Butler Scores Career-High 32 in Bulls’ Loss

November 16, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Sunday smorgasbord: Jimmy Butler’s drive continues. Toward the basket. Toward a new contract. The Chicago Bulls guard had a career-high/game-high 32 points Saturday against the visiting Indiana Pacers. He had 11 points from the foul line — an indication Butler did more than merely shoot jumpers from various spots on the court. And that’s good for the Bulls. Not so good would be their 99-90 loss to the Pacers.

Shannon Ihrke always is welcome here. With or without a football.

* Speaking of the Bulls, if they had wanted to give an example of what an uninspired performance looks like, consider the job done. Maybe the Bulls — who embark on a seven-game road trip that begins Monday in Los Angeles vs. the Clippers — didn’t want to leave with fans thinking the team actually could thrive with injured Derrick Rose on the bench.

* Speaking of star athletes, about the only certainty for the Chicago Bears in Sunday’s Soldier Field game against Minnesota is Vikings running back Adrian Peterson won’t be in the lineup. He remains suspended for hitting his 4-year-old son with a switch. And likely will continue to remain suspended after he reportedly opted not to attend a disciplinary meeting Friday with NFL officials. At this rate, Peterson still could be sidelined when the Bears play at Minnesota in the last week of the NFL season.

* Speaking of playing football, some of us still are trying to figure out whether Northwestern’s 43-40 overtime victory at Notre Dame would have been more impressive if the Wildcats had a better or worse record than the 3-6 the Wildcats brought into the game.

* Speaking of the NU-ND contest, Irish coach Brian Kelly opted to go for a two-point conversion that would have given his team a 13-point lead with 10:42 left in the game, even though conventional wisdom says to kick the extra point for an 12-point lead (meaning NU would have needed two touchdowns to take the lead — assuming Notre Dame did not score). Well Notre Dame did not score again in regulation. So much for conventional wisdom. Either Kelly was being unconventional or unwise. Or both.

* Speaking of numbers (and even if we weren’t), here are some from the fine folks at Bovada, (www.Bovada.lv, Twitter: @BovadaLV). They are purely for entertainment purposes. OK, maybe not purely. Anyway, here goes:

Video below of Kelly Brook. For those who care. Or for those who don’t.

Odds to win Super Bowl XLIX
Denver 13/4
New England 13/2
Green Bay 15/2
Seattle 17/2
Indianapolis 10/1
Arizona 12/1
Philadelphia 12/1
Detroit 16/1
San Francisco 16/1
Dallas 18/1
New Orleans 20/1
Kansas City 25/1
Baltimore 40/1
Pittsburgh 40/1
San Diego 40/1
Cincinnati 50/1
Cleveland 50/1
Miami 66/1
Atlanta 150/1
Buffalo 150/1
Minnesota 150/1
Houston 200/1
Carolina 250/1
Chicago 300/1
N.Y. Giants 500/1
Washington 500/1
St. Louis 750/1
N.Y. Jets Off the Board
Tampa Bay Off the Board
Jacksonville Off the Board
Oakland Off the Board
Tennessee Off the Board

Early Super Bowl Line
AFC -2½
NFC +2½

Conference Odds
Odds to win the 2015 AFC Conference
Denver Broncos 8/5
New England Patriots 13/5
Indianapolis Colts 5/1
Kansas City Chiefs 12/1
Baltimore Ravens 20/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 20/1
San Diego Chargers 20/1
Cincinnati Bengals 22/1
Cleveland Browns 22/1
Miami Dolphins 33/1
Buffalo Bills 66/1
Houston Texans 100/1

Wendy Trent. Because we wanted to run her photo.

