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05/18/2010 -
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -Lakers center Andrew Bynum says the swelling in his injured right knee has decreased.
Yet the Lakers still had concern Tuesday about the 7-footer's knee after his third straight quiet playoff game.
Bynum had four points and four rebounds in 19 minutes during Los Angeles' 128-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference finals opener Monday night.
Bynum says his knee feels fine now, but he has just 10 total points and three blocked shots in the Lakers' last three games. He scored 17 points and blocked four shots in Game 2 of Los Angeles' second-round series against Utah.
The Lakers discovered a small tear in Bynum's meniscus during the first round. Bynum said last week the injury was getting worse.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Providence dismisses leading scorer Peterson
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Providence forward Jamine Peterson has been
kicked off the men's basketball team for an unspecified violation of team
rules.
Peterson was the team's leading scorer as a sophomore in 2009-10, averagi
<< World Cup 2010 Preview: Has Spain shed underachievers label?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Over the years, Spain's national team has
developed a reputation for looking like world beaters in the group stage of
the World Cup, only to come up small once they entered the knockout stage.
And the
<< Del Neri ready for Juve task
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newly-installed Juventus coach Luigi Del Neri
admits that he faces a major rebuilding job at the Serie A giants.
Del Neri guided Sampdoria to fourth place in the Italian top-flight this
season, three
<< World Cup 2010 Preview: Brazil must deal with favorites label
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having been a part of three World Cup
teams himself, Brazil manager Dunga knows all too well the expectations that
come with being a member of Brazil's national team.
They are expected to win every
This Week in Auto Racing May 21 - 23 >>
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's an "all-star" weekend in Charlotte, as
Sprint Cup Series teams dash for a lot of cash at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Camping World Truck Series also will race in Charlotte, while
qualifi
Pit crews play bigger roll in NASCAR all-star race >>
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, May
22. Race: NASCAR Sprint All- Star Race. Site: Charlotte Motor Speedway. Track:
1.5-mile oval. Start time: 9:00 p.m. (et), [Sprint Showdown - 7:30 p.m. (et)].
Laps: 10
Busch and Hornaday Jr. look forward to Charlotte battle >>
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date:
Friday, May 21. Race: North Carolina Education Lottery 200. Site: Charlotte
Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 134.
Miles: 201. 2009 w
Shorter schedule and new format for Indy 500 qualifying >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Saturday, May
22, Sunday May 23. Race: Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. Site:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Track: 2.5-mile oval. Start Time: 11:00 a.m.
(et), Saturday; noon (et
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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