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02/22/2012 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston's Luis Scola had 19 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 93-87 win over the 76ers.
Kevin Martin scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Kyle Lowry finished with 13 for the Rockets, who enter the All-Star break on a three-game win streak.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, saw its season-long losing streak reach five games.
The shorthanded 76ers, playing without forward Elton Brand and center Spencer Hawes, were led by rookie Nikola Vucevic's career-high 18 points. Lou Williams chipped in 17, Thaddeus Young had 15 and Jodie Meeks added 14.
Jrue Holiday's layup had Philadelphia up, 84-83, with two minutes to go, but Lowry responded with a three-point play to put the Rockets on top for good.
Williams' free throw pulled the 76ers within one, 86-85, but Young was called for a charge after Vucevic blocked Scola.
Lowry then struck again, driving hard, making a bank layup and drawing a foul on Young. The subsequent free throw made it 89-85 with under a minute to go.
Philadelphia followed with another gaffe, as Williams turned the corner on an elbow pick but fell out of bounds with the ball. Lowry's fadeaway jumper was off at the other end, but Young knocked the loose ball out of bounds with 25 seconds left and Martin and Courtney Lee closed with a pair of free throws apiece to seal the win.
The Rockets led 19-16 after one and 45-41 at the break before Chandler Parsons and Scola opened the third with back-to-back buckets for a 49-41 advantage.
The 76ers responded with a 15-5 run to grab their first lead since early in the first.
Williams began the burst with a three-point play and Meeks capped it with two- handed dunk for a 56-54 edge.
Later in the quarter, Scola's layup put the Rockets up, 60-59, but Philadelphia finished with baskets from Vucevic, Meeks and Young for a 65-61 advantage after three.
Houston opened the fourth with a layup from Patrick Patterson and a short jumper from Martin to tie the game at 65 and spark the back-and-forth finish.
Game Notes
Philadelphia hasn't scored 100 points in any of its past 17 games...The Rockets improved to 14-4 at the Toyota Center this season while the 76ers fell to 7-8 on the road...Philadelphia had won its previous four trips to Houston.
<< Wichita State downs Illinois State, claims MVC crown
Normal, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Ragland paced four Wichita State players in
double figures with 14 points as the Shockers took down Illinois State by a
68-55 count on Wednesday to lock up the Missouri Valley Conference title.
Garrett
<< No. 10 Marquette sends Rutgers to another loss
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jae Crowder scored 27 points, Darius Johnson-
Odom had 21 and No. 10 Marquette handed Rutgers its sixth straight loss on
Wednesday night, 82-65.
Vander Blue added 10 points for the Golden Eagles (23-5, 12-3 B
<< Thunder top Celtics for 11th straight home win
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook scored 31 points,
dished out six assists and pulled down five rebounds, as the Oklahoma City
Thunder held off the Boston Celtics, 119-104.
Kevin Durant added 28 points, nine bo
<< Magic beat Nets for 9th straight time
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard had 20 points and 17 rebounds, but
the Orlando Magic may have made their biggest run of the game with him on the
bench Wednesday night in a 108-91 win over the New Jersey Nets.
Orlando beat New J
Ridnour lifts Minnesota over Utah >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Ridnour finished with 17 points, none
bigger than his floater at the final buzzer, lifting the Timberwolves to a
100-98 comeback victory over the Jazz at Target Center on Wednesday.
With seven t
Bruins hang rare home regulation defeat on Blues >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Marchand scored twice as Boston doubled
up St. Louis, 4-2, at Scottrade Center.
Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic each posted a goal and one assist for the Bruins,
who had lost three of four coming in.
Ti
No. 6 Michigan State edges Minnesota >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keith Appling's go-ahead free throws with
32 seconds remaining lifted No. 6 Michigan State to a 66-61 victory over
Minnesota on Wednesday.
Austin Hollins airballed a three-pointer from the right w
Packers TE Finley tweets 2-year deal >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers and tight end Jermichael Finley have
agreed on a two-year deal.
Finley confirmed a report of the deal on his Twitter account Wednesday night,
saying:
"It's TRUE! Thank you so much to the Packers
After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.
Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.
Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.
So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.
In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.
For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.
The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.
The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.
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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.
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