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Raptors hope to stay hot at home vs. hapless Nets

Basketball Betting Lines

02/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors will be shooting for a sixth consecutive victory at the Air Canada Centre in tonight's matchup with a New Jersey Nets squad with a mere one road win on the season.

Toronto has been tough to top on its home floor during the 2009-10 campaign, with the playoff hopefuls having amassed a strong 17-6 record at the Air Canada Centre. The Raptors haven't lost there since a 114-107 setback to Atlantic Division leader Boston on January 10.

The Raptors did have a five-game overall win streak come to a close, however, with Tuesday's disappointing 130-115 defeat at Indiana. The Pacers shot a scorching 52.4 percent from the field en route to their highest-scoring output of the season.

"We played terrible defense tonight," remarked Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani after the game. "Look at how many points they scored. They scored 130. We played terrible, but you have to give [the Pacers] credit. They played really good."

Bargnani had a terrific offensive performance in the loss, with the former No. 1 overall pick netting a career-best 34 points. Chris Bosh had a monster night as well, racking up 35 points and 15 rebounds, while Marco Belinelli ended with 21 points for Toronto.

The Raptors have now eclipsed the 100-point mark in 14 straight games and lead the Eastern Conference in scoring (104.4 ppg) this season.

The Nets, on the other hand, are averaging a league-worst 89.8 points per game and are also saddled with the NBA's worst record, a horrid 4-43 ledger. New Jersey has been especially dismal on the road, where the league doormats have gone a woeful 1-23 for the season.

The team's latest three losses have come at home, the most recent being last night's 97-93 verdict to Detroit in which the Pistons outscored the Nets 10-2 over the final two minutes.

New Jersey fought back from a six-point deficit early in the fourth quarter and held a 91-87 advantage after Kris Humphries' jump shot with 2:21 to go. Detroit then ripped off eight straight points to move back in front, and the Nets' Devin Harris couldn't knock down a potential game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds.

"I like the way we're playing for the first 45 minutes, but we have to really focus on those last three minutes of the game," said Harris, who returned from a four-game absence due to a sprained right wrist to amass 24 points and 14 assists. Brook Lopez came up with a game-high 27 points in a losing cause.

The Nets have left with a win in two of their last three visits to the Air Canada Centre, but were 118-95 losers when these Atlantic Division foes squared off in Toronto back on December 18.

Toronto will begin a four-game homestand this evening that also includes encounters with two other also-rans in Sacramento and Philadelphia. The Raptors close out the residency against Memphis on February 17.

<< Spurs commence trip in Sacramento
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs kick off their annual rodeo road trip tonight when they visit the reeling Sacramento Kings in California's capital. Each year around this time the Spurs hit the road while the annual San Antonio Lives

<< Lakers return home to host Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers return to the cozy confines of Staples Center Wednesday night hoping to improve on the NBA's best home record when they host the Charlotte Bobcats. The Lakers are coming off a

<< Top-ranked Kansas rolls into Boulder to take on Colorado
Boulder, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sitting atop the national rankings once again, the Kansas Jayhawks finish up a brief two-game road trip this evening, when they invade the Coors Events Center to battle the Colorado Buffaloes in Big 12 action in B

<< Dukes come to Philly to challenge 19th-ranked Owls
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked Temple Owls welcome the Duquesne Dukes to Philadelphia this evening for an Atlantic 10 Conference clash. Duquesne has won two of its last three games to move to 11-10 overall, but the team

<< Cyclones seek upset of 20th-ranked Bears
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big 12 Conference rivals square off in Waco tonight, as the Iowa State Cyclones try to upset the 20th-ranked Baylor Bears. Iowa State is 13-8 on the season, but the team is just 2-4 in conference. The Cyclones put

Bulls make a stop in south Philly >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls vie to keep up their recent outstanding play on the road when the resurgent club makes a stop at the Wachovia Center tonight to battle the Philadelphia 76ers. Chicago has won its last five outings

Hornets, Thunder collide in Big Easy >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently eighth in the Western standings, but the New Orleans Hornets are right on their tail for the final postseason spot in the conference. The two playoff-hopeful teams will get together ton

Ancelotti: Terry talk will not be distraction >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlo Ancelotti has dismissed suggestions that the lurid allegations threatening to engulf John Terry will lead to a loss of focus at Chelsea during the title run-in. The Blues were held to a 1-1

Liverpool eyes Serbian striker >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool are reported to have agreed to a pre-contract deal with Serbia striker Milan Jovanovic, who currently plays in Belgium with Standard Liege. The 28-year-old has been with Standard since 2006

Fabregas to Barca rumors resurface >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas will one day return to former club Barcelona, according to the Spanish club's vice president Alfons Godall. Fabregas left the Catalan club as a teenager in 2003

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.