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Wizards return to hardwood in Charlotte

Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards return to the court after a slightly longer break than anticipated in tonight's clash with the Charlotte Bobcats from Time Warner Cable Arena.

Washington has not played since posting an impressive one-point win on the road over Southeast Division leader Orlando on Friday. The Wizards were scheduled to host Atlanta the following day, but the contest had to be postponed due to the massive snowstorm that hit the Mid-Atlantic area on Saturday.

Caron Butler led the way in Washington's 92-91 decision over the Magic by pouring in 31 points, 29 of which came in the second half. The Wizards were down by as many as 21 points early on, but outscored Orlando 39-17 in the third quarter to take a 74-67 lead entering the fourth.

In a back-and-forth final frame, Orlando's Rashard Lewis nearly spoiled Washington's comeback by hitting a go-ahead three-pointer with 4.6 seconds to play. However, Butler answered by sinking a baseline 19-footer just before the final buzzer to send the Magic to just their fifth home loss this season.

"I had a great situation with [Orlando's] Matt Barnes on me," Butler said. "And there was some air space, so I followed through and hit the shot."

Randy Foye made a big contribution to Friday's upset as well, compiling 22 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for the Wizards.

Washington has now won three of its last five outings and bounced back strongly from an ugly 107-85 loss at New York last Wednesday, a game Butler missed due to swelling in his left knee.

A victory over the improving Bobcats would be nearly as impressive, considering Charlotte is an excellent 18-6 at home this season and has won five of its last six encounters with the Wizards, including a 92-76 rout in Washington on November 28.

The Bobcats have lost their last two tilts at Time Warner Cable Arena, though, and are mired in a three-game overall losing streak following Saturday's 104-99 home loss to New Orleans.

Charlotte fought back from a five-point deficit to start the fourth quarter and tied the game at 83-83 on a Stephen Graham three-pointer followed by a dunk by Flip Murray. The Hornets countered with a 12-2 run sparked by consecutive three-pointers by Morris Peterson, however, and later extended the margin to 12 points, 100-88, with under five minutes to play.

Stephen Jackson scored 26 points and handed out six assists for the Bobcats, who were coming off a 3-3 road trip that ended with a tough 99-97 loss to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

All-Star Gerald Wallace, who sat out the Los Angeles game with a strained left hamstring, returned to action on Saturday and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Bobcats may get another important player back in the lineup tonight. Center Tyson Chandler, out since December 22 with a stress reaction in his left foot, practiced fully on Monday and could be ready to go against the Wizards. The seven-footer averaged 6.6 points and 7.0 rebounds prior to the injury.

Point guard Raymond Felton, however, suffered a sprained right ankle in Monday's session, and his status for tonight's game is unknown. The former University of North Carolina star is averaging 12.1 points and 5.1 assists this season.

Despite their current slide, the Bobcats are tied with Chicago for sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 24-25 record. Charlotte has not reached the playoffs since entering the NBA as an expansion team in 2004-05.

<< Thunder close out trip in Portland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder hope to finish off a three-game road trip in perfect fashion on Tuesday when they meet a Portland Trail Blazers club minus All-Star Brandon Roy at the Rose Garden. The Thunder improved t

<< Kings hope to snap long road losing streak in MSG vs. Knicks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wins have been hard to come by lately for the Sacramento Kings, who will try to put the brakes on a six-game losing streak Tuesday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Kings opened a three-game e

<< Skidding Heat host Rockets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat hope a return to south Florida will cure their recent woes, as they try to halt a five-game losing streak Tuesday versus the Houston Rockets at AmericanAirlines Arena. Miami has fallen into a

<< Sixers shoot for season-high 5th straight win vs. Wolves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Minnesota and Philadelphia got together the Sixers blew a 20-point lead en route to an overtime loss. The 76ers will try to maintain any sort of advantage tonight, when they try to extend their season high winni

<< NBA's best meets worst as Cavs host Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The teams with the best and worst records in the NBA this season will go head-to-head at Quicken Loans Arena tonight, where the powerhouse Cleveland Cavaliers put an 11-game win streak on the line against the downtrodden New

Bucks go for another home win in clash with Pistons >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks hope to finish a brief two-game homestand in perfect fashion Tuesday, when they welcome the Central Division- rival Detroit Pistons to the Bradley Center. The Bucks won for the fifth time in six games o

Streaking Jazz pay a visit to Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Utah Jazz shoot for their ninth consecutive win on Wednesday in Los Angeles against a Clippers team that has been faltering lately. The Jazz finished a four-game homestand in perfect fashion on Saturday w

Nuggets host Mavericks in battle of division leaders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Western Conference powers meet in the Rockies Tuesday, as the Northwest Division-leading Denver Nuggets play host to the Southwest pacesetters, the Dallas Mavericks. The Nuggets currently hold the second seed in

Hawks and Grizzlies meet in Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All-Star Joe Johnson had a chance to rest thanks to a tremendous snow storm that buried the East Coast, and will lead the Atlanta Hawks against the Memphis Grizzlies tonight at FedEx Forum. Saturday's tilt between the Hawk

Bruins hope to stay on track versus struggling Sabres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a lengthy losing streak finally behind them, the Boston Bruins will try for another win when they visit the struggling Buffalo Sabres for tonight's Northeast Division battle at HSBC Arena. The Bruins ended their slide

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.

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