Pistons resume homestand with visit from Wizards

Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Eastern Conference also-rans continue playing out the string tonight in Auburn Hills, where the Detroit Pistons play host to the Washington Wizards.

The Pistons fell to 1-1 on a three-game homestand Wednesday, when Deron Williams paced a balanced attack with 18 points and 12 assists as the Utah Jazz trounced Detroit, 115-104.

Charlie Villanueva paced the Pistons' attack with 19 points and Richard Hamilton put up 16 in the defeat, Detroit's seventh in eight games. Will Bynum had 14 points, Jonas Jerebko scored 13 and Tayshaun Prince and Ben Gordon each had 11.

Jason Maxiell provided 10 points and 11 boards for the Pistons.

"They're outstanding," said Pistons head coach John Kuester of the Jazz. "Deron Williams is one of the best point guards in the league. There are certain teams that come with a blue-collar work ethic that you have to come out with a lunch pail and be ready to go at them."

Pistons star guard Rodney Stuckey missed his second straight game after collapsing on the bench during a loss in Cleveland on March 5. Extensive cardiac tests Wednesday provided some good news and Stuckey, who is averaging a career-best 17.1 points per game, has been allowed to resume exercising. There is no timetable for his return to the floor, however.

The Wizards, meanwhile, lost their fifth straight game on Thursday, a 105-99 setback to Atlanta in the nation's capital. Jamal Crawford scored a team-high 29 points for the Hawks in that one.

Andray Blatche ended with 30 points and 10 rebounds but had seven of Washington's 21 turnovers. JaVale McGee and Nick Young posted 20 and 17 points, respectively, in the loss.

"When the other team scores 32 points off turnovers, you really don't give yourself much of a chance," Washington coach Flip Saunders said. "Turnovers basically killed us. You can't let a team score 30 or more points off your offense basically."

The Pistons have won five straight over the Wizards and will be shooting for a season sweep of the series tonight.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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