The series will shift to Indiana for Game 3 on Sunday.
Miami, FL (Sports Network) -
The Indiana Pacers gave away a golden opportunity when their stout defense crumbled down the stretch of Game 1.
LeBron James had the chance to be a hero again on Friday, but Indiana forced the Heat superstar into back-to-back turnovers late to secure a 97-93 victory over Miami in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Roy Hibbert, who was on the bench when James provided the game-winning layup in the series opener, put fourth a dominating performance by supplying the Pacers with a team-best 29 points and 10 rebounds.
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Lean Toward Big Dogs More than Big Chalk
By Jim Feist, Contributing Analyst
(Sports Network) -
April and May means that many novice sports bettors may look at the matchups and lean toward ace pitchers and lay the big price. But let me give you three words of advice: Don't do it. Baseball is unique from football and basketball in that there is no point spread. Instead you bet merely on which team will win the game and this translates into a money-line wager.
When betting baseball, most professional handicappers look for prices that are close to even money (for example, -120, -135 favorites or +105, +130 underdogs). Or bettors will play baseball totals where, like NFL and NBA totals, there is a point spread set on each game and the line is usually minus-110 OVER or UNDER.
The reason is simple: You need to pay serious attention to money-management when wagering on sports. You may like to bet on Justin Verlander, Adam Wainwright and C.C. Sabathia because they win a lot, but you end up laying roughly three dollars for every one you hope to win and, over the long haul, you are very likely to lose money. This is why you rarely find professional handicappers giving out ace pitchers that are priced as a two-dollar or more favorites.
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