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02/14/2012 - Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Conley scored 21 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range as the Grizzlies defeated the Rockets, 93-83, at FedEx Forum on Tuesday.
Memphis had five scorers in double figures, including 20 from Rudy Gay and 18 from Marc Gasol. The Grizzlies have now won three of their last four contests.
Kyle Lowry led all scorers with 24 points and Courtney Lee added 13 points for Houston, which dropped its second straight game after winning the previous three.
Memphis led by as many as 15 in this game, but the Rockets scored eight straight to cut the deficit to 84-79 with just under three minutes remaining.
The Grizzlies responded to the Houston surge as Conley knocked down a three and Gay forced a turnover. Gay then found a streaking O.J. Mayo, who finished on the other end to put the Grizzlies back up double digits.
Conley knocked down a triple with 6:25 left in the first to spark a 13-2 spurt for the Grizzlies, allowing them to take a 21-17 lead after one quarter of play.
The Grizzlies finished the first quarter shooting 52.6 percent, while the Rockets managed to shoot just 29.6 percent from the field.
Conley scored seven straight points with just over a minute left in the second as Memphis held a 52-43 advantage at halftime.
Memphis turned eight first-half turnovers into 16 points as the Rockets managed just six points on four Memphis turnovers.
Houston got four straight points from Lowry to close out the third quarter as the Rockets cut the deficit to 72-64.
Game Notes
Both teams will play the second game of a back-to-back on Wednesday as Memphis will visit New Jersey and the Rockets will begin a season-high six-game homestand against Oklahoma City...Houston's Luis Scola scored his 5,000th career point on a first quarter layup...Memphis shot 47.9 percent from the field, while the Rockets shot 38.5 percent.
<< Deng helps Bulls hold off Kings
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luol Deng had 23 points and 11 assists and the
Chicago Bulls survived another game without Derrick Rose, holding on to beat
the Sacramento Kings 121-115 on Tuesday night.
Joakim Noah added 22 points and 11
<< Ellis, Predators edge Blackhawks
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Ellis scored the game-winning goal in
the third period and added an assist as the Nashville Predators edged the
Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2, at Bridgestone Arena.
Ryan Suter and Nick Spaling also s
<< Lundqvist, Rangers blank Bruins
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henrik Lundqvist posted his league-leading
seventh shutout of the season, as the New York Rangers extended their overall
winning streak and their road run against Boston to four with a 3-0 whitewash
of the
<< Ducks rally in 3rd to top skidding Wild
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Niklas Hagman and Corey Perry each netted a
goal in the third period as the Anaheim Ducks rallied to take a 2-1 victory
over the struggling Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
Jonas Hiller stopped 17-
Nabokov, Islanders down Jets >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov stopped 37 shots to lift the
New York Islanders to a 3-1 win over the Jets at MTS Centre.
P.A. Parenteau had a goal and an assist while Matt Martin and Matt Moulson
also scored for the Is
Harden lifts Thunder over Jazz >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Harden scored 22 points and dished
out five assists off the bench, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the
Utah Jazz, 111-85, at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Tuesday.
Kevin Durant had 21 poi
Ohio State downs Minnesota >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - William Buford had 24 points and Jared
Sullinger chipped in 23 as No. 6 Ohio State downed Minnesota, 78-68, at
Williams Arena on Tuesday.
Buford and Sullinger each added eight rebounds and De
Afflalo helps Denver dominate Phoenix >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Afflalo scored 20 points on 7-for-11
shooting, and the Denver Nuggets led wire-to-wire as they knocked off the
Phoenix Suns, 109-92, at Pepsi Center on Tuesday.
Six Nuggets scored in double fi
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.
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