Heat begin key homestand with visit from Clippers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat are fighting for their playoff lives and hope to gain some ground during a six-game homestand that starts with tonight's matchup versus the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Heat have won three in a row as the host and will also welcome Chicago, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Orlando and Charlotte to South Florida. They are currently tied with Charlotte for seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, just a half-game ahead of Chicago for the final playoff berth, and sport a 17-14 home record.

Miami, though, is coming off Tuesday's 83-78 loss to the Bobcats in which Dwyane Wade had 27 points and seven boards in losing fashion. Jermaine O'Neal added 19 points and five rebounds, while Michael Beasley finished with 11 points and nine boards for the Heat.

"We showed up for the fight," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said on NBA.com, "but we did not close the game well at all, certainly not offensively. We had too many empty possessions and gave them too many shots to take the lead."

The Heat were 20-0 when holding opponents to under 90 points and 17-0 when keeping opposing teams to less than 40 percent shooting from the field before last night's loss to the Bobcats.

Los Angeles hasn't scored more than 87 points in its last three games and is riding a four-game losing streak. It fell to 0-2 on a five-game road trip after Tuesday's 113-87 setback at Orlando.

Baron Davis led the Clippers with 16 points and nine assists off the bench, and Drew Gooden posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds for Los Angeles, which has dropped seven in a row away from Staples Center. Chris Kaman scored 12 points and Steve Blake netted 11 with five assists in defeat.

"We didn't make shots and they really shot the ball well," said Clippers head coach Kim Hughes after his team made 43 percent of its attempts.

The Clippers will also visit Charlotte and San Antonio on this trek and are 7-25 as the guest this season. They have lost 11 of their last 12 road games.

Los Angeles defeated Miami, 94-84, at home back on January 10 behind Kaman's team-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. The Clippers have won five of the last seven contests in this series.

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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.