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01/17/2009 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jameer Nelson poured in 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, including a trio of three-pointers, as the Orlando Magic pulled off an unprecedented season sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers behind a 109-103 victory at Staples Center.
The Magic, which also defeated LA, 106-103, in Orlando back on December 20, had never in franchise history taken the home-and-home season series against the Lakers.
Nelson also doled out eight assists, while Dwight Howard was nothing short of spectacular with 25 points and 20 rebounds for the Magic, who improved to an NBA-best 16-5 on the road and 3-0 on their current four-game road trip.
Rashard Lewis' 16 points helped Orlando to its sixth straight win overall.
Rookie Courtney Lee added 12 points and did a terrific defensive job on Kobe Bryant, who shot just 3-for-12 in an abnormally poor shooting effort in the fourth quarter.
Bryant did finish with solid numbers, totaling his 15th career triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the Lakers, who have dropped back-to-back games for just the second time this season.
Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol each grabbed nine rebounds and added 17 and 13 points, respectively, as Los Angeles fell to 20-3 at home.
Things don't get easier for the Lakers, with the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers coming to town on Monday.
The entire game was a back-and-forth battle that featured 20 ties and 28 lead changes.
With the clubs coming into the came with near identical records, it came as no surprise that the outcome came down to the wire.
Nelson's second trifecta of the frame gave the Magic a 100-98 lead with 1:26 to go. Bryant came down and missed a pair of shots, but Odom's putback on the reigning MVP's missed three tied the game.
Odom missed his free throw after he was fouled on the layup, but Gasol tipped the miss back to the shooter before another foul put Odom back on the line.
The forward hit 1-of-2 for a one-point lead, and Howard followed with a make of his own from the stripe with 1:04 to play.
Gasol then cleaned up Bryant's forced runner with an easy layup, but it proved to be the last points the Lakers would put on the board. Nelson nailed a quick three with 35 seconds remaining for a 104-103 lead and followed Bryant's missed field goals with four consecutive makes at the free throw line. The last came with 7.9 ticks remaining for a 108-103 lead to seal the hard-fought win.
Orlando trailed for most of the first half. LA led, 23-20, after the first quarter and extended that advantage to 52-44 at the break.
A 9-0 run early in the fourth brought the Magic within striking distance, and it was a one-point Lakers lead, 75-74, leading up to a back-and-forth final stanza.
Game Notes
The Magic finish their four-game road trip in Denver on Saturday...The Lakers also dropped two in a row to Miami and Orlando back in December...Hedo Turkoglu had 13 points for the Magic, who hit 12-for-28 from three-point range...Vladimir Radmanovic and Andrew Bynum finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively, for LA, which made 39.8 percent of its shots and was outrebounded 54-40.
<< Crawford leads Warriors past Hawks
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford scored a game-high 29 points,
and the Golden State Warriors topped the Atlanta Hawks, 119-114, at ORACLE
Arena.
Corey Maggette contributed 24 points -- including 14 in the fourth quarter
<< Jamison, Wizards end losing streak with win over Knicks
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antawn Jamison poured in a game-high 28
points to lead the Washington Wizards in a 96-89 victory over the New York
Knicks at the Verizon Center for the finale of a home-and-home set.
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<< Drury, Rangers top Chicago in OT
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Drury's second goal of the contest, a
power-play marker with 2:37 left in overtime, sent the New York Rangers past
Chicago, 3-2, at United Center.
With Chicago forward Andrew Ladd in the box for s
<< Horcoff helps Oilers edge Avs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shawn Horcoff's third period tally was the
difference, and the Edmonton Oilers narrowly edged the Colorado Avalanche,
3-2, at the Pepsi Center.
Steve Staios and Tom Gilbert also scored for the Oilers,
Nalbandian outlasts Nieminen for Sydney crown >>
Sydney, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Nalbandian of Argentina gutted out
a three-set victory over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen to capture the Medibank
International title on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded Nalbandian posted a 6-3, 6-7
Casey takes four-shot lead with stellar 63 >>
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Casey fired a bogey-
free, nine-under 63 Saturday to take a four-stroke lead after three rounds of
the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Casey completed 54 holes at 19-under-par 197. His t
Kiefer withdraws from Australian Open >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Kiefer of Germany has
withdrawn from the Australian Open because of a left ankle injury.
