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03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The chances of the Houston Rockets making the playoffs seem to fade by the day. Tonight they'll have to get past the woeful New Jersey Nets at the Toyota Center in the opener of a four-game homestand and hope for some help around the league.
The Rockets finished a three-game road trip in positive fashion on Tuesday in Washington when Luis Scola totaled 23 points with 10 rebounds, as Houston held off the Wizards, 96-88.
"Big win for us," said Scola. "We needed this win to go back home and the push for the playoffs."
Kevin Martin chipped in with 21 points, Aaron Brooks totaled 14 and Trevor Ariza added 13 for the Rockets, who have alternated wins and losses over the last eight games and finished the trip, 2-1.
Houston is now 5 1/2 games behind Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West with just 19 games to play.
New Jersey is an NBA-worst 7-58 on the season and is trying desperately to avoid finishing with the worst record in NBA history, set by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers (9-73).
The Nets have lost three in a row and fell to 1-3 on a five-game road trip following Friday's 104-102 defeat at the hands of Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant poured in 32 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in that one, his 36th 30-point game this season, breaking Spencer Haywood's franchise mark set from the 1972-73 season.
Devin Harris finished with 19 points and eight assists for the Nets while. Jarvis Hayes and Keyon Dooling chipped in 16 and 15 points, respectively, off the bench.
Brook Lopez and Terrence Williams added 14 points apiece in defeat.
"I like our effort," Harris said. "Just coming down, giving ourselves a chance to win the game in the end. The way we've been starting out...has been a little disheartening, but other than that, I like the way our bench has been coming in and really gotten us back into the game. Second halves have really been key for us."
Houston has taken seven straight from the Nets and will be shooting for a home-and-home series sweep for the fourth consecutive season tonight. New Jersey hasn't beaten the Rockets since a 90-77 triumph at the Toyota Center on March 13, 2006.
<< Lumberjacks look to cut down Bearkats in Southland title game
Katy, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With an NCAA Tournament bid on the line, the top-
seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats will battle the second-seeded Stephen F.
Austin Lumberjacks in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game at
the Merrell
<< 49ers aim for record fifth Big West title against top-seeded Gauchos
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long Beach State tries to raise its total of
Big West Conference Tournament titles to a record five, as the 49ers clash
with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the championship round of the 35th-annual
event at Anahe
<< Utah State and New Mexico State battle for WAC supremacy
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Utah State tries to make it back-to-
back Western Athletic Conference Tournament titles tonight as the squad
clashes with the New Mexico State Aggies in the 27th-annual event at the
Lawlor Events Center in
<< Tigers and Golden Lions collide for SWAC crown
Bossier City, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southwestern Athletic Conference
Tournament Championship game will take place this evening at the CenturyTel
Center, when the second-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions battle the
fifth-seeded Texas S
Bobcats sign Larry Hughes >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats have signed guard Larry
Hughes.
Hughes appeared in 31 games for the Knicks this season, then was dealt to
Sacramento at the trading deadline and subsequently waived without playin
Twins sign OF Span to five-year contract >>
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins announced the signing of
outfielder Denard Span to a five-year, $16.5 million contract on Saturday.
The deal also includes a $9 million club option for the 2015 season.
Span hit .311 i
Bobcats sign G Hughes; Wallace's MRI negative >>
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -The Charlotte Bobcats have signed veteran guard Larry Hughes to help with depth in the backcourt as they attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time.Meanwhile, an MRI on forward Gerald Wallace's left ankle on Saturday reve
Rangers 2B Kinsler has sprained ankle >>
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler will
be sidelined at least a week with a high right ankle sprain.
Kinsler suffered the injury in pre-game warmups on Friday and did not play in
the proceeding exhibit
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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