Odom, Lakers deliver Cavs their first loss in Cleveland

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02/08/2009 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lamar Odom posted season-highs in points with 28 and rebounds with 17, and with Kobe Bryant taking ill the Lakers still handed Cleveland its first home loss of the season, 101-91, snapping a streak of 23 straight wins at Quicken Loans Arena by the Cavs.

Odom produced most of his damage in the third quarter with 15 points and 10 boards while Bryant finished with 19 points but looked sluggish at times and needed an IV at halftime.

Pau Gasol chipped in 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and Derek Fisher added 13 points as LA put an exclamation point on a perfect six-game road trip which included an overtime win against the defending champion Boston Celtics on Thursday.

The marquee matchup didn't pan out exactly as advertised as Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the home team with 22 points and nine rebounds and Mo Williams notched 19 points in the loss.

LeBron James didn't take ill but his game did with a 5-for-20 shooting performance en route to 16 points with 12 assists. Wally Szczerbiak also had 16 points and was 4-for-5 from three-point range as the Cavs had a four-game win streak halted in the setback.

Cleveland's last loss at home during the regular season was versus the Detroit Pistons on April 16, 2008.

Both James and Bryant were coming off recent stellar performances. Bryant, the NBA's reigning MVP, posted a Madison Square Garden-record of 61 points in a win at New York on Monday. James then scored a season-high 52 points in Cleveland's victory at MSG on Wednesday, but it was Odom's show on Sunday.

The Lakers used an 11-0 run early in the third to get back within one and Odom took over from there totaling 15 points and 10 rebounds, finishing off the frame with six of LA's last nine points to give the visitors an 82-77 lead.

Neither team came out particularly well in the fourth but Cleveland was still without its first points by the time James stepped to the line for two at 8:11 of the quarter. He hit just 1-of-2 and the Cavs first field goal didn't fall for another 1:05, but James followed that with a triple and his layup a short time later had Cleveland within five, 92-87, with 4:23 left to play.

However, an 8-2 spurt by the Lakers, led by five points from Gasol, preceded the Cavs' next points and by the time Anderson Varejao's jump hook dropped through it was already 100-91 with under a minute left and LA easily played out the game's waning moments.

A Szczerbiak three-ball and a layup by Aleksandar Pavlovic to close out the first quarter gave Cleveland a 32-30 lead and a pair of three-pointers from Szczerbiak followed by a triple from James allowed for a 10-point advantage in the latter stages of the second. But it was Williams, with 17 points over the first 24 minutes, that carried the Cavs and a pair of free throws and a layup closed out the half with Cleveland still up 10, 61-51.

Game Notes

Los Angeles handed Cleveland a 105-88 loss on January 19 this season at Staples Center to end a five-game losing streak in the series. The Lakers had lost four straight and five of their last six at Cleveland before Sunday's triumph...The Lakers improved to 18-5 away from Hollywood this season. On Saturday the Lakers acquired forward Adam Morrison and guard Shannon Brown from the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for forward Vladimir Radmanovic. Neither player saw time on Sunday but were available.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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