James is a 'Super Freak' on the court
Basketball Betting Lines
03/09/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Instead of playing four different roles in a Nike commercial Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James should pose as legendary pop artist Rick James in his next television ad.
LeBron James is a very special player, pretty wild on the court and you can read about him in every kind of magazine. He doesn't let fans' spirits down and has basketball skills from his head down to his toenails. And I'm sure any woman would love to take him home to mother.
The extremely-marketable James has scored at least 29 points in nine straight games, averaging 34.2 ppg over that span. He also has scored at least 32 points in each of the last five games, and is averaging 37.0 ppg in four contests this month. Cleveland's "freak" is fresh off a 41-point performance against the rival Detroit Pistons in a win on Wednesday night.
The Cavaliers are battling the Pistons in both the Central Division and Eastern Conference standings. They are two games off the mark in both categories and will meet Detroit again in the Motor City on April 8.
Cleveland has won three straight and nine of its last 13 games, and is 11 games over the .500 mark (36-25) for the first time this season. James is a big reason for that and will help the Cavs wrap up a brief two-game road trip on Saturday at Milwaukee.
After playing the Bucks at the Bradley Center, Cleveland will play six of its next eight games at home. Cleveland is 23-8 at Quicken Loans Arena this season and has won three in a row as the host. It has also won 34 of the last 42 games within the friendly confines, dating back to March of the 2006 campaign.
James is not the only player who is lighting up the scoreboard for Cleveland, as guard Larry Hughes is averaging 20.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists over the previous three games. Hughes, who has pulled down no less than five rebounds in six of his last eight games, has led the Cavs to a 16-5 record in his career when he eclipses the 20-point mark.
James and Hughes have been a house of horrors for opponents lately, and must keep it up as the end of the regular season nears. Head coach Mike Brown must make sure James brings the "freak" out for the remainder of the season. James is young so Brown and the rest of the organization won't have to worry about their star burning out because of the fire and desire in his heart.
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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.