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03/10/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant played hero again, sinking the winning jumper from the right baseline with 1.9 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game skid with a 109-107 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Bryant, who missed a potential winning three-pointer at the end of regulation in a 106-105 loss in Toronto on January 24, scored 32 points, dished out six assists and had six rebounds.
Andrew Bynum tallied 22 points, while Pau Gasol registered 17 points and nine boards for the Lakers, who were on their longest skid since January of 2008.
Chris Bosh hit the tying three-pointer with 9.5 seconds left in regulation and finished with 22 points for Toronto, which has lost six of seven overall and eight straight on the road against the Lakers. Andrea Bargnani added 21 points and Jarrett Jack notched 18 points, seven boards and seven assists.
A turnover by Hedo Turkoglu led to a pair of free throws for Derek Fisher, giving the Lakers a 106-102 lead with 30.6 seconds left.
Jose Calderon then drove in for a quick bucket before Lamar Odom made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe with 19.6 seconds left. Bosh then tied the game from the top of the arc before Bryant worked his magic.
Bryant drove around Antoine Wright and shot the ball over a pair of defenders before it swished through for the lead. It was the sixth game-winning shot of the season for Bryant, who had 14 points in the last quarter.
"They didn't come early at me and I got the shot off," Bryant said. "That's part of my responsibility, to close teams out. Our defense tonight was garbage. We have to focus on execution."
Wright's desperation shot from deep in his own end was way off the mark.
"It was no secret he was going to take the shot," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "We ran two guys at him and he still made it."
Toronto trailed 29-24 after one quarter, but surged late in the second to grab a 58-50 lead at halftime. The Raptors continued to hold the advantage in the third, moving to the last period with an 84-81 edge.
Game Notes
The Lakers haven't lost four in a row since April 8-13, 2007...This was the start of a four-game road trip for Toronto with contests upcoming against Sacramento, Golden State and Portland...The Lakers finished 36-of-44 at the foul line...Toronto has lost eight of its last 10 vs. the Lakers.
<< Blazers hold off Kings
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy scored 19 points and pulled down
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at the Rose Garden.
Nicolas Batum and Andre Miller each tallied 14 points for the
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Mike Fisher, Matt Cullen and Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators, w
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<< Samuelsson nets hat trick, Canucks rally past Avs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikael Samuelsson recorded his first NHL hat
trick and Jannik Hansen scored a controversial goal late in the third period
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Montana and Weber State duke it out for Big Sky title >>
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Dee Events Cente
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.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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