Bucks and Bulls clash in the Second City
Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose recently made his return to the hardwood following a five-game absence due to lower back spasms.
Rose and the Bulls will try to give the Central Division-rival Milwaukee Bucks a few spasms Wednesday, when the two teams collide tonight at the United Center. Rose had missed the previous five games (3-2) and delivered 23 points, six assists and five rebounds during Monday's 90-70 win over Atlanta.
"He brings a lot of confidence with him, he puts so much pressure on opposing teams and players that it opens up things for everybody," Bulls guard Ronnie Brewer said of Rose.
Carlos Boozer and Brewer scored 16 and 13 points, respectively, for the Bulls, who are 7-3 without Rose this season and have won eight of their last 10 games. Joakim Noah had five points and a game-high 16 rebounds, as Chicago improved to 3-1 on a six-game homestand and 12-2 in the Windy City. Mike James and John Lucas III combined for 17 points in 26 minutes of play.
The Bulls will close out the homestand after the All-Star break versus New Orleans on Feb. 28. Guard C.J. Watson left in the third quarter of Saturday's loss to New Jersey after taking a blow to the head and did not play versus the Hawks. Watson filled in nicely for Rose and is questionable for tonight.
Milwaukee will play four of its next five games on the road and is 6-11 away from the Bradley Center this season.
The Bucks have lost eight of their last 11 games overall, including Monday's 93-90 loss versus the Orlando Magic in Brew City. Ryan Anderson buried a three-pointer with 18.1 seconds left to give Orlando the lead for good, while Brandon Jennings led the Bucks with 22 points and committed a big turnover late in the game. Ersan Ilyasova notched 15 points with 15 rebounds in defeat.
Larry Sanders finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and missed an easy layup in the paint in the closing moments of the game.
"We were probably one rebound away from winning the game," said Bucks head coach Scott Skiles, whose team has dropped six in a row at home. "We just couldn't get the rebound and Anderson drilled the shot."
Bucks forward Drew Gooden missed his third straight game with a wrist/knee ailment and is doubtful for tonight. He is averaging 12/7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game this season.
Milwaukee has lost the first two meetings with Chicago this season and will host the Bulls again on March 7. The Bulls have won six straight and nine of the past 12 meetings with the Bucks, who have lost three straight and 11 of their last 12 trips to the Second City.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic will try to continue their mastery of the New Jersey Nets when the two clubs clash tonight from the Prudential Center. Orlando has won eight in a row and 12 of the past 13 matchups between the teams, and
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West Conferen
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.