Bogut-less Bucks visit Bulls

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a season of frustration for Bucks center Andrew Bogut and his latest setback will keep him out of action indefinitely. That leaves Milwaukee a big hole in the middle this evening as it visits a Chicago Bulls club looking to rebound from its first home loss of the season.

Bogut, Milwaukee's leading rebounder with 8.3 per game to go along with 11.3 points and 2.0 blocks a night, sat out four straight games due to personal reasons from Jan. 3-8 and also missed a game on Jan. 13 due to concussion-like symptoms. He returned to action three nights later and played in six straight contests including Wednesday's 105-99 victory over Houston.

The seven-footer played just nine minutes and 29 seconds though before suffering a left ankle injury that was revealed by an MRI yesterday to be a fracture. That will put the top pick of the 2005 draft out of action for the foreseeable future.

It's just the latest setback for Bogut, who has also battled right elbow, wrist and hand injuries as well as a lower back issue in his career.

"I just can't seem to catch a break," said Bogut on Wednesday in what was his 400th career game. "Coming back from injuries is tough. It's unlucky and frustrating. Someone has a voodoo doll and is putting pins in me."

Milwaukee was able to survive without its big man, getting 20 points each from Brandon Jennings and Stephen Jackson for the club's first win in Houston since Nov. 2, 1999. It was the Bucks' third win in four games overall and third straight on the road after starting the season 0-8 as the guest.

Jennings, who is averaging 26.0 points per game over his last five contests, added six assists and Mike Dunleavy Jr. deposited a season-high 18 points as Milwaukee won for the first time this year when trailing at the half. It has its bench to thank after the unit outscored Houston's reserves by 51 points. Ersan Ilyasova stepped in for Bogut and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds.

"It was a good win," said Dunleavy. "We're starting to play well on the road. We got a cushion in the fourth quarter and held on to win."

The Bucks recent success on the road figures to be challenged tonight by the Bulls, who captured their first eight in Chicago prior to Wednesday's 95-90 setback to the visiting Pacers. The loss snapped the Bulls' four-game overall win streak and was only their second in their past 11 overall.

Though Derrick Rose played in his second game since missing the previous five due to a left toe sprain, the guard netted just two of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. Ronnie Brewer added 20 points and 10 rebounds for a Chicago club that remains without Luol Deng and Taj Gibson. Deng has missed the past two with a left wrist ailment, while Gibson is battling a left ankle sprain.

Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau didn't think his team was ready to play, and Rose respected that position.

"As a player, I didn't see it. But as a coach, he sees everything," said Rose. "So the only thing we can do is come here (next time) and go through the shootaround and the walk-though and be professional."

Chicago wraps a four-game homestand looking to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season. The club hasn't lost two straight in nearly a year, since Feb. 5-7, and has still won 44 of its past 50 at home dating back to last season.

The Bulls swept the Bucks in four games a season ago for the first time since the 2006-07 season and have won seven of the past 10 encounters overall. Milwaukee has lost two straight, 10 of 11 and 17 of its last 20 in Chicago.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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