NBA- New York Knicks defeat the Philadelphia 76ers

The Knicks had an awful March, but they are sure doing their best to make up for it this April, as the Knicks have set up a very decent 5 game winning streak since their 113-106 win in overtime against the Orlando Magic in an intricate overtime. It really seems as if the key to this success lies behind the talent of one Carmelo Anthony.

Yes, we have to recognize that since joining in late February, after an extensive 15-player deal that finally landed him from the Denver Nuggets into his new home, the Knicks have suffered a big deal of upsets, including the last two weeks of March where they lost all but one in a 10 game stretch.

But things are slowly but surely looking a bit better and with a 97-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, they have successfully clinch the 6th place in the Eastern Conference and get a really good chance of getting into the Playoffs. Anthony  scored 31 points, 11 rebounds while the other referent, Amare Stoudemire scored 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Stoudemire suffered a left ankle sprain during the game, and he is going to miss tonight’s game against the New Jersey Nets and it seems that he is going to be out Sunday when they hit the road and face the Indiana Pacers.

But we have to give it up for the 76ers for putting one heck of a battle. Had it not been for Toney Douglas, who hit the go ahead triple with 1:47 to go, we would be writing the story of how the 76ers won the game despite a 19-point deficit in one heck of a comeback. To seal the deal, it was Douglas who completed two free throws with 42 seconds to go to give the Knicks their 5th consecutive win.

Elton Brand was the leader for Philadelphia scoring 24 points, recording 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. As for the comeback, Thaddeus Young was vital for the 76ers aspirations. Not only did he scored 15 of his 25 points in the second half alone, but he was basically responsible for rallying the 76ers back into the game alone. it was Andre Iguodala gave the last touches to the rally, pulling the Sixers within one point with his first 3-pointer of the game. But it wasn’t enough. Truth is that Carmelo Anthony had been on fire all night long and he was going to connect a triple in clutch time to give the Knicks a 95-91 lead.

So was Melo on fire? Oh yeah: he scored 28 point from behind the 3-point line and once again proved that he is ready for much bigger things. How big, well, truth is that this two team put on one heck of a show, playing with aggressiveness and an atmosphere so tense that one could have imagined they were playing for the top-seed in the Eastern Conference and not for the 6th. But hey, everybody wants to be invited to the big dance, and neither team can really afford to lose a chance to make it into the NBA Playoffs.

The Knicks lost guard Chauncey Billups (another great addition in the deal that landed Melo in New York) towards the end of the third quarter, and he didn’t comeback. He had a bruised right tight, but the big problem came for Stoudemire, not for Billups who is expected to see action tonight.

NBA – Philadelphia 76ers stun the Boston Celtics

Once again the Boston Celtics hit the headlines of our sports betting blog. The Celtics are starting to show signs of slowing down in the final stretch of the final season. The Philadelphia 76ers brought on a great game and guided by Elton Brand scored 14 points, while Spencer Hawes had 14 points and 10 rebounds to help the Sixers beat the Boston Celtics 89-86.

It really wasn’t much of a fight from the start. The Sixers held a 10-point advantage for most of the fourth quarter and they were certainly helped out by the Boston Celtics. They missed eight straight baskets over a 6-minute span late in the fourth quarter to hand in the win to Philadelphia. The Boston Celtics lost in this manner their eighth conference game of the season.

Looking for a quick review of how it all went down in the fourth quarter, well here it is: Lou Williams’ jumper just before the game hit the 5-minute mark put the Sixers ahead 83-81. And Boston never got ahead of them again. Jodie Meeks made two free throws after he was fouled hard by Paul Pierce on a fast break attempt and the Sixers were able to pull off one of their best wins of the season.

It was certainly a bad night for the Big Three. Either that or they were just not trying too hard. Truth is, the Celtics have already secured a berth in the NBA Playoffs and these three guys aren’t getting any younger, so not pushing it too hard on meaningless games could easily be part of a larger, long-term plan. Anyhow, these are their numbers: Garnett scored 14 points, Paul Pierce had 11 and Ray Allen finished with five. Jeff Green led Boston with 18 points. Extra kudos go to backup Nenad Krstic who had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Celtics.

NFL – Aaron Rodgers guide the Green Bay Packers over Philadelphia Eagles

by Stephen Lars on Jan.12, 2011, under Football, Sports News

Michael Vick has been quite a fantastic quarterback this season. He has had to put on some sweet plays that most of us reserve only for NFL videogames. Completing 20 of his 36 attempts, it seemed as if Michael Vick was really going to work his way back up to catch up with the Green Bay Packers. There was nothing left for the Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers but to watch as the game unfolded and little by little, yard by yard, Michael Vick, was working his way back for the Eagles from a 21-16 deficit.

