Gay, Grizzlies pay a visit to Clippers
Basketball Betting Lines
01/26/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis Grizzlies leading scorer Rudy Gay was averaging more than 20 points during his team's season-high seven-game winning streak, but was held in check the last time out in a loss at Portland.
Gay and the Grizzlies aim to start a new winning streak when they resume a four-game road trip tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. Memphis was one win away from matching a franchise-best eight-game winning streak set from Jan. 11-25, 2004 and dropped a 97-84 decision to the Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
Gay, who is averaging a team-best 18.4 ppg, posted 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting and O.J. Mayo recorded a team-high 20 points off the bench.
Marc Gasol had an off night, ending with seven points, four rebounds and three assists for the Grizzlies, who shot 37.8 percent and were outrebounded by a 50-39 margin. Memphis also sank just 3-of-14 three-pointers and was averaging 102.0 points during the win streak.
"We gave all we had," said Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins, "it just wasn't enough tonight. That was simply the bottom line."
Memphis is also 9-4 since All-Star forward Zach Randolph went down on January 1 with a torn MCL. Randolph is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks of action.
The Grizzlies, who were playing their second straight game and fourth in five days, are 4-5 away from Beale Street this season and will close out the journey Saturday at Phoenix. The last time Memphis lost two in a row was during a three-game slide from Jan. 6-10. It had won three straight on the road until losing at Portland and is a game behind idle San Antonio for the top spot in the Southwest Division.
Los Angeles has alternated wins and losses over its last six games and dropped a 96-91 decision to the rival Lakers last night. Blake Griffin registered a game-high 26 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Chris Paul returned from a five-game absence because of a hamstring injury to post four points and 12 assists for the Clippers. LA went 3-2 without Paul in the lineup.
"It was a frustrating loss, but it was good to get Chris out there," Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro said. "I thought we made them earn it at the end. We didn't execute a couple of plays down the stretch that hurt us."
Caron Butler and Mo Williams both had 16 points in a losing effort. Williams was averaging 25.6 points in his previous three games.
The Clippers are 8-2 as the host this season and will hit the road to Denver following tonight's tilt with Memphis.
Los Angeles and Memphis have split the past eight meetings between the teams, but the Clippers are riding a modest two-game winning streak in the series. The Grizzlies have lost seven of nine meetings as the guest against the Clips.
Griffin posted 18.3 points and 11.0 rebounds in four games against the Grizzlies last season. Gay only appeared in one of those contests, posting 12 points in 44:00 minutes of an 84-83 win on Dec. 11 in Hollywood.
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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.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.