Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Mavericks meet the Hornets and the Nuggets take on the Blazers, while the PGA Tour tees off at The Honda Classic.
Sports headlines…
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Betting headlines…
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Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
It’s Dallas at New Orleans in the opener of the NBA’s doubleheader on Thursday night. The last time these teams met on the court was back on January 14 in Texas, with the Hornets pulling out a 104-97 road upset. Chris Paul led the way for New Orleans with 33 points in that win, while David West and Peja Stojakovic had 16 apiece. Jason Terry tossed in 28 points in that losing cause for the Mavs.
The Nuggets will then host the Blazers in the second NBA game of the night. Denver and Portland last played in a back-to-back set on December 22 and 23, with each team winning at home. Portland grabbed a 101-92 win at home on the 23rd, covering the 8-point spread. A day earlier in Denver the Nuggets rolled to a 97-89 win as a 3.5-point favorite; Chauncey Billups had 19 points in that contest.
The march toward Madness . . .
There are a couple of ranked Pac-10 teams in action on the college hoops schedule for Thursday night, with Stanford at No. 21 Arizona State, and Oregon State at No. 20 UCLA. The Bruins have struggled at just 3-3 over their last six contests, but they did manage to beat California 72-68 in their outing on Saturday.
No. 11 Villanova hosts Providence on Thursday, while No. 23 Illinois is at Penn State. As well, it’ll be Dayton at No. 17 Xavier in Atlantic-10 action. When the Musketeers and Flyers clashed back on February 11 Dayton rolled to a 71-58 home win. Chris Wright tossed in 19 points for the Flyers in the game, while Derrick Brown had a team-high 17 points for then-No. 14 Xavier in a losing cause.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The Coyotes will be in Boston to play the Bruins in one of nine games on the National Hockey League schedule for Thursday night. Boston came up short in a battle of top Eastern clubs on Tuesday, falling 4-2 to the Flyers. Phoenix hasn’t played since last Saturday, when they dropped a 3-1 home decision to the Blues.
Philadelphia returns to action on Thursday by hosting Calgary, who knocked off the Senators 6-3 on Tuesday in the first game of their Eastern swing. Also on the slate: Toronto at Washington, Edmonton at Ottawa, Pittsburgh at Florida, Columbus at Nashville, Dallas at Los Angeles, and Minnesota at San Jose. As well, the Islanders have a date with a division rival when they host the Rangers.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
The PGA Tour hits the links at the PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on Thursday morning in The Honda Classic. Sergio Garcia is pegged as the 7/1 Vegas favorite to take home the trophy on the weekend, with Ernie Els right behind him on that list at 8/1 odds. Els is the defending Honda Classic champion, beating Luke Donald by one stroke in 2008.
Camilo Villegas is next at 10/1 odds to win this week, followed by Rory McIlroy at 12/1 odds, and then Robert Allenby at 15/1 odds. Donald won this tournament in 2006, but he has withdrawn from this year’s event. As well, 2007 champion Mark Wilson is back at 35/1 odds to get another win in this tournament, while Justin Leonard, who won The Honda Classic in ’03, is listed at 20/1 on the Vegas chart.