Magic blow out Hawks again for 3-0 lead

Basketball Betting Lines

05/08/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rashard Lewis hit four three-pointers and ended with a team-high 22 points, as the Orlando Magic once again dominated the Atlanta Hawks, 105-75, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

A return to Philips Arena, where they went 34-7 during the regular season, figured to give the Hawks a boost after they lost the first two games of the series by a combined 57 points in Orlando.

But a lifeless crowd and Orlando's 50.7-percent shooting effort resulted in the 14th straight loss in conference semifinal games for the Hawks, who will try to avoid getting swept on Monday. No team in NBA history has ever recovered from a 3-0 series deficit.

"It's very disappointing," Hawks head coach Mike Woodson said. "I figured we would come home and play at a high level and make a series out of it, but we were so flat coming out...I don't think anyone saw this coming."

Dwight Howard recorded 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Magic, who have won 13 straight dating back to the regular season.

Jamal Crawford had 22 points, while Josh Smith added 15 and 11 rebounds for the Hawks, who shot 34.9 percent from the field.

All-Stars Al Horford and Joe Johnson totaled 11 and eight points, respectively, in the setback. Johnson, who is scheduled to become a free agent in the offseason, was particularly ineffective, making a mere 3-of-15 from the field.

The Hawks shot 7-of-22 from the field in the first quarter and trailed 28-18 following a late Marcin Gortat dunk.

Lewis hit a three-pointer less than four minutes into the second for a 38-22 edge, and ended the half with another uncontested three -- Orlando's fifth of the stanza -- for a comfortable 52-33 cushion.

The break at halftime did little to ignite the downtrodden Hawks, who got as close as 18 in the third. Consecutive Lewis turnaround jumpers around the four-minute mark of the quarter extended the margin to 73-47, and it was 79-55 at the end of the frame.

A 10-0 run -- capped by a Howard hook shot -- made it a 90-59 game early in the fourth and ended any hope of a miraculous comeback by the hosts. The largest differential was 32.

"We were looking forward to a hard-fought game, but we came out and played hard defense and built a big lead," Lewis said. "We don't want to jump ahead of ourselves. We want to take it one game at a time. We're going to keep playing with a lot of intensity."

Game Notes

The Hawks are a dismal 0-13 all-time in conference semifinal series since the round was renamed as such in 1971...The two teams have met just one time previously in the postseason, a 4-1 Magic win in the 1995-96 Eastern Conference semifinals...Vince Carter was 2-of-5 from the field and had seven points for Orlando, which won the battle on the glass, 51-34...Matt Barnes added 11 points for the Magic.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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