Betting Odds - Graffiti Wall

(Monday, December 1st)

Final Score: Houston 30, Jacksonville 17

Houston, TX - Steve Slaton was ready for prime time with 130 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, and the Houston Texans opened up the offense in their first-ever Monday Night Football appearance, leading to a 30-17 victory over Jacksonville. Mario Williams, the defensive end taken ahead of Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL draft, also played up to the spotlight with three sacks and a forced fumble. Sage Rosenfels was an efficient 14- of-24 for 200 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Texans (5-7), who also got 75 yards receiving and a touchdown from top target Andre Johnson. The Jaguars’ rushing duo of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew combined for 116 yards and a Taylor touchdown on 21 carries. David Garrard piled up most of his passing stats late in the contest, completing 25-of-35 attempts for 287 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Matt Jones caught a game-high eight passes for 104 yards for Jacksonville (4-8), which began the season with high expectations only to drop into the AFC South basement with the loss.

(Monday, December 1st)

Final Score: Charlotte 100, Minnesota 90

Charlotte, NC - Jason Richardson scored a season-high 25 points, and Emeka Okafor added a season-best 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds, as Charlotte downed Minnesota, 100-90. The Bobcats also got a season-high 14 assists and 14 points from Raymond Felton in a game of season-highs. Charlotte also reached its magic number of 90 points. When the Bobcats hit that plateau they are 6-1, however they have yet to reach the win column (0-10) when they score 89 points or fewer. Charlotte reached triple digits on Monday behind an offense that converted 7-of-13 three-point attempts and shot a respectable 46.3 percent from the floor. Randy Foye tallied a team-best 23 points and Mike Miller notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards for the Timberwolves, who have lost two in a row. Ryan Gomes donated 16 points and rookie Kevin Love netted 10 points with eight rebounds in defeat.

Final Score: Boston 107, Orlando 88

Boston, MA - Paul Pierce scored 17 of his team-high 24 points in the third quarter, as the Boston Celtics rolled to their ninth straight win by beating Orlando, 107-88. Ray Allen scored 21 points, Rajon Rondo netted 16 points and 12 assists, and Kevin Garnett posted 15 points and nine rebounds for the defending NBA champions, who moved to 17-2 this season. Pierce is thriving as the go-to guy for the Celtics, and he got to the line 10 times, making nine of his free throws. Rashard Lewis scored 30 points for the Magic, who had a four-game win streak halted. Hedo Turkoglu contributed 19 points and Dwight Howard scored 14, had 15 rebounds and four blocks in defeat as the Magic’s six-game road win streak went by the boards. The Magic played without their starting backcourt again as Jameer Nelson (hip flexor) and Mickael Pietrus (torn ligament in right thumb) continue to be sidelined.

Final Score: Miami 130, Golden State 129 (OT)

Oakland, CA - Michael Beasley made a veteran play in his rookie season, stepping front of an inbounds pass, getting fouled and draining the winning free throw with 3.6 seconds left in overtime, as Miami downed Golden State, 130-129, sending the Warriors to their seventh straight defeat. It happened in stunning fashion, as Golden State appeared ready to win in both regulation and overtime. Udonis Haslem, who scored 21 points with 13 rebounds, put back a Beasley miss just before the buzzer to force overtime. Miami grabbed 21 offensive rebounds overall, and outrebounded the Warriors, 51-36. Chris Quinn then hit a game-tying three out of the right corner before Beasley’s steal and free throw. Jamal Crawford, who scored 40 points in his first home game as a member of the Warriors, saw his running floater roll off the rim at the horn. Dwyane Wade scored a team-best 37 points to go along with 13 assists, Shawn Marion added 21 points and 15 rebounds and Beasley donated 19 points. The Heat are 2-2 on their road trip, which ends Wednesday in Utah. Corey Maggette made 17-of-18 free throws to support his 29-point night, and Brandan Wright added 15 points. Andris Biedrins totaled 17 points and 15 rebounds in defeat.

(Monday, December 1st)

Final Score: (2) Connecticut 79, Delaware State 49

Storrs, CT - Hasheem Thabeet had 10 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots, as second-ranked Connecticut rolled past Delaware State, 79-49. Gavin Edwards scored 17 points in a reserve role, Jerome Dyson netted 15 and Jeff Adrien scored 12 points to go with six rebounds for the Huskies (7-0), who bolted to a huge first half lead. Donald Johnson scored 25 for Delaware State (1-9), which struggled by going 7-of-31 from the field in the first half and fell behind 44-18 at intermission. The Hornets finished the game at 31.3 percent from the field.

Final Score: (16) Syracuse 86, Colgate 51

Syracuse, NY - Paul Harris netted 22 points as 16th-ranked Syracuse dominated Colgate in an 86-51 win at the Carrier Dome. Jonny Flynn had 12 points and a game-high seven assists for Syracuse (7-0), which over the last seven days has also won the CBE Classic by knocking off nationally-ranked foes Florida and Kansas on back-to-back days, followed by a win against Virginia last Friday. Rick Jackson had 10 points and 10 boards while Arinze Onuaku also logged 10 points for the Orange, who shot 50.8 percent from the floor. Syracuse has now won the last 43 meetings against the Raiders. Mike Venezia was the high-man on the other end with eight points while Joe Hoban had seven for Colgate (2-3).

