Nuggets aim to stay hot vs. Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Denver Nuggets aim for a sixth straight win tonight when they host a Toronto team that expects to be without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani.

The Nuggets are fresh off a brilliant 5-0 road trip that was capped with a 122-93 blowout win in Sacramento on Wednesday. Danilo Gallinari led seven players in double figures with 23 points in that one as Denver recorded its first perfect five-game trek since joining the NBA prior to the 1976-77 season.

Gallinari, who signed a contract extension earlier Wednesday, went 8-of-12 from the field and added five assists. Nene notched 16 points and Andre Miller had 15 and 10 assists.

"We made a point not to settle for jumpers because that is a team that's struggling defensively with their identity," said Nuggets forward Al Harrington. "There were so many open things, so we just tried to pick one of them and really attack and that was the rim."

Denver's ultra-quick point guard Ty Lawson left in the second quarter against the Kings after spraining his left ankle and is expected to miss tonight's game. He hopes to return Sunday against the LA Clippers.

Denver, which is 6-2 at the Pepsi Center this season, will finish a quick two- game homestand against the Clips.

The Raptors, meanwhile, are coming off back-to-back impressive road wins.

Toronto improved to 2-1 on a five-game trek on Wednesday when Bargnani and Linas Kleiza, an ex-Nugget, scored 25 points apiece as the Raptors snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Utah Jazz with a 111-106 win in double- overtime.

It was Toronto's first win in the series since December 22, 2004.

Bargnani, who played his second game after missing the previous six with a strained calf, scored all of his points in regulation. He played 3:55 in the first overtime before sitting the rest of the game after aggravating the injury, however.

"This time it's bad," Bargnani, who is averaging 23.5 ppg this season, said. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to be out for a while."

Jose Calderon knocked down a three-pointer with 13.3 seconds remaining in regulation for Toronto, tying the game, while Paul Millsap buried a three with 3.0 seconds left in the first overtime to knot the contest for Utah.

The back-breaker in the second overtime was Calderon's three-pointer from 10 feet behind the arc to beat the shot clock, giving Toronto a six-point lead with 86 seconds left.

It was the second time in two days that the Raptors snapped a long losing streak to another team. They beat Phoenix, 99-96, in Bargnani's return on Tuesday for their first win over the Suns since February 10, 2004.

DeMar DeRozan scored 17 for Toronto, Leandro Barbosa added 13 and Calderon had 12.

"Everybody that got on the court tonight contributed and fought to win a double-overtime game," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey.

Toronto, which has lost eight straight and 13 of 14 vs. Denver, hasn't won three consecutive on the road since Dec. 11-18, 2007. The Raptors have dropped seven in a row and nine of 10 contests in the Rockies.

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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.

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