Suns still favored to get a win

Throughout the NBA regular season, the Phoenix Suns did not lose three games in a row, let alone four.

But that could be the case if the San Antonio Spurs complete a four-game sweep over the Suns in their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference playoff series, which will continue today at US Airways Center.

Las Vegas oddsmakers, however, believe that Phoenix still has something left and have made the Suns a four-point favorite over the Spurs for Game 4.

The Suns can only hope for a better finish than Friday when San Antonio handed them a 16-point defeat in Game 3, which opened with Phoenix as a seven-point favorite.

Lately, the underdog has ruled whenever the Suns and Spurs have played each other. In their last seven meetings -- which includes the regular season -- the underdog is 6-1 against the point spread.

When it comes to over/under combined total points bets, the over has been the choice for both teams.

The over is 6-0 in San Antonio’s last six games overall and 5-0 in the Spurs’ last five games against a Pacific Division opponent.

And for Phoenix, the over is 4-1 in the Suns’ last five games overall and 4-0 in their last four home games against a team with a winning road record.

The over/under total for today’s game is 200.

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While the Suns have been pegged as a favorite for Game 4, Philadelphia will again be a home underdog despite leading its series against Detroit, 2-1.

The 76ers, who have been the early surprise team of the playoffs, are listed as 5 1/2 -point underdogs against the Pistons, who are 46-38-1 against the point spread.

Philadelphia, which has a 45-37-3 record against the point spread, is 6-2 against the spread in its last eight games versus Detroit.

Baseball

Pitching has been a problem for Texas over the first month of the season and that’s a big reason why the Rangers have been a good team to track for baseball bettors.

Heading into Saturday’s schedule, the Rangers had allowed a whopping 147 runs, which was 15 more than the next closest team in the American League, the Detroit Tigers’ 132.

Texas will play host to the Minnesota Twins today with Vincente Padilla expected to be on the mound for the Rangers and Livan Hernandez scheduled to start for the Twins.

Pro football

Now that Adam “Pacman” Jones has been traded from the Tennessee Titans to the Dallas Cowboys, Bodoglife.com has made several proposition bets available on the suspended cornerback.

Here are a couple of the listed wagers: Will Jones be reinstated by Commissioner Goodell and be eligible to play during Week 1 of the 2008 season? Yes (-190) or No (+140); How many special teams touchdowns will Jones have during the 2008 season? Over 2.5 (+110) or under 2.5 (-150); Will Jones be arrested during the 2008 season? Yes (+200) or No (-300).

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lonnie.white@latimes.com