Suns ease past Kings
Basketball Betting Lines
02/12/2012 - Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Dudley had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns eased past the Sacramento Kings, 98-84, at Power Balance Pavilion.
Steve Nash missed the second quarter after taking a shot to the face from Sacramento's Isaiah Thomas late in the first quarter as Thomas' arm flailed into Nash's head after running into a pick set by Marcin Gortat.
Nash, though, returned in the second half after getting four stitches in his lip and finished the game with four points and 15 assists in the Suns' fourth win in five games.
DeMarcus Cousins netted 26 points and Marcus Thornton dropped in 21 for the Kings, losers of two of their past three.
Phoenix opened the game with back-to-back baskets by Channing Frye and Grant Hill and never looked back, leading for the entire 48 minutes.
"Obviously, it was a great win for us. This team has been playing great basketball," Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said. "For us to play from start to finish like we did, I thought it was really good."
The Kings kept it close over the first four minutes of the game until an 8-2 spurt, capped by Dudley's three-point play, put the Suns ahead, 20-11, with five minutes left in the first.
Sacramento could not get closer than five for the remainder of the first and a pair of Michael Redd free throws gave Phoenix a 31-24 lead after one.
The Suns stretched their lead to double-digits early in the second without their starting point guard and kept the Kings at arm's length in a back-and- forth frame en route to a 53-44 halftime advantage.
Nash then returned for the third quarter and dished out six assists as Phoenix shot 11-for-18 from the floor, closing the quarter with a 10-6 swing that included six points from Gortat and three assists from Nash as the Suns took a 75-60 lead into the final stanza.
Phoenix held at least a 13-point lead for the entire fourth quarter.
"They play well as a team," Kings forward Chuck Hayes said about the Suns. "Everybody plays with their man, they play their strengths, nobody tries anything extra and they actually play really hard."
Game Notes
Suns rookie forward Markieff Morris recorded a career-high 18 points...Sacramento had won three straight home games entering Saturday. They Kings have not won four consecutive home games since November 25-December 2, 2009...Both teams struggled from long range, as the Suns shot 8-for-23 from three-point land and the Kings made 8-of-21 shots from beyond the arc.
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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.