Bryant's heroics lift Lakers past Raptors

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03/10/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant played hero again, sinking the winning jumper from the right baseline with 1.9 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game skid with a 109-107 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Bryant, who missed a potential winning three-pointer at the end of regulation in a 106-105 loss in Toronto on January 24, scored 32 points, dished out six assists and had six rebounds.

Andrew Bynum tallied 22 points, while Pau Gasol registered 17 points and nine boards for the Lakers, who were on their longest skid since January of 2008.

Chris Bosh hit the tying three-pointer with 9.5 seconds left in regulation and finished with 22 points for Toronto, which has lost six of seven overall and eight straight on the road against the Lakers. Andrea Bargnani added 21 points and Jarrett Jack notched 18 points, seven boards and seven assists.

A turnover by Hedo Turkoglu led to a pair of free throws for Derek Fisher, giving the Lakers a 106-102 lead with 30.6 seconds left.

Jose Calderon then drove in for a quick bucket before Lamar Odom made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe with 19.6 seconds left. Bosh then tied the game from the top of the arc before Bryant worked his magic.

Bryant drove around Antoine Wright and shot the ball over a pair of defenders before it swished through for the lead. It was the sixth game-winning shot of the season for Bryant, who had 14 points in the last quarter.

"They didn't come early at me and I got the shot off," Bryant said. "That's part of my responsibility, to close teams out. Our defense tonight was garbage. We have to focus on execution."

Wright's desperation shot from deep in his own end was way off the mark.

"It was no secret he was going to take the shot," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "We ran two guys at him and he still made it."

Toronto trailed 29-24 after one quarter, but surged late in the second to grab a 58-50 lead at halftime. The Raptors continued to hold the advantage in the third, moving to the last period with an 84-81 edge.

Game Notes

The Lakers haven't lost four in a row since April 8-13, 2007...This was the start of a four-game road trip for Toronto with contests upcoming against Sacramento, Golden State and Portland...The Lakers finished 36-of-44 at the foul line...Toronto has lost eight of its last 10 vs. the Lakers.

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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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