The NFC Wild Card game got as exciting as one could wish. Micheal Vick was playing his first playoffs start since he guided Atlanta Falcons to the 2005 NFC Championship Game to the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, on the other side of the ropes, Vick threw 292 yards and ran for 33 for 1 touchdown pass and 1 last-minute game-changing interception.  Truth be said, credit go to the Packers defense, particularly to Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson who kept Vick in an under-par performance.

Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, was quite awesome. He is starting to prove not only to the die-hard Packers fans but perhaps to himself that he is way past living under the shadow of Brett Favre. He has earned his own name with the Green Bay Packers and comparison will not be needed for a while. Rodgers threw 3 touchdown passes while rookie James Starks, who is usually not put in the field, ran for 123 yards to beat the Eagles on a difficult game on the road.

At 10-6 a piece for the season, both team had to get their big guns out in this win or go home game. Micheal Vick has had to put together one heck of a comeback, not only during the 4th quarter but in his own personal life. He was for a while one of the superstars on the NFL back in his days with the Atlanta Falcons. But it has sort of all gone south since then. Vick missed two complete seasons while he served an 18-month in prison for his role in a dogfighting operation. He then had to play the backup role during the last season and has been playing ever since Kevin Kolb was knocked down during week 1 of the current season’s 27-20 win over the Packers in Philadelphia.

And even thought they had the same scenario and the same actors, this time the plot of the game took a turn for the Packers. The Eagles had been the talk of the week after what they were able to pull off against the New York Giants on December 19th. But it was almost as if the squad was not trying too hard during the following season when they fell to the Minnesota Vikings and missed having a bye week during the first round.

At the end, The Eagles got within 21-16 when Vick sneaked in from the 1 with 4:02 left on the clock. The Eagles failed to complete the 2-point conversion and yet somehow the defense held their ground and the Philadelphia Eagles got the ball back at the Packers 34 with over a minute and a half left on the game.

Vick completed passes of 28 yards to DeSean Jackson and 11 yards to Cooper before he threw another pass from the 27-yard to Riley Cooper that was cleverly intercepted by Tramon Williams. Time ran out, and the Packers are now going to hit the road and face the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday January 15th.

NFL – The Minnesota Vikings defeat the Philadelphia Eagles

It has been 64 years since the last time the NFL held a football game on a Tuesday. It seems just as long since the time the Vikings starting quarterback, Brett Favre began his strike of 297 consecutive games as the starting quarterback. This season the Vikings are missing that spark of magic, that unexpected brilliance that Brett Favre showed during the previous season, right when most critics believed that it was too late for the veteran player to keep on going. But that was all gone by the time the season kicked off.

The season has been filled with ups and downs, well, mostly downs for the Minnesota Vikings. With a 6-9 overall season and a 1-4 performance in the NFC North, the Vikings have not shined much. The Vikings haven’t been much brilliant either when playing against the spread. As of press time the Vikings are 5-10-0 ATS, for a 33.3% of success when it comes to the NFL wagering lines. So unless you made a whole deal of point buying, the Vikings were probably not among your best picks of the season. But that was all going to change when the Vikings played the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday.

The Minnesota Vikings were a 14-point underdog for their game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Handicappers were considering that neither Favre or Tarvaris Jackson were going to be able to start and that a rookie quarterback, Joe Webb would have to go face to face against the Eagles’ Michael Vick on his first game ever as a professional.

Yes, of course Michael Vick had a brilliant start, but his performance during the second half of the season has been far from optimal. If you take into consideration his numbers during the first six games of the season and compare them to what he has been showing at the last 6 games of the season, you will notice how much his performance has dropped. Lets consider for a moment that for the first 6 games Vick had no interceptions, 2 fumbles and was sacked only 15 times. On the contrary, in the last six games Vick has recorded 6 interception, 9 fumbles and has been sacked 19 times.

So sure, the Eagles quarterback is not atop of their performance so 12 or 14 point spread on the Vikings might had sound a bit harsh. But what happened during the game was nothing short of an epic upset. The rookie quarterback completed 17 of 26 passes for 195 yards and ran for a touchdown. Adrian Peterson ran for 118 yards and completed a touchdown. That was just enough to push the Philadelphia Eagles out of a first round of the playoffs bye.

At 10-5 for the season the Eagles could have secured an extra week of rest had they defeated the Vikings. Somehow, the same team that last week defeated the New York Giants coming from a 21-point deficit with only 7 minutes to play was nowhere to be seen in the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. As a matter of fact, the fans were walking out of the stadium by the time the two-minute warning went off.

The same team that almost made it to the Super Bowl last year has had to deal with many issues this season. They have had to make it pass many injuries, the whole on and off the court implications that having Brett Favre as your starting quarterback implies, the collapse of their stadium roof and the firing of head coach Brad Childress. But there is really not much left for the Vikings this season; this is as good as it its going to get for this guys. Better luck next year.