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03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets hope to have head coach George Karl back on the bench tonight when the Western Conference power kicks off a three-game homestand against the woeful Washington Wizards.
Karl announced last Friday that he would miss the team's road trip to adjust to a feeding tube that was placed into his stomach as part of his treatment for neck and throat cancer. The veteran mentor planned to return tonight.
"Hopefully I'll be ready to rejoin them when they come home," said Karl when he announced his absence.
The Nuggets have certainly persevered under lead assistant Adrian Dantley, finishing 3-1 on their recent trip but faltering in the finale, a tough 125-123 loss in Houston last night. Aaron Brooks scored 31 points and drained the game-winning jumper with 2.9 seconds left in that one to lift the Rockets.
Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 45 points along with 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who lost for the first time in seven games. Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith each netted 17 as the Nuggets led for most of the contest, but couldn't hold on late.
Nene aided Denver with 15 points and 10 boards, while Johan Petro scored 11 to go with 10 rebounds in defeat.
"We just didn't execute. The bottom line was that we didn't get back on transition defense," said Dantley. "You have to give Houston a lot of credit. They hit some big shots. We wanted the game but they didn't quit and it big shots at the end."
The Wizards, meanwhile, continue to play out the string, dropping the opener of a four-game road trip in Utah on Monday. Carlos Boozer led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds in that one, as the Jazz sent the reeling Wizards to their eighth consecutive defeat, 112-89.
Andray Blatche had 24 points for the Wizards, who haven't won since February 28 at New Jersey. Mike Miller recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds for Washington, which shot just 36.9 percent from the field.
"Their energy level was pretty good," Miller said. "Obviously just a Jerry Sloan coached team. They're going to execute and play hard. And tonight we didn't match their intensity. That's why they have 43 wins and we're opposite."
Washington has lost in three straight and six of its past seven trips to the Rockies but did beat the Nuggets in the nation's capital, 107-97, last month.
<< Struggling Bruins visit Hurricanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will fight to hold onto their playoff
spot when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at RBC Center.
The Bruins are currently eighth in the East with 72 points and are just one
point ahead of the New
<< Heat resume homestand vs. Spurs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams battling for playoff positioning get together
tonight in south Florida, as the Miami Heat continue a six-game homestand
versus the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat have won the first three te
<< Cavs closing in on Central title; visit Pistons
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's best road team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, will pay
a visit to the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The playoff-bound Cavs have won 14 of their last 19 road games and are 23-11
away from
<< Hawks visit lowly Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks will hit the road for two straight games
starting with tonight's showdown against the lowly New Jersey Nets at the IZOD
Center.
Atlanta will visit Toronto as well and is 16-16 as the guest this season. It
Habs aim for sixth straight win versus playoff-hopeful Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Montreal Canadiens will shoot for a sixth
straight victory tonight when they visit the New York Rangers in a battle
between Original Six clubs at Madison Square Garden.
The Canadiens and Rangers are both figh
Sens try to regain swagger against Leafs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have found it hard to recapture their
earlier success upon returning from the Olympic break. The playoff hopefuls
hope a visit from the Eastern Conference's last-place team will help end those
struggles.
Playoff-hopeful Suns welcome Wolves to the desert >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The playoffs are likely a foregone conclusion for the
Phoenix Suns, who resume a season-long seven-game homestand tonight against
the Western Conference's worst team, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Suns improved
Lakers eye 50th win in Sacramento >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers shoot for a
third straight 50-win season tonight in California's capital against Pacific
Division foe Sacramento.
The Lakers won their third straight game last night i
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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