Kiefer was hurt last week during the Hopman Cup. His best finish in 10
previous Austral
Kings try to halt skid in test versus Stars >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will try to avoid a fourth
consecutive loss when they visit the rival Dallas Stars for this afternoon's
Pacific Division battle at American Airlines Center.
The Kings dropped the final three tests on
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.
Eastern Conference Playoff Betting Trends
We all know by now that the “public” loves to put their money on the FAVORITES and the OVERS. Just by taking a quick glance at Sportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends” it appears as is this tendency will continue as far as the Eastern Conference games are concerned. For the inaugural games of the first round, 69% of the early money is on Toronto -4.5; 59% of bettors prefer Chicago -4.5; 84% are backing Detroit -9; and 56% think Cleveland -11.5 is the way to go. As far as TOTALS are concerned, the only UNDER the “public” is backing is the Cleveland/ Washington game in which 83% are pounding the UNDER (190). Remember, there is no better way to predict a possible line change than by monitoring MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By determining who the “public” is backing, you can get the most ideal line for your bet. For example, if you are siding with the public you better place your bet before the line moves in the wrong direction. On the other side of the coin, if you prefer the team that the “public” is betting against; you might be able to get and extra ½ or even more by placing your bet a bit later. Under the “Betting Trends” section, Sportsbook.com also provides plenty of statistical data and trends in order for the bettor to make the most informed pick. Below are some extremely important trends for the first round opponents of the Eastern Conference match-ups, more can be found at MySportsbook.com
New Jersey Nets vs. Toronto Raptors
Toronto was the most reliable covering team this season with a 48-33-1 ATS record but covered the OVER only 41.5% of the time.
The last 20 times these teams have played, the TOTAL has gone UNDER 16 times.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Toronto is 33-19 ATS including 17-9 at home.
New Jersey has covered four games in a row while Toronto has failed to cover their last four games.
When playing a team with a winning record during the second half of the season, New Jersey was just 5-13 ATS this season.
After scoring 105 points or more, Toronto has covered the OVER only 28% of the time this season.
Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls
Miami has failed to cover their last 7 games whereas Chicago has covered 6 out of their last 8 games.
Miami has covered the UNDER in four of their last five games whereas Chicago has covered the UNDER in five out of their last six.
When playing on Saturdays, Miami covered 80% of their games this season.
Away from home, Chicago is just 16-25 ATS this season.
At home, Miami covered the UNDER about 66% of the time whereas Chicago covered the UNDER about 61% of the time.
The last 13 times these teams have played each other, Chicago has covered 9 times.
In Miami’s last 11 road games, the UNDER covered 9 times.
Orlando Magic @ Detroit Pistons
Detroit has covered 5 out of their last 6 games.
Away from home, Detroit is 28-13 ATS but just 14-26-1 ATS at home.
At home, Orlando covered the UNDER 64% of the time while Detroit covered the UNDER in 63% of their away games.
The last five times these teams have played in Detroit, the OVER covered each time.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Detroit is 8-17-1 ATS at home but 17-9 ATS away.
Detroit covered the spread 5 out of the last 6 times they played Orlando.
After a Division game, Orlando covered the UNDER 87% of the time this season.
Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers
In a home game where the TOTAL is between 190 and 194.5 points, Cleveland is 9-1 ATS this season.
Washington has covered the UNDER in their last 6 games and in 8 of their last 9 games.
The last 6 times these teams have played each other, the UNDER covered each time.
When playing on 3 or more days of rest, Washington is just 18-37 ATS since 1996.
Since 1996, Washington is 28-16 ATS versus Cleveland including 11-5 over the last 3 seasons.
In their last 7 road games, Washington is 6-1 ATS.
Versus Eastern Conference teams at home, Washington is just 6-18-2 ATS.
For even more betting trends for not just the NBA but for all of the major sports, log on to Sportsbook.com and click on “Trends”. With only two months left in the NBA betting season it is important to be as well informed as possible in order to maximize your profit. Also for all of you poker players, check out MySportsbook.com’s “WSOP Low Bid Auction”. You could be on your way to Vegas to play against the world’s best poker players for under a buck.
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To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your basketball sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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