Celtics continue swing in Phoenix

Basketball Betting Lines

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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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.

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