11/12/2008 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and hit the big shot from beyond the arc with 1:08 remaining, to stop a big New Orleans run and keep the Lakers unbeaten with a 93-86 victory.
Derek Fisher also scored 20 for the Lakers, who at 7-0 are tied for their third-best start in franchise history. They won their first seven in 2001-02, captured the first eight in 1987-88 and set a top mark with an 11-0 beginning in 1997-98. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum each scored 14 for Los Angeles.
The Lakers are the last unbeaten team in the league this season. Atlanta, which was without a loss going into Wednesday, was defeated, 103-102, at Boston.
New Orleans guard Chris Paul extended his amazing record of at least 20 points and 10 assists in all seven games this season, finishing with 30 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists, going 13-of-19 from the field. Oscar Robertson set the previous mark of five in a row to start the 1968 campaign with the Cincinnati Royals.
David West added 21 points and 12 rebounds, but accounted for six of New Orleans' 17 turnovers. Peja Stojakovic tallied 10 points, but was 3-of-13 from the floor, for the Hornets, who have dropped three of their last four games.
Trevor Ariza's jam expanded LA's lead to 75-56 with 9 1/2 minutes remaining, but New Orleans came back with a 24-8 spurt. Paul's bank shot capped the flurry for a three-point difference with 1 1/2 minutes to go.
Bryant then held the ball near the top of the arc, and with the shot clock about to expire, rose up and drained a three over James Posey.
A Lamar Odom steal led to one free throw by Gasol with 54.8 seconds left, and Fisher came up with another theft and a pair of free throws. Bryant made all four of his foul shots in the final half-minute.
The Lakers scored seven of the first eight points and carried a 28-17 lead to the second quarter. It got worse for the Hornets, as the Lakers increased their advantage to 51-30 at the half. It was 71-52 going to the fourth.
Game Notes
Ariza scored 10 points...Morris Peterson missed all five of his shots and had no points for the Hornets...The Lakers will play seven of their next eight at home, starting Friday versus Detroit...The Hornets host Portland on Friday.
<< The Butler did it! Wizards silence Jazz
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caron Butler had a game-high 27 points and
grabbed nine rebounds as the Washington Wizards won for the first time this
season with a 95-87 triumph over the Utah Jazz.
Antawn Jamison tallied 21 points
<< Howard's big night helps Magic down Thunder
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard posted his first career
triple-double, scoring 30 points, grabbing 19 rebounds and blocking a career-
high 10 shots to lead the Orlando Magic to a 109-92 thumping of the Kevin
Durant-
<< Howard' big night helps Magic down Thunder
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard posted his first career
triple-double, scoring 30 points, grabbing 19 rebounds and blocking a career-
high 10 shots to lead the Orlando Magic to a 109-92 thumping of the Kevin
Durant-
<< Jefferson, Bucks edge depleted Spurs
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Jefferson scored 19 points and
grabbed nine rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks edged the ailing San Antonio
Spurs 82-78.
Tim Duncan scored 24 points for the depleted Spurs, who played witho
Barnes, Alston ejected in Suns-Rockets scuffle >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix's Matt Barnes and Houston's Rafer
Alston were ejected in the third quarter of Wednesday's matchup after the two
were involved in a melee that involved multiple players.
Houston's Tracy McGrady came down
UCLA routs Prairie View >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Collison began his senior season on
a solid note, plugging in a team-high 19 points to go with four assists in
fourth-ranked UCLA's 82-58 drubbing of the Prairie View Panthers in opening
round a
Seahawks QB Hasselbeck back at practice >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck
practiced Wednesday and was awaiting clearance to start Sunday's home game
against Arizona.
Hasselbeck has been out the last five games due to a continued wea
Shoving match overshadows Houston's rout of Suns >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tracy McGrady scored 27 points -- including 15
in the third quarter -- leading the Houston Rockets to a 94-82 win over the
Phoenix Suns in a game marred by a fracas toward the end of the third quarter.
With
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 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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