference. Portland is also just one-half game ahead of No. 8 San Antonio but a more than comfortable 6 1/2 games clear of ninth place Memphis with only eight games to go in the regular season.

"It's a big win and I think they knew that too," Miller said. "They let one slip away, but I'm sure they'll find a way to come back and make it up. They have a lot of good, hard-playing young guys."

The Blazers' magic number to clinch a postseason berth is two and the team still has an outside shot of capturing the Northwest Division title.

A win tonight coupled with a Memphis loss to Dallas would secure the playoff spot for Portland. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers are 3 1/2 games behind division leader Utah and 2 1/2 behind second-place Denver in the Northwest.

The Knicks are limping toward the finish line and fell to 0-2 on a five-game road trip in Salt Lake City on Monday after Carlos Boozer recorded a double- double with 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Deron Williams registered 23 points with 14 assists, as Utah topped New York, 103-98.

Al Harrington led the Knicks with 26 points and 17 rebounds, David Lee added 16 points, Sergio Rodriguez collected 14 points and Tracy McGrady filled the stat sheet with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds.

"They shot the ball 85-percent in the first quarter, and were 7 for 7 from three, all we could do was pray and hope that they started missing shots," said Harrington.

The Knicks topped Portland in Madison Square Garden back in December and will be attempting to sweep the home-and-home season series for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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