Cavs hope to clinch top seed in East vs. Sixers

Basketball Betting Lines

04/10/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland takes its quest for the NBA's best record to the City of Brotherly Love tonight as the Cavaliers visit the reeling Philadelphia 76ers.

The Cavs also hope to secure homecourt advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs with a triumph tonight or a Boston loss against the Miami Heat.

Most recently Cleveland improved to 63-15 this season and remained four games ahead of Boston for the top spot in the East with four games to play after a 98-86 win over the woeful Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Additionally, the Cavaliers hold a one-half game advantage over the Los Angeles Lakers (63-16) for the NBA's best record, although Phil Jackson's club holds the tiebreaker.

LeBron James finished with 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds against the Wizards.

Mo Williams added 14 points for Cleveland, which improved to 38-1 at Quicken Loans Arena this season, setting a franchise record for home wins. The Cavaliers lost their only game as the host on February 8 against the Lakers, and have since won 15 in a row at home.

Delonte West had 13 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas ended with 13 rebounds and seven points in the win, the Cavaliers' second in a row. Cleveland also saw the return of center Ben Wallace, who hadn't played since February 26 because of a fractured right fibula and finished with seven points.

The Sixers, meanwhile, find themselves mired in an inopportune slump and lost their third straight game in Chicago on Thursday when Tyrus Thomas and Ben Gordon each scored 24 points as the Bulls inched closer to a playoff berth with a 113-99 victory over Philadelphia.

Andre Miller led the Sixers with 20 points, Andre Iguodala added 19 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and Lou Williams gave instant offense off the bench with 16 points. The Sixers have already made the playoffs but have lost three straight and five of eight overall.

Philadelphia trails fifth-place Miami by one game in the East, and lead seventh-place Chicago by 1 1/2 and eighth-place Detroit by two.

Cleveland has taken four straight games over the Sixers, including a pair this season.

Wwwisfa Basketball Betting News

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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