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02/18/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will kick off the second half of the NBA season tonight up north, as they pay a visit to the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.
The Central Division-leading Cavaliers entered the All-Star break with a 40-11 record and ended a two-game losing streak with a 109-92 victory versus Phoenix last Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena. All-Star Mo Williams tallied a career- high 44 points and fellow All-Star LeBron James added 26 points, six rebounds and six assists in a winning cause.
Williams went 18-of-26 from the field, including 7-of-9 from three-point range, and had seven assists for Cleveland, which has won five of its last seven games. Williams had 12 points and five assists in the West's 146-119 victory over the East on Sunday night. James ended with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists in the mid-season contest.
Cleveland will also visit Milwaukee on the short trip and is 16-10 away from home this season. Cavs forward Ben Wallace (arm) is questionable for tonight and guard Delonte West (wrist) is listed as doubtful.
Toronto went 21-34 before All-Star festivities and entered the break riding a two-game winning streak. In a 91-89 victory versus San Antonio in the opener of a quick two-game homestand on Wednesday, rookie Roko Ukic set a career-high with 22 points and Andrea Bargnani added 23 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors, who have won two in a row after a six-game slide.
Jason Kapono added 21 points for the Raptors, who were without guard Jose Calderon due to a right hamstring injury. Toronto also saw forward Joey Graham go down with a left shin contusion. Toronto is still without All-Star forward Chris Bosh, who missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right knee. Bosh was replaced by Cleveland's Mo Williams on the Eastern Conference All- Star roster because of the injury and is questionable for Wednesday.
Calderon and Graham are also questionable versus the Cavs. Jermaine O'Neal had seven points and 10 boards in the win over San Antonio, then was traded to the Miami Heat along with forward Jamario Moon in exchange for forward Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks. The Raptors, who are 10-15 as the host in 2008-09, also gained cash in the deal and sent the Heat a conditional draft pick. Marion and Banks are expected to make their Toronto debut tonight.
The Cavs are 2-0 against the Raptors this season and have won four straight and eight of the last nine meetings. Toronto is 12-7 over the previous 19 matchups with Cleveland at Air Canada Centre.
The NBA trade deadline is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (et) Thursday.
<< Big East foes collide, as Providence visits Louisville
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Louisville Cardinals
battle the Providence Friars in a Big East clash at Freedom Hall tonight.
The Cardinals rebounded nicely from their worst loss in eight years, as they
trounced hapless
<< Penn State seeks upset of 18th-ranked Illinois
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Penn State Nittany Lions have made their
way to Champaign to take on the 18th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini in a Big
Ten Conference battle.
Penn State carried a three-game losing streak into Saturday's
<< Wolfpack and Tar Heels meet for 215th time
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels
continue their quest for an ACC title, as they welcome NC State to Chapel Hill
this evening for a conference clash from the Smith Center.
Roy Williams' Tar Heels si
<< Cyclones hope to blow past Jayhawks in Big 12 tussle
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Still, very much in the hunt for the Big 12
title, the 15th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks welcome the Iowa State Cyclones to
Lawrence for a conference matchup from the Allen Fieldhouse.
Bill Self's Jayhawks are an im
Pacers hope to snap road skid in Charlotte >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers have been getting the job done at home
this season, beating the likes of Cleveland, Boston and the LA Lakers. But
it's on the road where the Pacers have been experiencing problems, as they
open a short two-
Heat host Wolves in South Beach >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat will kick off their second half of the NBA
season Wednesday night, as they open a brief two-game homestand versus the
Minnesota Timberwolves at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Miami entered the All-Star break with a
Bucks host Bulls in Central Division clash >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls resume their second half of the NBA
season tonight, when they pay a visit to the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley
Center.
Chicago entered the All-Star break with a 23-30 record and has alternated wins
and
Howard leads Magic into New Orleans >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard and David West both delivered huge
performances to lead their respective teams to narrow wins on Tuesday. The two
All-Stars will go head-to-head when the Orlando Magic head to New Orleans
Arena f
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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