Celtic for life: Pierce inks deal with Boston

Basketball Betting Lines

07/15/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics and forward Paul Pierce have reached an agreement on a new contract.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Boston Herald reported last week the two sides agreed to a deal for four years, with options for the club and Pierce after the third year.

"I am very excited to be back in Boston," said Pierce. "I have always said that I would love to retire as a Celtic and re-signing here will allow me to do that. I would like to thank Danny [Ainge], Doc [Rivers], the ownership group and the rest of the organization. I'm thrilled that they kept the core intact and look forward to getting back on the parquet with my teammates so we can bring Banner 18 home to Boston."

Pierce opted out of his contract for next season and became an unrestricted free agent when the NBA free agency period started on July 1. Pierce was due to make $21.5 million in the final year of his previous contract, and the Herald reports that he will make less than that in 2010-11 to give the Celtics a better financial position.

"Paul has been a cornerstone of our franchise for the last decade and we could not be more pleased that he is returning to the team," said president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.

Pierce, who will be 33 before next season begins, averaged 18.3 points and 4.4 rebounds over 71 games during the 2009-10 campaign. He upped that to 18.8 ppg and 6.0 rpg during the playoffs, helping Boston reach the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.

Boston selected the Kansas product with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. He owns career averages of 22.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

Blackjakc Basketball Betting News

<< Blue Jackets re-sign Sesito
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed forward Tom Sesito to a one-year contract. Financial terms of the two-way deal were not disclosed. Sesito appeared in three games for the Blue Jackets last se

<< Top hurlers to clash in Dodgers-Cardinals opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw pitched well enough to be an All-Star, but ultimately did not join four of his teammates in Anaheim for the Mid-Summer Classic. Despite the snub, Kershaw will look to get his sec

<< Phillies head to Chicago riding win streak
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies had an up-and-down first half, and it was no different for the club over the season's final week before the All-Star break. They do come out of the hiatus with some momentum, and the Phillies will

<< First-place Braves open second half against Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have done everything possible in this season's first half to potentially make Bobby Cox's last year as manager a special one. Seeking to give their manager one more championship before he retires at sea

<< Rangers open second half at Fenway
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers enter the season's second half in good position to end an 11-year playoff drought. The Boston Red Sox, on the other hand, still have some work to do in order to secure a fourth consecutive trip to the postse

Montana adds four transfers >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Head coach Robin Pflugrad of the University of Montana Grizzlies has announced the addition of four transfers to the roster this season. The players are Andrew Badger, Tyrone Duncan, Houston Roots and Antwon

In the FCS Huddle: Stony Brook intriguing on, off the field >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the NIT came to Stony Brook in March, the Seawolves' football players were in attendance. Similarly, when Stony Brook hosted NCAA men's lacrosse in May, the football players were there. The Seawolves,

Rondo, Chandler and Robin Lopez named to USA Basketball team >>
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was among three players added to the 2010-12 USA Basketball team, chairman Jerry Colangelo announced on Thursday. Also selected were centers Tyson Chandler of th

Spurs, Clippers to play preseason game in Mexico >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers will square off against one another in a preseason game in Mexico City on October 12, 2010, the NBA announced Thursday. The event will mark the 19th time

Canadiens sign Desharnais >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens have signed forward David Desharnais to a one-year contract. Desharnais led Hamilton, Montreal's American Hockey League affiliate, in scoring last season with a franchise-reco

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

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.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football 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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.