Celtics squash Pistons; Iverson flat in home debut

Basketball Betting Lines

11/09/2008 - Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Allen had 23 points off the bench, and Ray Allen added 17 points and eight rebounds, as the Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons, 88-76, in the teams' first meeting since last season's Eastern Conference finals.

Rajon Rondo chipped in with 13 points and Kevin Garnett had eight points and 12 boards for the Celtics, who have won four straight games and six of their first seven to start the season.

"Best defense of the year by far and it was all game," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "We had active hands, were physical, got up in their bodies and it was neat to see and very nice."

Tayshaun Prince had 23 points and eight rebounds, while Will Bynum had 11 points for Detroit, which has lost two straight games. Allen Iverson, playing in his first home game since being acquired from Denver for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Rasheed Wallace had 10 points and 11 boards for Detroit, which was beaten in six games by the Celtics in the East finals.

It was a particularly tough night for Richard Hamilton, who finished 0-for-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

"Us not making shots didn't help," said Iverson. "We got a lot of good looks at the basket, we just didn't knock the shots down. I don't think offense is going to be a problem too much, that's a positive we take out of this game. We just could never get it going offensively. As we get our chemistry together and some time to play together we'll start hitting shots."

With the Celtics holding a 47-29 lead after one half of play, things continued to get worse for the hosts as Boston came out of the locker room and extended their advantage to 20 following a jumper by Paul Pierce.

Boston continued to maintain a double-digit lead through the entire third quarter and a jumper by Glen Davis in the closing seconds, put the visitors up by a 69-49 margin after three.

In the fourth, the storyline didn't change as the Celtics built a 76-53 advantage and coasted to the finish.

After the Pistons held a 19-17 advantage after one quarter, Boston exploded, going on a 20-6 run in the second, taking a 37-25 lead with 3:31 left in the half. Tony Allen had 10 of those points.

Boston finished out the stanza on a strong note, getting a jumper by Garnett and layup by Tony Allen as part of an 8-0 spurt to finish the half.

The Pistons shot just 3-of-16 in the second quarter while the Celtics went 11-of-17.

Game Notes

The Pistons will next play at Sacramento on Tuesday night, while Boston hosts Toronto on Monday night...Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey left early in the second quarter with dizziness and did not return...The Celtics went 2-1 against Detroit last season, but despite the loss the Pistons have won 14 of the last 18 matchups in this series...Prior to the contest, Boston had lost seven of eight and 10 of its last 12 games in the Motor City.

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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.