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02/10/2012 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The battle between the Lakers and Celtics was fittingly decided in overtime, and it was Andrew Bynum's late tip-in that proved to be the difference in Los Angeles' 88-87 victory.
The Lakers have won six of seven against Boston at TD Garden, thanks in part to Kobe Bryant's 27 points and double-doubles by Bynum and Pau Gasol on Thursday.
Bynum totaled 16 points and 17 rebounds, while Gasol added 25 and 14, including a tip-in with 9.8 seconds left in regulation that tied things at 82.
The Celtics, who came in riding a five-game winning streak, failed to get a quality attempt off at the end of the fourth quarter, and missed four shots in the final 70 seconds of overtime.
Ray Allen paced Boston with 22 points and All-Star reserve Paul Pierce added 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Garnett posted 12 points and 12 boards, but shot just 2-of-13 from the floor after halftime.
Rajon Rondo finished with 14 points and seven helpers, and his floater gave Boston a 79-77 lead with three minutes left in regulation.
Bynum countered with a three-point play, only to have Allen come off a baseline screen and nail one from three-point range with 1:08 on the clock.
After trading misses, Bryant was off on a fadeaway from the left side, but Gasol was there for the tying tip-in with 9.8 seconds showing.
Out of a timeout, Pierce dribbled down the final seconds and was hounded outside the arc before passing to Mickael Pietrus with two seconds left. Pietrus' off-balanced 31-footer was nowhere close to the rim as the buzzer sounded.
Pierce drained a three-pointer for an 87-86 lead with 1:51 left in the extra session, and that wound up being Boston's last basket.
Bynum tipped in another Bryant miss at the other end, and Garnett missed jumpers on the next two Celtics possessions. Bryant was off the mark again with 7.9 seconds to play to give the Celtics a chance, but Pierce's forced 18- footer drew iron. Allen was in position for a putback, but he short-armed his attempt.
The Celtics were ahead 26-22 after the first quarter and 47-45 at halftime. Bryant scored 12 in the third quarter to give LA a 67-64 advantage heading to the fourth.
Game Notes
The Celtics (17) and Lakers (16) have accounted for 33 of the 65 NBA championships...These two teams will meet again in Staples Center on March 11...The Lakers visit the Knicks on Friday before ending their six-game road trip on Sunday against the Raptors...The Lakers shot just 1-of-15 from three- point range, but won the battle on the glass, 55-45 and outscored the Celtics at the free throw line, 15-5.
<< Detroit shocks unbeaten Green Bay
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Green Bay hadn't lost since a setback last
February to Detroit.
On Thursday night, history repeated itself.
Shareta Brown scored 24 points and Senee Shearer added 23, as the Detroit
Titans ended
<< Rockets use strong bench effort to down Suns
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Scola scored 16 points and the Rockets,
aided by a strong bench effort, downed the Suns, 96-89, on Thursday.
All five Houston bench players who entered the game reached double figures,
led by Patric
<< Canucks keep Wild reeling
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henrik Sedin played two days after taking a
puck off his ankle and scored a goal, and the Vancouver Canucks rolled to a
5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
Daniel Sedin had a goal and an a
<< Indiana pulls away from Illinois
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller dropped a game-high 22 points
to lead four Hoosiers in double figures as Indiana rolled past Illinois,
84-71, at Assembly Hall on Thursday.
Christian Watford, Victor Oladipo, and Jorda
Coyotes edge Flames on Doan's OT winner >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shane Doan scored the game-winner in overtime
to give the Phoenix Coyotes a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Taylor Pyatt scored in regulation for the Coyotes, who extended their season-
high
Illinois tops Ohio State on Moore's basket >>
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amber Moore's bucket with two seconds
remaining gave Illinois a 66-65 victory over No. 10 Ohio State.
The Buckeyes went ahead by one on Tayler Hill's driving layup with 19 seconds
to play, but Moore
Evans, Cousins lead Kings past Thunder >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyreke Evans scored 22 points, DeMarcus
Cousins added 19 and the Kings made enough free throws down the stretch to
take down the Thunder, 106-101.
Marcus Thornton finished with 15 points, includi
Pangos helps Gonzaga roll past Saint Mary's >>
Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Pangos is new to the Gonzaga-Saint Mary's
rivalry. With performances like Thursday's, he could be an integral player for
years to come.
The freshman was 5-for-6 from long distance as part of a 27-po
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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