Blazers hoping to maintain recent success against surging Bulls
Basketball Betting Lines
02/26/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers will try to remain perfect on
their five-game road trip as they seek a sixth straight series victory over
the Chicago Bulls this evening at the United Center.
The Trail Blazers have won four of their last six games, including the first
two contests of their current swing, which they opened on Tuesday with a
102-93 victory at New Jersey. Portland kept the offense going on Wednesday,
posting a 101-87 triumph at Toronto.
Brandon Roy had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Andre Miller
fell shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Rudy Fernandez donated 17 points off the bench for Portland, which is eighth
overall in the Western Conference, three games ahead of New Orleans and a
half-game back of San Antonio.
"Last week we were a little off balance after the All-Star break," said Roy,
who is averaging 23.7 points over his last three games. "Now we're starting to
feel a little more comfortable as a group. Scoring 100 points [Wednesday]
showed that. Now we got to keep it going on this road trip."
Portland played without center Marcus Camby because of a sprained right ankle
that has him questionable for tonight.
The Trail Blazers haven't lost to the Bulls since March 26, 2007 at Chicago.
Portland's current five-game winning streak in the series includes a pair of
victories at the United Center.
Portland notched a 122-98 home victory over Chicago on November 23, getting 24
points and 13 rebounds from LaMarcus Aldridge as well as 18 points and seven
helpers from Roy.
Luol Deng led Chicago with 25 points in that game, and he went off for a
season-high 31 points in Wednesday's 120-110 victory over Indiana, the Bulls'
fifth win in their last six games.
"I did a good job driving the ball early," said Deng of his scoring efforts.
Derrick Rose, who scored 14 points versus Portland earlier this year, finished
with 23 points, eight assists and matched a season high with nine rebounds. He
is averaging 22.8 points and 6.2 assists over his last six contests for a
Chicago club that is 16-7 over its last 23 games and currently sixth overall
in the East.
Chicago has also won seven of its last nine at home, while Portland has
claimed victory in three straight on the road.
<< Struggling Knicks shoot for another win over Wizards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks hope to put an end to their longest
losing streak of this season when the badly-struggling club takes on the only
team it has beaten in February, the Washington Wizards, this evening at the
Verizon Center.
<< Mavs hope to extend win streak in clash with Hawks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Mavericks have been on one of their best runs of
the season, but that winning streak figures to be tested when the Southwest
Division frontrunners head to Atlanta's Philips Arena tonight for an
interconference matc
<< Cavs head up north to battle Raptors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off one of their most impressive performances of the
season, the Cleveland Cavaliers wrap up a short road trip with tonight's clash
against the Toronto Raptors from the Air Canada Centre.
The Cavaliers head to Canad
<< Sixers finish road trip against Kobe, Lakers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant returns to the floor at Staples Center for the
first in three weeks on Friday when the Los Angeles Lakers host the
Philadelphia 76ers.
After missing five contests and the All-Star Game with a sprained left ankl
<< Surging Jazz shoot for 8th straight road win in Sacramento
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Utah Jazz will shoot for an eighth straight
road win when they take on the flailing Sacramento Kings on Friday.
The Jazz bounced back from a 105-100 home loss to Atlanta on Monday by besting
Charlotte in Salt L
Durant, Thunder seeking to bounce back against T-Wolves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant's impressive scoring streak is over, and his
Oklahoma City Thunder are now on a losing streak. Both the team and its star
forward will try to get back on track tonight versus the Minnesota
Timberwolves, who wrap
Slumping Bobcats to make stop in Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats will try to avoid posting their
longest losing streak in three months as they take on the Memphis Grizzlies,
who will try to halt a five-game home skid this evening at FedExForum.
Since a big victory
Dementieva cruises in Malaysian quarterfinals >>
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva
cruised to a straight-set victory over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the
quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open.
Dementieva dismantled the seventh-seeded Ryba
Royals agree to terms with OF Maier >>
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals agreed to terms on a
contract with outfielder Mitch Maier on Friday. Per team policy, terms of the
deal were not disclosed.
In his first full major-league campaign, the 27-year-old
Gaming: NHL back in business >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the Olympic break just about over,
it's nearly time to return our thoughts to the 2009-10 NHL season, specifically
which teams are the best bets to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
With just six weeks
What Is the Point Spread?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
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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