Celtics continue swing in Phoenix

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02/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Suns welcome the NBA-worst Boston Celtics tonight to US Airways Center.

This is the second and final meeting of the campaign between the squads. On December 8th, Shawn Marion poured in 29 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and scored Phoenix's last four points to lead the Suns to a 116-111 victory over the Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden.

Boston has lost three of five and seven of its last 10 at Phoenix. The Suns have won three in a row in the series.

Phoenix has lost three in a row on its homecourt. Reigning MVP Steve Nash scored 13 points and dished out 12 assists before spending a large chunk of the second half enjoying his return to the lineup from the bench, as the Suns cruised to a 115-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center.

Nash missed four games with a sore right shoulder, then didn't play in Sunday's All-Star Game. He was a solid 5-of-11 from the floor and committed four turnovers.

All-Stars Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire were the recipients of Nash's assists, finishing with 31 and 22 points respectively. Both players also grabbed nine rebounds for the Suns, who outrebounded the Clippers, 50-38, and snapped a three-game skid.

On the injury front for Phoenix, Boris Diaw (back spasms) is doubtful for tonight's game. Diaw, who is averaging 10.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists this season, has missed the last three contests.

The Suns are an impressive 20-6 at home this season. After tonight's contest, they will embark on a four-game road trip. Phoenix will visit Minnesota, Atlanta, Indiana and Philadelphia.

Boston plays the second of a five-game road trip. On Tuesday, Kevin Martin scored 22 points as the Sacramento Kings held off a late Boston rally to beat the Celtics, 104-101, at ARCO Arena.

Paul Pierce had 26 points in the loss to the Kings for Boston, which was back to its old tricks in the first game after the All-Star break. The Celtics ended a franchise-record 18-game losing streak with a victory against Milwaukee last Wednesday, but couldn't overcome the Kings and lost their ninth straight on the road.

Delonte West finished with 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Celtics, but his three-point shot at the buzzer came up short.

The Celtics, whose victory as the visitor was on January 5th against Memphis at the FedExForum, are 8-18 on the road this season. They will also visit the Lakers, Utah and Houston on the current swing.

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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.

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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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