Bulls, Thunder clash at Ford Center
Basketball Betting Lines
01/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have finally found their groove away from home and hope to continue moving in the right direction in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.
After starting 0-2 on a season-long seven-game road trip and falling to 4-15 as the visitor on the year, the Bulls turned things around by topping Phoenix in the desert last week. A win in Houston followed and Vinny Del Negro's club made it three straight as the visitor by topping San Antonio, 98-93, on Monday. Joakim Noah scored the final five points in that one to propel Chicago.
Noah, who missed Saturday's contest with the Rockets due to a foot injury, ended with 11 points and five rebounds for the Bulls, who improved to 3-2 on their trip.
Derrick Rose chipped in 27 points and six assists. Kirk Hinrich tallied 18 points, six boards, and five assists, while Luol Deng donated 10 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, which shot 53.8 percent from the field.
"I just think we've been playing a lot tougher on the road," Hinrich said. "Last year we were really bad on the road and this year didn't start off very good. I think winning on the road just comes down to competing, mental and physical toughness throughout the whole game."
With a win tonight, the Bulls will reach the .500 mark for the first time since being 6-6 on Nov. 22. Meanwhile, the team hasn't won four in a row away from the United Center since a six-game winning streak from March 26-April 17, 2006.
The much-improved Thunder are coming off an agonizing loss in Cleveland on Saturday. LeBron James scored 13 of his game-high 37 points in the last quarter and came up with a game-saving block on Kevin Durant, as the Cavaliers held off Oklahoma City, 100-99, in that one.
Durant ended with 34 points and 10 boards for the Thunder, who have lost back- to-back contests following a three-game winning streak. Their last four games have been decided by a total of eight points. Russell Westbrook had 23 points in defeat.
"All of our losses these last couple of weeks, I guess, have been under two or three points and that's tough," Durant said.
Durant, who is averaging nearly 33 points per game over his past nine contests, had 25 when the Thunder topped the Bulls, 98-85, in Chicago earlier this month.
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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.
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