Celtics wrap up road trip in Houston
Basketball Betting Lines
02/26/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics nightmarish season continues tonight, as they visit the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.
Boston plays the finale of a five-game road trip and has dropped all four contests on the swing. Derek Fisher ended with 21 points on 8-of-11 from the field to lead the Utah Jazz to a 105-87 victory over the Celtics on Saturday at EnergySolutions Arena.
Paul Pierce ended with 19 points on just 5-of-18 from the floor in the loss to Utah for the Celtics, who have dropped four in a row and 22 of their last 23 games overall. Delonte West scored 16 and dished out six assists in defeat.
The Celtics are 8-21 on the road this season. They have dropped 12 in a row as the visitor. Boston's last victory on the road was on January 5th against Memphis.
Boston returns home to host the New York Knicks on Wednesday at TD Banknorth Garden.
Houston plays the first of a short two-game homestand. All-Star Tracy McGrady scored 34 points as the Rockets held off the Orlando Magic, 97-93, on Sunday at TD Waterhouse Centre.
Rafer Alston had 20 points in the win over Orlando for the Rockets, who have beaten the Magic in eight of the last nine meetings in the series. Luther Head scored 15 and Shane Battier tallied 14 points for Houston, which has won six of its last nine games overall.
The Rockets continue to play without All-Star center Yao Ming, who leads the Rockets in scoring (25.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg). He suffered a non displaced fracture in a bone under his right knee during a 98-93 loss on December 23rd to the Los Angeles Clippers. Houston is 19-9 without Yao, who is expected to return in mid-to-late March.
Houston is an impressive 20-7 at home this season. The Rockets are scheduled to host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
This is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season. The Celtics are scheduled to host the Rockets on March 7th at TD Banknorth Garden.
Boston has lost nine of its last 14 at Houston. The teams have split the last six contests in the series.
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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.