Hawks hope to snap road skid in Washington

Basketball Betting Lines

04/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third seed in the Eastern Conference is still up for grabs and the Atlanta Hawks seized control of it on Friday. Tonight, the Hawks hope to move closer to securing that goal when they visit the hapless Washington Wizards.

Jamal Crawford finished with 25 points to lead a balanced attack last night, as Atlanta got back on track with a 107-101 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Josh Smith had 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for the Hawks, who had dropped their last two but used a 27-of-30 performance from the foul line Friday to take the win. It was Atlanta's 50th victory of the season, a milestone the team hadn't reached since 1997-98.

The win also put the Hawks into sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of Boston, which lost to Washington on Friday. Atlanta also holds the tiebreaker over Boston by virtue of sweeping the season series.

"It feels good," Smith said. "When we first started out, the goal was to win 50-plus games. Some people laughed, it really didn't matter. We knew that we had the talent in order to make 50-plus wins."

Joe Johnson added 18 points and seven assists in the win, while Al Horford had 15 rebounds to go with 12 points. The Hawks had 45 points in the second quarter.

Playing on the road hasn't been kind to Atlanta recently, however. The Hawks have dropped six straight away from Dixie but Washington may be the tonic for that. Atlanta has won eight straight over the Wiz and are shooting to sweep the season series for a second straight year tonight.

The Wizards, meanwhile, played spoiler in Beantown last night when Andray Blatche poured in 31 points and came down with 11 rebounds as Washington snapped a six-game skid against Boston with a 106-96 triumph at TD Garden.

Shaun Livingston added 25 points and seven assists for Washington, which was swept in three games last season by Boston and was in danger of a four-game whitewash this season, but the Wizards dominated the playoff-bound Celtics on Friday.

"We pulled it out, we hung on," Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. "We kept it interesting, kept the people in their seats a little. But like I said a young team, we play extremely well for a lot of that game at both ends."

Nick Young scored 19 and JaVale McGee added 14 points and 11 boards for the Wizards, who won for the fourth time in six contests since a 16-game losing streak.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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