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05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The scene shifts to Beantown tonight as the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics get ready for the pivotal Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.
The Celtics wrestled away homecourt advantage in the set on Monday when Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 19 assists, and Boston outscored Cleveland by 19 during a big third quarter to earn a 104-86 victory over the Cavaliers and even the series.
Rondo equaled a franchise-record for assists in a playoff game, set by the legendary Bob Cousy on two occasions.
"I was just trying to take advantage of the opportunities in front of me," Rondo said. "In transition, that's where I think I have my advantage, getting rebounds and getting stops. I'm able to use my speed and able to use my ability to get to the hole and create mismatches in the lane."
Ray Allen scored 10 of his team-high 22 points in the third quarter in Game 2 for the Celtics, who bounced back from a 101-93 loss in the opener. Kevin Garnett added 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Rasheed Wallace went 7-of-8 from the field for 17 points off the bench. Paul Pierce scored 14 in the win.
"The third quarter in Game 1 we were passive," Garnett said after the win. "Tonight we were very aggressive on both ends. We rebounded collectively. There were a lot of positive things tonight."
LeBron James, fighting through an injured right elbow, was presented his second straight MVP trophy by commissioner David Stern in a ceremony prior to the game and ended with 24 points, 12 of them coming in the last quarter.
"I'll never use the injury as an excuse," James said. "If I'm on the court I'll try to be as productive as possible. I feel like I was okay, but as a team all of us were just okay, that's why we lost."
Antawn Jamison had 16 points for the Cavaliers, who fell behind by 25 points before scoring 15 in a row in the fourth quarter. They never got within single digits in the final period and dropped only their second playoff home game in the last 15 tries.
The Cleveland backcourt starting tandem of Anthony Parker and Mo Williams combined for just 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting.
"We did not play with a sense of urgency," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "We tried the last few minutes of the game. They kicked our behind from the beginning. We did not fight back until late. We have to decide we're going to take the fight to them and take these games. Nothing's going to be given to us."
Last week, an initial examination revealed that James has a strained elbow and bone bruise, an injury that has been bothering him for several weeks. The superstar was originally scheduled to undergo another MRI on Thursday but doctors felt it wasn't necessary and James will be ready to go tonight.
"It's been good for us," James said of the rest between Games 2 and 3. "It's been good for me, and it's been good for both teams. We all know this is going to be one of the most physical series that this league has to offer."
For the Celtics, Garnett sat out practice on Thursday to rest a strained right foot suffered when teammate Kendrick Perkins landed on him with about three minutes left in Monday's game.
"I just banged my foot," Garnett said. "I'm definitely ready to go."
Off the floor, Boston general manager Danny Ainge was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Thursday for tossing a towel in an attempt to distract Cavaliers forward J.J. Hickson as he attempted a free throw in the third quarter of Game 2.
Ainge flipped a white towel over his head as Hickson was lining up for his second free throw, which he made.
NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said the fine was issued for "creating an unauthorized distraction and for conduct detrimental to the game". Ainge said on Wednesday that he regretted his behavior and called it "unprofessional."
The Cavs and Celtics split four games in the regular season while both clubs finished off their opening round opponents this year in just five games, as Cleveland dispensed of Central Division rival Chicago, and the Celtics sent the Miami Heat back to South Beach.
The teams have met four times in the postseason dating back to the 1975-76 season when Boston won the Eastern Conference finals over the Cavs in six games. The C's also won a first round series over Cleveland in 1984-85, and in the East semis in 2007-08. The Cavs only win in the postseason over Boston came in the East semifinals during the 1991-92 season, also a seven-game set.
The best-of-seven series continues in Boston for Game 4 on Sunday.
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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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