Odds to win the 2015 NFC Conference
Green Bay Packers 7/2
Seattle Seahawks 7/2
Arizona Cardinals 11/2
Philadelphia Eagles 6/1
Detroit Lions 8/1
San Francisco 49ers 8/1
Dallas Cowboys 9/1
New Orleans Saints 10/1
Minnesota Vikings 66/1
Atlanta Falcons 75/1
Carolina Panthers 125/1
Chicago Bears 200/1
New York Giants 250/1
Washington Redskins 250/1
St. Louis Rams 400/1

Divisional Odds
Odds to Win the 2014 NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles 4/9
Dallas Cowboys 8/5
New York Giants 50/1
Washington Redskins 66/1

Odds to Win the 2014 NFC North
Green Bay Packers 4/7
Detroit Lions 7/5
Minnesota Vikings 25/1
Chicago Bears 100/1

Odds to Win the 2014 NFC South
New Orleans Saints 1/5
Atlanta Falcons 6/1
Carolina Panthers 7/1

Odds to Win the 2014 NFC West
Arizona Cardinals 6/5
Seattle Seahawks 6/5
San Francisco 49ers 5/1

Odds to Win the 2014 AFC East
New England Patriots 1/25
Miami Dolphins 12/1
Buffalo Bills 18/1

Odds to Win the 2014 AFC North
Baltimore Ravens 5/2
Cleveland Browns 5/2
Cincinnati Bengals 11/4
Pittsburgh Steelers 11/4

Odds to Win the 2014 AFC South
Indianapolis Colts 1/33
Houston Texans 10/1

Odds to Win the 2014 AFC West
Denver Broncos 1/12
Kansas City Chiefs 5/1
San Diego Chargers 20/1

Gia Macool. Because we felt like running her photo.

PLAYER/COACH PROPS

NFL MVP – Odds to Win
Peyton Manning (DEN) QB 2/1
Aaron Rodgers (GB) QB 3/1
Andrew Luck (IND) QB 3/1
Tom Brady (NE) QB 4/1
DeMarco Murray (DAL) RB 9/1
J.J. Watt (HOU) 33/1

Coach of the Year – Odds to Win
Bruce Arians 1/1
Chip Kelly 6/1
Jim Caldwell 6/1
Andy Reid 7/1
Mike Pettine 7/1
Bill Belichick 9/1
Jason Garrett 20/1
Mike McCarthy 20/1
John Fox 25/1

Will Tom Coughlin be the Head Coach of the Giants Week 1 of the 2015 Regular Season?
Yes +110 (11/10)
No -150 (2/3)

Will Marc Trestman be the Head Coach of the Bears Week 1 of the 2015 Regular Season?
Yes +150 (3/2)
No -200 (1/2)

Total Sacks Week 11 – Aldon Smith

Over ½ (-240, 5/12)
Under ½ (+200, 2/1)

Total Sacks in the 2014 Regular Season – Aldon Smith

Over/Under 5½

Will Aaron Rodgers thrown an interception at home in the 2014 Regular Season?
(Note: Aaron Rodgers hasn’t thrown an interception at home since December 2012.)
Yes -250 (2/5)
No +175 (7/4)

How many 100 or more rushing yard games will Russell Wilson have in the 2014 Regular Season?
(Note: Russell Wilson is tied for the NFL record by a QB in a season with three 100 yard rushing games. Michael Vick has done it in two separate seasons.)
Over 3½ (-180, 5/9)
Under 3½ (+150, 3/2)

Will Andy Dalton be benched during a game between Week 11-17? (Not injury-related)
Yes +175 (7/4)
No -250 (2/5)

Completion percentage Week 11 – Andy Dalton
(Note: Andy Dalton was 10-for-33 last week for a completion percentage of 30.3.)
Over/Under 61.5%

TEAM PROPS

Will the Saints lose another home game (including playoffs) in the 2014 Season?
(Note: Saints had won 20 straight at home before Sunday’s loss to 49ers.)
Yes -300 (1/3)
No +200 (2/1)

How many Rushing Yards will the Giants allow Week 11?
(Note: The Giants allowed 350 yards on the ground this past Sunday against the Seahawks)
Over/Under 150½

Will the Bears allow 50 or more points in a game between Week 11-17?
(Note: Bears opponents have scored more than 50 points the last two games.)
Yes +550 (11/2)
No -1200 (1/12)

Will the Lions be trailing in the game within the last 2 minutes and come back to win Week 11?
(Note: The Lions have trailed in the last two minutes in each of the last three games and yet still won the game.)
Yes +700 (7/1)
No -1500 (1/15)

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