Coming off of a formidable – but losing – playoff effort last year versus the Bulls, the Pacers came roaring back to commence the 2011-2012 year. The team is experiencing its greatest early record in the previous 8 years, but are still struggling versus the more adept teams in the league. Whereas they’re 11-4 thus far, merely four of those wins are versus teams with records above .500.

Super Bowl betting

With the Magic coming to visit on Tuesday, January 24, the Indiana Pacers will have a better task on their hands, and they’ll need the home court advantage tonight. Indiana is unbeaten at home this year and will look to increase their record to 6-0. If they are able to get a victory, it will be the first time the team has begun a year with 6 straight home wins since the 2002-2003 year.

College football betting

However the Orlando Magic are a fearsome adversary who are 11-5 on the year thus far. And the recent past is most on Orlando’s side. The Orlando Magic have defeated the Indiana Pacers in Indiana in all the previous three bouts between the 2. In fact, Orlando has won these games on the road in Indianapolis by an average of 13 points. The newest contest between the 2 was January 26, 2011.

The Indiana Pacers will additionally need to find a way to deal with Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard. Howard has led the team to an 11-3 record over Indiana, and he has put up double-doubles in each one of these contests. Even with the challenges ahead for the Indiana Pacers, the sports book posts them as the -3 favorites to beat the Orlando Magic. The total is set at 182.5.

Both teams come into this match with a 7-3 record over their last ten contests. The Indiana Pacers have a 5-0 home record thus far, while the Orlando Magic are 5-3 on the road. Look for Orlando to make a astonishingly formidable showing after their disastrous 87-56 loss to the Celts a few days ago.

The Kings face an uphill battle when they take on the Rockets in Houston on January 13th. This is a situation of both squads restructuring for the longer term as both squads look nothing like their early 2000′s heydays. The Sacramento Kings look to return to their former prominence in the west with standout play from their young stalwarts. The Houston Rockets are still handling the fallout from the retirement of Yao Ming. The Houston Rockets are preferred by 3 points by the oddsmakers and this wants to be a tough game to call.

Sports betting

Sacramento is paced by G Marcus Thornton and PG Tyreke Evans, which provide a young nucleus for the Sacramento Kings to develop on. The frontcourt is supported by PF DeMarcus Cousins and his stable play. The Sacramento Kings are also helped by the experienced presence of SG John Salmons arriving off the sideline as a deep threat. Former Indiana Hoosier great Keith Smart coaches the Sacramento Kings.

College football odds

The Houston Rockets look dramatically different from the days of Yao Ming and Steve Francis running the show. Young PG Kyle Lowry runs the offense with the help of PF Luis Scola and PG Goran Dragic. Vets help the Houston offense with fellow SG’s Courtney Lee and Kevin Martin helping out when they are able to. Former Celtics great Kevin McHale leads the Houston Rockets at head coach.


Only a few years ago, this match would have been all over television with competitors such as Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, and Bobby Jackson steadying the Sacramento Kings. The Houston Rockets had Yao Ming, Steve Francis, Robert Horry, and also Tracy McGrady behind them. The times have definitely changed things for both squads as the age of free agency and pay caps have made long-term dynasties practically obsolete.
This should be an amazing match between these 2 once-mighty franchises with the game itself too close to call.

On January 12th, things heat up when the Cavaliers enter into Phoenix to battle against the Suns. Two seasons ago, this might have been an amazing competition with LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire going head to head in a collision course. In the era of free agency nevertheless, times certainly have transformed as this competition appears drastically different. Phoenix is favored by 6 points over the Cleveland Cavaliers and this seems to be a secure bet.

College football odds

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been through quite a sea change in the last 3 years as a team. With the leaving of LeBron James still wreaking havoc on the team all this time later, the Cleveland Cavaliers have battled mightily to perform a quality basketball team to put on the court. The Cleveland Cavaliers lost a record 23 consecutive contests last season with the sole bright spot arriving through Baron Davis who helped the team with a handful of late season victories. Baron Davis left for New York just after the lockout concluded and the Cleveland Cavaliers again are faced with the candidate of a difficult season. The Cleveland Cavaliers are steadied by veterans PF Antawn Jamison and fan favorite PF Anderson Varejao. SG Daniel Gibson and also PG Kyrie Irving complete the backcourt for the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers.

