Mavs host Blazers in Big D

Basketball Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas will kick off a three-game homestand tonight by welcoming the Portland Trail Blazers to American Airlines Center.

The reigning NBA champion Mavericks have won two straight after an uncharacteristic three-game skid, including Friday's 104-97 win in Minneapolis against the Timberwolves.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 33 points in that one while Jason Terry added 16 points. Vince Carter had 12 and Jason Kidd returned from a six-game absence due to a calf injury to hand out 10 assists.

"He's a big part of our heart and soul," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of Kidd. "When we're without him, we can win some games but we're not the same team."

After tonight's game vs. Portland, the Mavs, who are 9-5 in Big D, will finish their residency against the Clippers and Nuggets. Dallas, which has lost two in a row at home, hasn't dropped three straight on its floor since a four-game hiccup to begin the 2008-09 season.

The Blazers, meanwhile, got a rare road win Friday over hapless New Orleans. Jamal Crawford dropped a season-high 31 points and added a game-high eight assists off the bench, as Portland pulled away from the Hornets, 94-86.

Raymond Felton added 18 points, while Gerald Wallace and LaMarcus Aldridge each contributed 14 for the Blazers, who stopped a two-game skid and improved to 4-9 as the visitor, although two of those victories are against the hapless Hornets.

"Sometimes it's not about how you win, but the fact that you win," Portland head coach Nate McMillan said. "New Orleans played hard and they scrapped and played a good game. We did the things we needed to do down the stretch."

The Blazers have lost five consecutive and 20 of their last 25 in North Texas, including all three games there during last year's Western Conference quarterfinals.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.