Magic welcome Hawks to central Florida

Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic try to stay hot tonight when they welcome the Atlanta Hawks to the Amway Center.

This, of course, is the first meeting between these Southeast Division rivals since Atlanta knocked the Magic out of last year's playoffs in six games.

Orlando, though, enters tonight's tilt playing some of its best basketball of the season, having won four of its last five games. On Wednesday, Ryan Anderson scored 27 points, Dwight Howard added 25 and both players had double- doubles to lead the Magic to a 102-89 win over the Miami Heat.

The Magic made 17 three-pointers and led wire-to-wire, going ahead by as many as 17 and fending off a couple of Miami runs. Their strong play of late comes on the heels of a four-game slide.

"I thought we did a good job gathering ourselves. We held our composure and nobody seemed the least bit worried, we just kept making plays," said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.

Anderson, who made five threes and scored 24 points in a big first half, added 11 rebounds and Howard pulled down a game-high 24. Orlando improved to 12-1 this season when scoring at least 100 points.

The Magic are in the midst of a stretch that sees them play six of seven at home, where they are 9-5 on the year.

Atlanta, meanwhile, snapped a three-game skid on Wednesday, as Josh Smith had 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hawks to a 97-87 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Atlanta got 20 points and eight assists from Joe Johnson, 17 points from Kirk Hinrich and 13 from Tracy McGrady to close its four-game homestand with a victory.

"We weren't playing well," said McGrady, who scored seven of his points in the fourth quarter. "I think we recognized that. Tonight we wanted to provide that energy and that effort and I think we did that."

Atlanta is 12-1 this season when Johnson scores at least 20 points. Johnson was named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Thursday.

"Im Blessed to have the opportunity to play in my 6th AllStar game," Johnson wrote on his Twitter page. "It never gets old."

After tonight's contest the Hawks will return home to host the Heat, then hit the road again for five straight games. Atlanta is 8-5 away from home this season.

Atlanta knocked off the Magic in six games in the first round of last year's playoffs and has won three straight and four of the last five regular season meetings between the two teams.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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