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04/11/2009 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Grant Hill scored 19 points to lead the Phoenix Suns past the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-97, at the Target Center.
Leandro Barbosa and Jared Dudley added 16 points apiece for the Suns, who have won four of their last six games. Shaquille O'Neal chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
Sebastian Telfair donated 21 points for Minnesota, which had its two-game winning streak snapped. Rodney Carney gave 17 points and Ryan Gomes 13 in defeat. Craig Smith had 11 points and Mike Miller 10 with nine boards and nine assists.
The Suns burned the T'Wolves to the tune of 31-8 after the first quarter and were up 57-43 at the break.
Minnesota got within 12 late in the third quarter on two free throws from Gomes, but Phoenix closed out the stanza with five straight points. Alando Tucker had a three-point play and Stromile Swift added a pair of free throws to make it 81-64 after three quarters.
Minnesota failed to pose a threat in the final frame.
Game Notes
Phoenix' Steve Nash ended with four points and seven assists and Robin Lopez had 11 boards and six points...The Suns closed out a four-game road trip at 2-2 and are 18-23 away from the desert this season...Phoenix will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign, and will close out the season with a two-game homestand versus the Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors...The Suns took the season series, 2-1...Minnesota will close out the season with a game at Dallas and then a home game against Sacramento...Phoenix had dropped 11 of its last 16 trips to the Twin Cities.
<< Terriers shock RedHawks to win men's national hockey title
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colby Cohen tallied with 8:13 remaining in
the first overtime as Boston University rallied from a late two-goal deficit
to defeat Miami-Ohio, 4-3, in the NCAA men's hockey national championship at
Verizon
<< Red Bulls, Dynamo battle to scoreless draw
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Red Bulls and Houston Dynamo
entered Week 4 of the Major League Soccer season with identical 0-2-1 records
despite playing each other in the 2008 MLS Cup semifinals.
After battling to a phys
<< Armstrong helps Thrashers end season with win over Tampa
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colby Armstrong scored twice to lead the
Atlanta Thrashers past the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-2, in a battle between two
teams eliminated from the playoffs at Philips Arena.
Eric Perrin, Ilya Kovalchuk,
<< Sabathia gets first win as a Yankee in win over Royals
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia dazzled on the mound to get his
first win as a Yankee, as New York made short work of the Kansas City Royals,
6-1, in the second installment of a three-game set from Kauffman Stadium.
Sabathia
Carter leads Nets past Magic >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter led the Nets with 27
points and nine assists, as New Jersey topped an uninspired Orlando Magic
club, 103-93.
"I just kind of wanted to set the tone of how we wanted to play t
Howard and Phils double up Rockies >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard had a pair of hits and three runs
batted in, as the Phillies used some timely hitting and strong pitching to
defeat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4, at Coors Field.
Seven of Philadelphia's runs ca
Hudson haunts former team as Dodgers crush D'Backs >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orlando Hudson backed Eric Stults' spot-
start with a home run and three runs batted in, as the Dodgers upended the
Diamondbacks, 11-2, at Chase Field.
Stults (1-0), filling in for injured Opening
Federer marries longtime girlfriend >>
Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swiss tennis great Roger Federer
announced Saturday that he married his longtime girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec.
"Earlier today, in my hometown of Basel, surrounded by a small group of close
friends
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
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