Pierce leads Celtics in rout of Pacers
Basketball Betting Lines
03/12/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce scored 20 to lead a balanced attack, and the Boston Celtics got back to their winning ways with a 122-103 rout of the lowly Indiana Pacers.
Rajon Rondo added 16 points and 11 assists for the Celtics, who had lost two straight overall, in addition to eight of their last 15 games at home. Boston, which went 35-6 at TD Garden in each of the past two seasons, improved to just 19-12 as the host in 2009-10.
Nate Robinson and Glen Davis each came off the bench to score 15, and Ray Allen poured in 13 points in the win. Kendrick Perkins provided 10 points and seven rebounds.
Roy Hibbert was the leading scorer for the Pacers with 23, although Indiana lost for the fifth time in six games. Troy Murphy added 17 points and 10 boards, while Danny Granger returned from a one-game suspension to score 16 in defeat.
The Celtics grabbed a 29-23 lead after the first quarter, then blew the game open in the second.
A Robinson three expanded Boston's lead to 10, 36-26, nearly three minutes into the frame, and the advantage grew to 57-40 after Kevin Garnett and Pierce each hit a pair from the line.
A Pierce three-point play later expanded the lead to 20, and the hosts held a 67-47 lead at halftime.
Boston led by as many as 25 in the third quarter and was ahead 98-78 heading to the fourth. Many of the Celtics' starters sat on the bench in the final 12 minutes as the team coasted to victory.
Game Notes
Boston won the season series, 2-1...Indiana fell to 7-28 on the road...Pacers guard T.J. Ford left in the first quarter with a sore left groin and did not return...The Celtics have won five straight at home versus Indiana...Garnett had nine points and six boards...Robinson hit 5-of-6 from three-point range.
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Divisio
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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