College football odds

The Suns additionally are dealing with changing times in this existing NBA landscape. Star PG Steve Nash is continually questioned about his future as Nash is in his very last year under deal. The rumor is that the Suns might possibly deal him to a contender before the season ends. Despite the fact that both Nash and the Suns front office reject those rumors, it’s sure to be a slight diversion to the team. Ageless SF 39-year old Grant Hill has seasoned a revival of sorts in Phoenix. This revival has persuaded former all-star SG Michael Redd to sign with the Suns at the nba minimum deal to stage a miraculous comeback after two demoralizing knee injuries over the past 3 seasons in Milwaukee. C Marcin Gortat and SF Jared Dudley are doing their greatest to compensate for the loss in frontcourt production due to Amare Stoudemire’s defection to the Knicks.

Saturday evening on January 14th, the Knicks come into Oklahoma City to battle against the Thunder in this huge matchup between these 2 squads. It’s a tale of 2 squads as the Thunder arrive in the game with a steady team of young guns against the Knicks who it looks from year upon year always comes into play with plenty of adjustments going on. The Knicks are liked by 4 points and this could hold unless Durant has one of his ordinary killer matches.

Online sports betting

The Knicks have had a soap opera in the last 15 years or so in the nba. From almost winning it all with Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston to Allan Houston’s famous 100 Million-Dollar deal and his following knee injury and that only covers the tail end of the 1990′s. The Isiah Thomas era of the Knicks will go down in nba history as one of the most catastrophic campaigns in recent recollection. With such failures in past years, the Knicks seemed to make some noise in the offseason and they did when they secured Amare Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns. The Knicks are paced by star SF Carmelo Anthony and the above mentioned Amare Stoudemire at power forward. C Tyson Chandler provides presence as well as veteran leadership at center whereas young guns G Iman Shumpert and PG Toney Douglas round out the team.

Online sports betting

The Thunder have had fantastic promise during the last few seasons with star SF Kevin Durant breaking out and owning rival squads with his play. Oklahoma City is comprised of a youthful team behind Durant with G James Harden, PG Russell Westbrook, and PF Serge Ibaka carrying the slack. PG Nick Collison is the only mainstay from the old Seattle Supersonics team, which relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. The Thunder are now atop in the rankings in this youthful season with fantastic promise to finish out the season at the top.

These two teams have been doing relatively well this year. This really should not a shocking to anybody as these two colleges are well known for their share of victories in basketball for several years. These two teams will be at it out on the hardwood on January 9, when Western Virginia visits Connecticut.

NFL betting

The Western Virginia Mountaineers is arriving from an impressive 21 point win vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights, where the senior Darryl Bryant took the Knights to school by dropping 29 points on them, as well as Kevin Jones who had a nice game with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Connecticut on the other hand lost their previous game vs the Seton Hall Pirates by 12 points. Jeremy Lamb was still impressive even so with 19 points.

Super Bowl odds

Comparison between these 2 teams is that West Virginia is only a better squad than Connecticut offensively. Defensively, Connecticut is the better squad, but you have Kevin Jones who averages a double-double for the year and Darryl Bryant who is only a monster offensively, which will help West Virginia get the edge over Connecticut. Kevin Jones is one of the better rebounders in the league this year and he will jump over people to get that rebound. The Connecticut Huskies do not have anybody that can box this kid out. It should be an interesting game to watch even though I would not say that this match up in the clash of the titans or anything of that sort.

Because the Connecticut Huskies do not have anybody on the squad that can guard both Kevin Jones and Darryl Bryant, if I were betting on this game, I would wager for the Western Virginia Mountaineers winning vs the Connecticut Huskies. Both of them could make you pay if you leave them undefended. One of those will surely have a huge game on Monday January 9.