Stoudemire, Suns pound Pacers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/03/2007 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns got back on the winning track with a 115-90 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Steve Nash scored 23 points and added seven assists for the Suns, who had their five-game winning streak snapped in a 99-94 loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday, Phoenix's first road loss to an Eastern Conference team all season.

Raja Bell scored 17 points, and Leandro Barbosa added 14 points off the bench for Phoenix.

Danny Granger scored 20 points for the Pacers, who lost their fourth straight, and second in a row to Phoenix. The Suns defeated the Pacers, 103-92, in Indiana on Tuesday. Marquis Daniels and Jermaine O'Neal added 16 points each for the Pacers, and O'Neal finished with seven rebounds.

A Daniels jumper cut the Phoenix lead to 78-70 with 3:29 left in the third quarter, but the Suns closed the quarter with an 11-4 stretch, taking an 89-74 lead into the final 12 minutes.

The Pacers trailed by double digits for the entire fourth quarter, and the Suns lead ballooned to 27 points, at 112-85 in the final minute.

Indiana held tight early, and it was only on the strength of a Barbosa trey with four seconds left that the Suns took a 30-28 lead into the second quarter.

The Pacers only trailed 42-40 midway through the second quarter, but Nash and the Suns scored eight straight to stretch the lead to double digits, with Nash scoring four of the eight points, and Phoenix led 50-40 with just under five minutes left.

The Suns extended their lead to 62-49 at the break, with Stoudemire scoring 17 points before the intermission.

Game Notes

Phoenix improved to 24-4 vs East on the season...Eric Piatkowski scored a season-high 11 points, and Pat Burke scored a season-high 10 points for the Suns...Kurt Thomas finished with 15 rebounds for the Suns...Phoenix made 22- of-25 free throws...The Suns are 22-1 when holding their opponent under 100 points.

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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.