Bryant's late shot gets Lakers past Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant broke away from the double team of James Johnson and DeMar DeRozan while Metta World Peace led him perfectly into the right corner on the inbounds pass.

Bryant pulled up along the right baseline with 4.2 seconds on the clock and his jumper hit nothing but net, lifting the Lakers to a thrilling 94-92 win over the Raptors.

Following a timeout, Toronto was called for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds pass and Bryant made 1-of-2 from the line to make it 94-92. With 3.7 seconds remaining, DeRozan received the inbounds pass, but World Peace defended him well and his shot from the left corner at the buzzer came up well short.

"I like my money, what little bit of money I make. I don't want to send it to the league. Mr. Foster saw it different," Raptors head coach Dwayne Casey said of the five-second call.

Bryant finished with 27 points while Pau Gasol filled the stat sheet with 16 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who concluded their six- game road trip with a 3-3 mark.

"We just need to find some consistency," World Peace said of the road trip. "Once we have some consistency, we'll be a better team."

Jose Calderon netted a career-high 30 points for Toronto, which has lost four of its last five games.

The Raptors overcame an 18-point first quarter deficit and used a 7-0 spurt to take their first lead of the contest.

Trailing 84-81, Calderon tied the game with a trey and DeRozan fed Ed Davis for a two-handed slam to give the Raptors their first lead. DeRozan then stole Bynum's pass and fed Linas Kleiza for a driving hook shot to make it 88-84 with 2:11 left.

After Calderon's jumper made it 90-86 with 1:41 to play, Bryant took over for Los Angeles.

He pulled the visitors within one after nailing a trey from the left wing. Bryant stripped Kleiza on Toronto's next touch and fed a trailing World Peace for the easy layup to make it 91-90 with 31.4 to play.

Not to be outdone, Calderon gave the Raptors the lead right back as he pulled up from the right elbow and nailed the jumper with 16 seconds left.

With Los Angeles already holding a five-point advantage early on, the visitors stretched the lead to 22-6 following a 13-2 run. Gasol and Bynum recorded four points apiece during the surge.

By the time Bryant netted his first field goal midway through the opening quarter, the Lakers were already up 24-8. Gasol, who finished the stanza with eight points, five rebounds and four assists, gave the Lakers their largest lead of 18, 29-11, late in the frame.

The Lakers took a 34-19 lead into the second.

The Raptors outscored the Lakers 11-4 over the final 4:07 of the second quarter. Johnson's transition dunk with 0.8 seconds remaining pulled Toronto within 54-46 entering the break.

Bryant scored nine points in the third as the Lakers took a 73-67 advantage into the final quarter.

Game Notes

Jerryd Bayless missed the game for Toronto with a sore left ankle...The Lakers have won eight of their last nine games against the Raptors...Bynum had 14 points and nine rebounds...The Raptors were 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.

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NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

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