(Monday, December 1st)

Final Score: Columbus 3, Vancouver 2

Columbus, OH - Kristian Huselius scored the game-winning goal with 4:44 left in the third period and assisted on another score as the Columbus Blue Jackets notched a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Nationwide Arena. Andrew Murray and Fredrik Modin also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won their second straight game after posting just two wins over their previous seven games. Rick Nash posted two assists. Steve Mason made 30 saves, including several dandies in the waning moments, to earn the win. Columbus is 7-5-1 as the host this year and had lost three in a row at Nationwide before beating the Caps on Saturday. Columbus next heads out on a three-game road trip, beginning Thursday in San Jose. Kyle Wellwood and Kevin Bieksa had the goals for Vancouver, which has now dropped three straight games. Alexander Edler had two assists. Curtis Sanford started the game with a spotless first period, making 11 saves, but had to leave prior to the second with back spasms. Cory Schneider took over in the crease and allowed three goals on 18 shots in taking the loss.

Final Score: Nashville 2, Buffalo 0

Buffalo, NY - Pekka Rinne recorded his first career shutout as Nashville scored twice in the third period for a 2-0 win over Buffalo at HSBC Arena. Rinne, who was a perfect 3-0-0 entering the game, stopped all 30 shots he faced while Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont tallied for the Predators, who have won three of five including three in a row on the road. The whitewash was sweet revenge for Nashville, which had been outscored by a 15-6 margin by Buffalo in the last two meetings, an 8-4 road setback on February 27, 2008 and a 7-2 home defeat on December 21, 2006. Ryan Miller made 25 saves for the Sabres, who have dropped two in a row and were blanked at home for the second time in five contests.

Final Score: Detroit 2, Anaheim 1

Detroit, MI - Marian Hossa’s goal early in the third period sent Detroit over Anaheim, 2-1, at Joe Louis Arena. Johan Franzen provided the other goal for the Red Wings, who have won two of three and improved to 16-4-4 overall on the season. Chris Osgood had an easy night, needing to make only 15 saves for the win. Detroit sits in first place in the Central Division and climbed within five points of idle, sizzling San Jose for the top spot in the Western Conference. Chris Kunitz scored for the Ducks, whose four- game win streak was snapped. Starter Jean-Sebastien Giguere was blitzed for 38 shots through two periods but allowed only one goal before leaving the game due to muscle cramps. Jonas Hiller finished the game by allowing the game-winner on nine shots over the final 20 minutes.

Final Score: Colorado 6, Minnesota 5

St. Paul, MN - Paul Stastny had two goals and an assist, and capped a Colorado scoring binge with the eventual game-winner late in a four- goal second period as the Avalanche topped the Minnesota Wild, 6-5, at Xcel Energy Center. Milan Hejduk also notched three points with two helpers and a goal in the second, where Stastny tallied both his markers as well. T.J. Hensick also lit the lamp in the middle stanza as Colorado erased a 3-2 deficit with the second-period outburst before having to hold on. Peter Budaj was victimized for five goals on just 17 shots, but got the win behind a barrage for an Avalanche squad that has had trouble scoring this season. Colorado began a three-game road trip Monday, albeit in bizarre fashion, and is now 6-7-0 as the visiting team this year. Pierre-Marc Bouchard had two goals and an assist while Mikko Koivu had two assists and a goal for Minnesota, which had won two straight and three of its last four games coming in. Niklas Backstrom allowed a career-high six goals on 26 shots before Josh Harding took over for the third period, stopping all five shots he faced. The Wild, still one point back of first-place Vancouver in the Northwest Division, is 7-5-1 at home this year and kicked off a three-game residency Monday. Vancouver suffered a 3-2 setback to Columbus earlier Monday.

Final Score: Toronto 3, Los Angeles 1

Los Angeles, CA - Matt Stajan and Mikhail Grabovski scored power play goals 81 seconds apart early in the third period, rallying Toronto to a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Jeff Finger added an empty-net goal and Vesa Toskala came up huge by stopping 32 shots, including all 26 he faced over the final two periods. The Maple Leafs had lost five in a row before making a change at general manager, and they’ve since won two straight with Brian Burke as the new GM. Also, Toronto won for the first time at the Staples Center. The Maple Leafs played there for only the third time since it opened. Their previous win in Los Angeles came March 12, 1998 at the Great Western Forum. Alexander Frolov scored on LA’s first shot of the game, but the Kings had a two-game win streak broken. Jason LaBarbera made 27 saves. LaBarbera stopped all 17 shots he faced over the first two periods, but the Kings were hurt by tripping penalties to Sean O’Donnell and Dustin Brown in the first two minutes of the third.