11/22/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored 29 points to pace the Lakers to their 10th win in 11 games this season, a 104-90 triumph over the Denver Nuggets.
Andrew Bynum contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds as Los Angeles beat Denver for the fifth straight time. Lamar Odom also scored 13, while Pau Gasol had 12 and Trevor Ariza 11.
Bryant, who ended 12-of-18 from the field, had 11 points in the third quarter and didn't play in the fourth with the outcome in hand.
"It's a good start," said Bryant of the team's record, "But it's not what we play for at all. But it means we're on the right track and the important thing is to stay there."
J.R. Smith and Nene led the way for the Nuggets with 18 points apiece. Chauncey Billups added 15 points for Denver, which had a four-game winning streak broken.
"We're still playing good, but we just had a tough night," said Billups. "That team is a really good team. They don't let you do what you want to do and that's what great teams do. They're long, they can play fast, they can play slow, we just had a rough night."
It was a poor offensive night for Carmelo Anthony, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but shot 5-of-19 from the field.
The Lakers were ahead 67-47 at the half, but the Nuggets made their run in the third quarter. A Dahntay Jones layup had Denver within 71-60 at the midway point, but Bryant's jumper started 10 straight LA points. Ariza's jumper culminated the push, and Bryant had the final bucket of the period for an 88-67 difference.
Denver didn't threaten over the final 12 minutes, never getting the deficit under double digits.
The Lakers surged early, as Jordan Farmar's three-ball expanded the lead to 29-15. It was 35-20 going to the second, and LA continued to pull away. Gasol's jam off a feed from Farmar moved the cushion to 59-32 with 4:26 remaining in the half.
Game Notes
Denver has lost 11 of its last 12 on the road versus the Lakers...Linas Kleiza scored 13 for the Nuggets...This is LA's best start since winning 16 of its first 17 games of the 2001-02 season...Bynum tied his career high with five assists.
<< Portland uses depth to dominate Kings
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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 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.
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