T'Wolves fend off Sixers to snap eight-game skid
Basketball Betting Lines
11/19/2008 -
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Al Jefferson led all scorers with 25
points, as the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped an eight-game losing streak with
a 102-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Craig Smith added 21 points off the bench for Minnesota, which picked up just
its second win of the season -- the Timberwolves won their opener against
Sacramento.
Mike Miller finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and made a
three-pointer with 30.4 seconds left that helped Minnesota to the win.
Andre Miller had 20 points and six assists to lead the Sixers, who had won
three in a row. Elton Brand finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while
Andre Iguodala added 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the loss.
"There's no guaranteed wins in this league," Brand said. "(Minnesota's) been
playing pretty tight ballgames. They've lost a lot of games by five points or
less. They're hungry out there...Like I said, there's no 'gimmes' in this
league."
The T'Wolves held the lead going into the fourth quarter, 76-65, but saw
Philadelphia trim its deficit to six points. Lou Williams had two layups, the
latter he turned into a three-point play, that made it an 82-76 contest.
Minnesota briefly restored its double-digit cushion, but the Sixers continued
to chip away and with 4:12 to play, Andre Miller drained a pair of free throws
to bring Philadelphia within 88-84.
Following a Minnesota miss, Iguodala took a fast-break pass, drove to the
hoop and made a circus layup from the right side to get the Sixers within two.
Jefferson then got a basket for the T'Wolves, but Iguodala continued to
hustle in the lane on the other end. He first tried a baseline layup, then
collected the rebound and nailed a short jumper while being fouled. The free
throw got Philadelphia within a point, and after the teams traded points --
Jefferson deposited a pair of layups -- Minnesota's lead stood at just 94-91
with 2 1/2 minutes left.
"I just had to take over. It's like I always said, I don't feel like I have to
take every shot in crunch time," Jefferson said. "But the ball should come to
me."
The teams were unsuccessful on their next possessions, and Iguodala got to the
line with 1 1/2 minutes on the clock. He made just one shot, but Smith made
only one for Minnesota.
The Sixers got the rebound off the miss on Smith's second shot, setting up
Andre Miller's jumper with 50.4 ticks left. But Mike Miller canned a wide-open
triple to put Minnesota ahead 98-94 with 30.4 seconds remaining.
Brand got the rebound off an Iguodala missed three-pointer, and got a fadeaway
jumper to fall with 18.4 left. But the Sixers, still down two, were forced to
foul. Randy Foye and Corey Brewer each made two free throws in the remaining
time to seal Minnesota's win.
The Sixers were up 19-6 on an Iguodala triple midway through the first. But
the T'Wolves came back with a 12-2 run, and had a 27-24 deficit at the end of
the stanza.
Minnesota edged in front in a mostly back-and-forth second quarter, and was
ahead 56-52 going to intermission. The T'Wolves then opened up their lead with
a nine-point burst shortly into the third quarter and were ahead 67-56 midway
through.
Game Notes
Iguodala made just 1-of-6 three-point attempts, as the Sixers finished 1-
for-11 behind the arc for a 9.1 percent success rate. Philadelphia, though,
did shoot 47.1 percent overall...Minnesota shot 51.4 percent from the
field...Foye finished with 10 points and six assists for the T'Wolves, while
Ryan Gomes had 14 points...Thaddeus Young contributed 15 points for the
Sixers.
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The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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