Bryant's late shot gets Lakers past Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant broke away from the double team of James Johnson and DeMar DeRozan while Metta World Peace led him perfectly into the right corner on the inbounds pass.

Bryant pulled up along the right baseline with 4.2 seconds on the clock and his jumper hit nothing but net, lifting the Lakers to a thrilling 94-92 win over the Raptors.

Following a timeout, Toronto was called for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds pass and Bryant made 1-of-2 from the line to make it 94-92. With 3.7 seconds remaining, DeRozan received the inbounds pass, but World Peace defended him well and his shot from the left corner at the buzzer came up well short.

"I like my money, what little bit of money I make. I don't want to send it to the league. Mr. Foster saw it different," Raptors head coach Dwayne Casey said of the five-second call.

Bryant finished with 27 points while Pau Gasol filled the stat sheet with 16 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who concluded their six- game road trip with a 3-3 mark.

"We just need to find some consistency," World Peace said of the road trip. "Once we have some consistency, we'll be a better team."

Jose Calderon netted a career-high 30 points for Toronto, which has lost four of its last five games.

The Raptors overcame an 18-point first quarter deficit and used a 7-0 spurt to take their first lead of the contest.

Trailing 84-81, Calderon tied the game with a trey and DeRozan fed Ed Davis for a two-handed slam to give the Raptors their first lead. DeRozan then stole Bynum's pass and fed Linas Kleiza for a driving hook shot to make it 88-84 with 2:11 left.

After Calderon's jumper made it 90-86 with 1:41 to play, Bryant took over for Los Angeles.

He pulled the visitors within one after nailing a trey from the left wing. Bryant stripped Kleiza on Toronto's next touch and fed a trailing World Peace for the easy layup to make it 91-90 with 31.4 to play.

Not to be outdone, Calderon gave the Raptors the lead right back as he pulled up from the right elbow and nailed the jumper with 16 seconds left.

With Los Angeles already holding a five-point advantage early on, the visitors stretched the lead to 22-6 following a 13-2 run. Gasol and Bynum recorded four points apiece during the surge.

By the time Bryant netted his first field goal midway through the opening quarter, the Lakers were already up 24-8. Gasol, who finished the stanza with eight points, five rebounds and four assists, gave the Lakers their largest lead of 18, 29-11, late in the frame.

The Lakers took a 34-19 lead into the second.

The Raptors outscored the Lakers 11-4 over the final 4:07 of the second quarter. Johnson's transition dunk with 0.8 seconds remaining pulled Toronto within 54-46 entering the break.

Bryant scored nine points in the third as the Lakers took a 73-67 advantage into the final quarter.

Game Notes

Jerryd Bayless missed the game for Toronto with a sore left ankle...The Lakers have won eight of their last nine games against the Raptors...Bynum had 14 points and nine rebounds...The Raptors were 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.