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Blazers kick off road trip vs. NetsBasketball Betting Lines02/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers have been teetering along the playoff line and will try to stay in the hunt when they commence a five-game road trip Tuesday against the woeful New Jersey Nets at the IZOD Center. The Blazers are one game ahead of New Orleans for the eighth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference, and will also visit the Raptors, Bulls, Timberwolves and Grizzlies on the road swing. They are 13-13 away from the Rose City this season. Portland has dropped two straight and four of its last six games, including a 93-89 decision in overtime versus the Utah Jazz on Sunday in the finale of a three-game homestand. Brandon Roy had 23 points for Portland, which went 1-2 on the residency and got 17 points from Andre Miller. Miller is averaging 17.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists since January 2. "You've got to play the game the right way for 48 minutes. Regardless of what the score is, whether you're up 20 or down 20, you've got to play together. You've got to execute," said a dejected Blazers coach Nate McMillan. "If we are serious about really making a run, we've got to act like it and we've got to play like it." LaMarcus Aldridge ended with 15 and 10 rebounds in defeat, and is posting team highs of 19.9 points and 9.4 rebounds in his last 20 games. He has scored 15 or more points in each of the last 17 games, the longest such stretch of his career. New Jersey will continue its miserable season Tuesday in the finale of a four- game homestand. The Nets have lost the first three contests of the residency and dropped a 104-94 decision to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, as Brook Lopez finished with 26 points and nine rebounds in a losing effort. Lopez is the only player in the NBA to average at least 19.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.93 blocks, and is ranked third among all NBA centers in scoring at 19.1 ppg. "We continue to make the same mistakes," said Devin Harris, who posted 17 points and 13 assists. "Until we learn from it, it's going to be tough to try to win these games. We got to be better." Yi Jianlian and Courtney Lee had 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the Nets, who fell to 5-51 on the season and are still on pace to threaten the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers' 9-73 mark for futility. New Jersey has lost seven in a row at home and is only 3-24 as the host this season. Portland recorded a 93-83 win over New Jersey back in November 25 at the Rose Garden and has won the last four meetings in the series. The Blazers are unbeaten in their last three visits to the Meadowlands.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant leads his red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder against the Phoenix Suns tonight in a battle of Western Conference contenders at the Ford Center. The Thunder, who are one-half game ahead of Phoenix for the fi
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Wolves, Heat collide in South Beach >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade is expected to miss his third straight game tonight, when the Minnesota Timberwolves invade south Florida for a showdown at AmericanAirlines Arena. Wade has missed back-to-back contests because
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Big 12 Conference betting odds Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State Work left to do: Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on. Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough. Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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 SpreadsNew 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:
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