Pistons rally vs. Rockets, snap six-game skid with OT win

Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tayshaun Price provided a season-high 29 points and 10 rebounds and spearheaded a late comeback in regulation, and the Detroit Pistons edged the Houston Rockets in overtime, 110-107, at the Palace at Auburn Hills.

Price made 13-of-22 from the field and scored six points during a late 10-2 run in the fourth quarter that tied the game for Detroit, which badly needed the win after losing its previous six. Richard Hamilton provided the other four during the late surge and totaled 22 with eight assists, while Jonas Jerebko had 16 points and eight boards in the win.

Will Bynum, replacing Rodney Stuckey in the lineup at point guard, finished with 12 points and 11 assists. Stuckey collapsed in the team's previous game at Cleveland and was held overnight at the Cleveland Clinic; he is expected to recover from what was an undisclosed ailment that kept him out of Sunday's contest.

Kevin Martin led the Rockets with 27 points but missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the end of overtime, as Houston lost for the ninth time in 13 games. Aaron Brooks added 25 points and seven assists, while Luis Scola had 20 points and 15 boards in the hard-luck defeat.

Trailing by eight with 3 1/2 minutes to go in the fourth, the Pistons pulled even with Houston behind Hamilton and Prince.

Prince finished two dunks off assists from Hamilton on consecutive possessions to pull within four, and, after a Brooks layup pushed Houston's lead back to six, Hamilton's two free throws and layup made it a 102-100 game with 1:08 remaining.

After Martin missed a shot on the ensuing Rockets touch, Prince took a deep rebound for a breakaway dunk to tie the game with 45.8 ticks on the clock.

Shane Battier and Hamilton each missed deep jumpers in the final moments to usher the game into overtime.

Jordan Hill's three point play 80 seconds into the extra session provided the visitors with a 105-104 edge, but Hamilton responded with a jumper, and a Jason Maxiell layup with 2:15 to go gave Detroit a 109-105 advantage.

Martin drew a foul with just under a minute left and sank both free throw attempts to halve the deficit, and Price missed two free throws with a chance to push the lead back to four with 11.7 seconds to play.

Brooks tried a go-ahead three-pointer with 5.9 seconds to go but missed, and Jerebko went only 1-for-2 from the line to keep Houston's hopes alive. Martin received the inbounds pass but only grazed the rim with his shot to end the game in Detroit's favor.

The Pistons grabbed a 29-20 lead after one quarter, but the Rockets climbed back and cut their deficit to 57-55 at halftime.

A 6-0 run early in the third provided Houston with a 69-63 edge after a Brooks three, and the visitors were ahead by a score of 86-82 heading to the fourth.

The Rockets maintained the lead throughout the fourth until Detroit's late surge.

Game Notes

Maxiell complemented his six points with a career-high 16 rebounds...Ben Wallace (knee) did not play for Detroit...The Pistons will finish their three- game homestand against Utah and Washington...Houston fell to 14-17 on the road, while Detroit improved to 15-17 at home...The season series was split, 1-1, as Houston's three-game win streak in the series came to an end...Hill finished with 12 points and eight boards for Houston, which got 10 points and seven rebounds from Battier...Charlie Villanueva had 15 points for Detroit.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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