Mavs send Warriors to ninth straight loss; Ellis hurts knee

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02/09/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Terry made 6-of-9 three-point tries, finishing with a season-high 36 points, along with nine assists and six rebounds, as Dallas took control in the fourth quarter in a 127-117 victory over Golden State.

It appeared as if the Warriors were on their way to snapping an eight-game losing streak, but the Mavericks outscored the hosts 37-19 in the final frame to earn just their second win in six games, which included a home setback to the lowly Timberwolves on Friday.

Jason Kidd recorded 17 points and 12 assists, while Josh Howard and Drew Gooden added 25 and 24 points, respectively, for Dallas, which received a 15- point, eight-rebound effort from Dirk Nowitzki. Gooden also pulled down 10 caroms in a winning cause.

Anthony Morrow paced the Warriors with 33 points and 11 rebounds, while Stephen Curry donated 25 points and nine assists in the loss.

Golden State's leading scorer, Monta Ellis, netted 27 points but went to the ground hard after making a driving layup late in the fourth quarter. He stayed on the floor for a moment, favoring his left knee before gingerly walking under his own power to the bench.

"I was just praying that he was alright, me coming off that knee injury and him having a knee injury like that earlier in his career it was just tough seeing that, so I just wanted to run down there and make sure he was alright," Morrow said. "I was glad he got up on his own, I just hope it's not as bad as it seemed like it was."

Ellis has a sprained knee. He's scheduled to have an MRI Tuesday.

Dallas, which trailed by as many as 14, took its first lead of the night, 108-106, on Nowitzki's three-point play with 6:40 left in regulation.

The free throw capped a 14-4 spurt, and the Mavs continued to build momentum in front of a suddenly silent Oracle Arena crowd.

A pair of Gooden makes at the stripe finished off eight straight Dallas points and resulted in a 116-110 game with 4:51 left.

Ellis went down a minute later, and Golden State didn't have the fire power to match Dallas' hot streak from the field, making just one field goal over the final 5:55 to fall short yet again.

The Mavericks missed their first six shots from the floor and found themselves down 12-3 after four minutes of action.

Jose Barea's late three-pointer cut the deficit to 34-29 heading to the second, but the Warriors scored the first seven points of the stanza -- capped by a Curry three-pointer -- for a 12-point lead.

Golden State continued to play front-runner until the fourth, taking a 70-61 lead into the locker room and upping the difference to 98-90 with 12 minutes to play.

Game Notes

Anthony Tolliver chipped in 14 points and 11 boards for the Warriors, who committed seven of their 15 turnovers in the fourth quarter...Ronny Turiaf also scored 14 points for Golden State...Dallas shot 52.1 percent from the field and made 12-of-22 from three-point range.

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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

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Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.