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Nets and Pistons finish home-and-home set

Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-year center Greg Monroe is starting to heat up for a Detroit Pistons team riding a season-high three-game winning streak and is aiming for his fourth straight double-double tonight versus the New Jersey Nets in the back end of a home-and-home series at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Monroe led the Pistons to a 99-92 victory at New Jersey on Wednesday and provided 20 points and 12 rebounds. Monroe has recorded a double-double in eight of his last nine games (14 total) and is averaging 20.8 points and 11.8 boards in his previous four contests.

"We're giving maximum efforts for 48 minutes, we're playing together, everybody's on the same page offensively and defensively," Monroe said of Detroit's recent success.

The former Georgetown star is one of only five players averaging 3.9 or more offensive rebounds per game and is tied for second in the NBA in total offensive rebounds with 104. Jonas Jerebko scored 16 points to go with seven rebounds, while Tayshaun Prince finished with 15 points and five assists for Detroit, which snapped a seven-game road losing streak and is aiming for its first four-game winning streak since a prevailing in five straight games from Dec. 4-12, 2009.

The Pistons are kicking off a three-game homestand tonight versus the Nets, Wizards and Spurs, and are 5-8 at The Palace this season. In injury news for Detroit, guard Will Bynum is questionable for Friday's game versus the Nets with a strained right foot. Bynum missed his 15th straight game on Wednesday and fellow guard Ben Gordon scored 14 points off the bench in New Jersey after missing the previous 10 games with a sore left shoulder.

New Jersey has lost four straight and six of seven games, and almost sent Detroit packing with a loss the last time out. Star point guard Deron Williams poured in a game-high 34 points on 10-of-21 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists. He is averaging 26.3 points in his past nine games for the Nets, who suffered their third loss in a row at home and were outscored by a 31-19 margin in the second quarter.

"That second quarter was really lopsided and that's where they got their confidence," said Williams, was named a reserve on the East's All-Star team.

Jordan Farmar scored 22 points in a reserve role and Kris Humphries posted nine points and 16 rebounds in defeat. New Jersey shot 42.3 percent compared to Detroit's 53.4 percent clip. Keith Bogans had three points before suffering a left ankle injury in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Bogans is expected to undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the 2011-12 season.

Injuries are nothing new to the Nets this season since they're already without center Brook Lopez (foot), forward Damion James (foot), forward DeShawn Stevenson (knee), guard MarShon Brooks (toe) and center Mehmet Okur (back). Center Shelden Williams is the only Nets player to have appeared in all 27 of their games this season. He has made 10 starts.

The 2011-12 season series between the Nets and Pistons is tied at a game apiece, but Detroit is 14-6 in the past 20 matchups in the series. New Jersey has dropped nine in a row and 28 of its last 31 contests at The Palace. It hasn't won on the road in this series since a 79-74 victory on March 26, 2006.

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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.