Indiana fumbles playoff chances with loss at home to Charlotte

Basketball Betting Lines

04/12/2008 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Richardson scored 26 points, and the Charlotte Bobcats put another dent in Indiana's playoff hopes with a 107-103 victory over the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Jared Dudley scored 19 points, while Raymond Felton added 18 for the Bobcats, who are destined to finish fourth in the Southeast Division for a fourth consecutive season.

Nazr Mohammed added 16 points off the bench, while Charlotte got a double- double from Emeka Okafor, who poured in 14 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds.

Danny Granger had 37 points for the Pacers, who had a four-game win streak halted. Indiana sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, two games behind Atlanta, which also lost Saturday. Both clubs have two games left, but Indiana holds the tiebreaker after wining the season series.

Mike Dunleavy ended with 22 points, while Jeff Foster and Travis Diener had 10 apiece in a losing cause.

After trailing by double digits to open the fourth, Indiana made a game of it down the stretch, pulling within 95-90 on back-to-back treys by Granger with 5:24 left.

The battle continued, and Indiana later cut it to 101-100, as Diener nailed a trey from the top of the key with 1:03 remaining. That's as close as the Pacers would get, though, as the Bobcats sealed the win at the line.

The game was fast-paced from the opening tip, but after trading buckets, the Bobcats used a 13-5 run to pull ahead. The stretch featured a pair of three balls, and was capped by Dudley's two from the stripe for a 17-9 edge.

The Pacers rebounded with a 10-2 push that tied the game, and eventually held a 33-32 margin at the close of the first quarter.

The Bobcats surged ahead in the second, as Earl Boykins' floating jumper was the start of a 12-2 surge. A pair of Dudley free throws made it 44-40 at the 6:41 mark, and the visitors continued to run in front.

It was 57-52 at the half, and the two teams then exchanged buckets through much of the third stanza.

The Pacers were able to cut it to 75-70 on a Foster jumper at 4:21, but Charlotte kept the pressure on, eventually rebuilding its double-digit lead to 84-74 heading to the fourth.

Game Notes

The Bobcats improved to 11-29 on the road this season...Charlotte won the season series, 3-1...The Bobcats close out the season with a game at New Jersey before returning home to face Philadelphia...Indiana's final two matchups are with Washington and New York.

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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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