Butler returns to Dallas, but Mavs snag win

Basketball Betting Lines

02/14/2012 - Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caron Butler was welcomed by a standing ovation when he accepted his NBA championship ring Monday night, but the Clippers forward received a bigger hand from the American Airlines Center crowd when he missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds.

The errant try allowed the Mavericks to secure a 96-92 win behind five double- digit scorers and stifling defense in the fourth quarter.

Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 22 points, while Shawn Marion added 16 points in Dallas' fourth straight win.

"We held it together and kept our poise. ...It was defense that got us over the hump," Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle said. "I'm real proud of our guys because this was a very tough game."

Butler finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, and Blake Griffin added 20 points and seven boards for Los Angeles, which finished up a 4-2 road trip.

The Clippers committed nine turnovers in the final frame and went scoreless for nearly five minutes. They were on top 83-79 following a pair of Chris Paul free throws with 7:03 remaining before the cold stretch began.

Griffin missed seven consecutive free throws before finally hitting one with 2:15 remaining to end Dallas' 7-0 run.

Jason Kidd found Jason Terry underneath for an easy layup at the other end to extend Dallas' lead to 88-84, and Nowitzki added two free throws following a Griffin turnover.

Griffin ended LA's seven-minute field goal drought with a dunk while being fouled and made the free throw to cut the deficit to three.

Kenyon Martin made it 90-89 on a driving bucket with one minute remaining, but Nowitzki answered with a rainbow jumper and two free throws.

Paul followed with a three-pointer with 17.8 seconds showing, then stole Kidd's inbounds pass before setting up Butler on the right side.

Butler was 5-of-9 from long distance before hitting all iron as time wound down. Delonte West corralled the rebound and sank two free throws to clinch the victory.

"I got my feet up under me, followed through, it was a routine shot, just fell a little short. It would have been a great ending to the game," Butler said of his attempt.

Brendan Haywood scored all 10 of his points in the first quarter, carrying the Mavs to a 27-19 lead they did not relinquish until the third frame.

An evenly-played second ended with Dallas holding a 55-47 advantage, and the Clippers reeled off a 12-2 run midway through the third to take a 67-64 lead. LA led 76-74 entering the fourth.

Game Notes

Butler did not play for Dallas in the playoffs last season after suffering a knee injury in January...Paul logged 16 points and nine assists...Vince Carter and West each netted 10 points for the Mavs, who scored 22 points off 21 turnovers...LA won the battle on the glass, 50-36...The Clippers snapped a 10- game losing streak to Dallas last month. These teams meet again in Dallas on April 2. The Clippers have lost 10 straight in Dallas, last tasting victory there on April 19, 2006.

Hangsme Basketball Betting News


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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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