Allen paces Sonics over Cavs

Basketball Betting Lines

01/17/2007 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Allen scored 22 points and dished out 11 assists to lead Seattle's second-half charge, as the SuperSonics topped Cleveland, 101-96, at KeyArena.

Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison each displayed strong inside play. Wilcox ended with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Collison had 14 points and 12 boards, as the Sonics won their second straight following a six-game skid.

LeBron James had 30 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Cavs, who lost for the second time in eight contests. Zydrunas Ilgauskas tallied 24 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which wasted a five-point lead with just over five minutes left.

Ilgauskas' jumper boosted the Cavs to an 87-82 lead with 5:12 left, but the Sonics scored the next six points, ended by a pair of Wilcox free throws.

James then made one foul shot with 3:01 left to square the game at 88, but Collison hit the go-ahead jumper 19 seconds later. Then, after Ilgauskas missed a shot, Allen drained two from the foul line with two minutes to go.

James sank two from the free throw line with 58.5 seconds left to get Cleveland within 95-93, but Wilcox's hook shot made it a four-point contest.

Larry Hughes then missed a three-point try for the Cavs and Luke Ridnour hit two foul shots over a nine-second span.

Damon Jones' three had the Cavs within 99-96 with 12.7 ticks remaining, but Allen iced the victory with a pair from the charity stripe less than a second later.

Earl Watson scored 12 and Ridnour ended with 11 for the Sonics.

The Cavs trailed by as many as eight in the opening quarter, but bounced back to lead 28-24 going into the second. Cleveland stretched its lead to 51-43 in the second before settling for a 54-49 edge at the break.

Game Notes

Cleveland has lost 13 of 15 and 18 of its last 21 at Seattle...Rookie Mickael Gelabale had nine points and four rebounds for the Sonics.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

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