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02/09/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pro basketball's most storied rivalry resumes in Beantown on Thursday, when the streaking Boston Celtics aim to complete a perfect five- game homestand versus the despised Los Angeles Lakers.
The Celtics (17) and Lakers (16) have accounted for 33 of the 65 NBA championships. Boston, of course, won its last title in 2007-08, when it disposed of the Lakers in six games during the NBA Finals. LA rebounded from there to win two consecutive crowns, including the '09-10 title at the expense of the C's in seven games.
Neither team has played like a powerhouse so far this season, however, with Boston looking up at Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division and the Lakers playing second fiddle to the Clippers in the Pacific.
The Celtics, however, have come on recently and enter tonight's game on a five-game winning streak, including Tuesday's 94-84 triumph over Charlotte.
Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird for second all-time on Boston's scoring list in that one when he scored 15 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds. With 21,797 career points, Pierce now trails only John Havlicek (26,395) in Celtics' lore.
"It was a relief. So much was hanging over me the last couple of days. Just hearing about it and knowing that you've got a game to play," said Pierce about passing Bird. "Just to be mentioned with him, with this organization, is a great honor."
Kevin Garnett led the Celtics against Charlotte with 22 points and Ray Allen chipped in 17. Rajon Rondo added a double-double with 10 points and 14 assists for the Celtics, who have won nine of their last 10.
The Lakers, meanwhile, have fallen to 1-2 on their annual Grammy road trip after Monday's 95-90 setback to the Sixers in South Philly.
Kobe Bryant scored 24 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range in the first half of that one but struggled after intermission. The superstar ended with 28 points and surpassed former teammate Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Bryant now has 28,601 career points. Wilt Chamberlain currently sits comfortably ahead in fourth place with 31,419 points.
"It's a huge honor," Bryant said of his latest accomplishment. "I've been very fortunate."
Andrew Bynum poured in 20 points and pulled down a game-best 20 rebounds as LA dropped its second straight contest.
"They just came after him immediately," assistant coach John Kuester, who was piloting the Lakers for the suspended Mike Brown, said, "and to Kobe's credit, what he did was try to get everyone involved. We had some great hits. When you are coming down to the end of the game, your margin of error is very small, and you have to take advantage of that. Things just didn't go our way."
Brown will be back on the bench tonight as LA tries to improve on its shaky 3-9 road mark.
LA has won three straight and five of its last six in Beantown during the regular season.
These two teams will meet again in Staples Center on March 11.
<< Habs aim to make it three straight in clash with Isles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to post their longest
winning streak in over three months when they visit the New York Islanders
tonight at Nassau Coliseum.
The Canadiens have recorded recent home wins over Winnipeg and Pi
<< OVC action pits Racers against Tigers
Murray, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Murray State Racers will once
again march out on the court to defend their perfect record as they host the
Tennessee State Tigers in an Ohio Valley Conference clash at the CFSB Center.
This will
<< Rivals meet up in Starkville for SEC action
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Instate rivals collide in Starkville this
evening, as the 20th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs play host to the Ole
Miss Rebels in an SEC affair at the Humphrey Coliseum.
Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs can't af
<< Gaels and Zags collide in key WCC affair
Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels have the
opportunity to all but end Gonzaga's reign atop the West Coast Conference, as
the two teams meet in Spokane this evening at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Saint Mary'
Banged-up Nuggets try to snap skid vs. Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets are not making excuses that injuries are
the main reason why they're mired in a season-high four-game losing streak.
"We have a lot of young talent and a lot of players with experience. We have a
long be
Nash, Suns host Rockets in the desert >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash celebrated his 38th birthday in style the last
time out for the Phoenix Suns, who look to extend their season-high winning
streak to four straight games this evening at home versus the Houston Rockets.
Nash
Argentines set to face host Germans in Davis Cup >>
Bamberg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Argentina will
battle host Germany in an opening-round Davis Cup tie this weekend.
The best-of-five affair will commence with a pair of opening singles rubbers
on Friday, as
Wings, Leafs to meet in 2013 Winter Classic at the Big House >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs
will play in the 2013 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement Thursday at Comerica Park
in Detroit,
It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.
We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.
Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.
Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.
Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.
NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.
The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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