Bryant leads West to easy All-Star game win
Basketball Betting Lines
02/19/2007 -
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, dished out six
assists and had six steals to lead the West to an easy 153-132 win over the
East in the 56th annual All-Star Game at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Bryant was named the MVP of the contest for leading a West team that
registered an All-Star game record 52 assists and fell just two points short
of its own All-Star game record for points -- 155 set in 2003.
Amare Stoudemire added 29 points and nine rebounds for the West, who snapped
a two-game skid in the event. Carmelo Anthony chipped in with 20 points and
nine boards, while Shawn Marion finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.
"We wanted to come out and play pretty well," said Bryant. "We lost the last
two games and wanted to get back in the win column. We had a blast. If you had
a shot you took it, otherwise you penetrated and dished it."
LeBron James -- who was the MVP in last year's game -- netted 28 points, six
rebounds and six assists for the East. Dwight Howard was a force inside in
his All-Star debut with 20 points and a game-high 12 boards, while Joe Johnson
had 12 points.
The opening quarter featured some sloppy play early but the West heated up
quickly. Anthony's fade away jumper from the right corner gave them a 10-point
advantage, 35-25, with just over a minute to go in the stanza.
Less than 30 seconds later, Vince Carter provided a spark for the East and
electrified the crowd with a slam off a beautiful spin move but the West still
managed to keep a 39-31 advantage after the opening 12 minutes.
Carter continued to provide a show for the fans early in the second quarter,
taking a Chauncey Billups feed off the glass and depositing another slam.
But, it was the West establishing control in the frame. Dirk Nowitzki's three,
with 9:44 remaining before the half, made it a 51-35 game.
The West continued to dominate the next few minutes. A 7-0 run, featuring
back-to-back layups by Nowitzki and Marion and a McGrady triple, gave the West
its first 20-point cushion, 59-39, with a little over seven minutes to go in
the second
The teams then traded baskets for the rest of the half and the West took a
79-59 edge into the locker room. Bryant led the West with 17 points on 8-of-14
shooting, while James paced the East with 16 points and shot 6-of-10 from the
floor.
The West continued to run away early in the third quarter. Ray Allen's three,
with 4:08 left in the frame, gave the West a commanding 108-76 advantage.
Nowitzki then capped the scoring in the frame with a jumper to make it 119-88
heading into the final frame.
The East failed to make any kind of serious run in the fourth quarter. A
Dwyane Wade jumper cut the deficit to 25, 129-104, with 7:53 left in the game
but Bryant stemmed any momentum by draining a three 17 seconds later.
The Lakers' star then got loose for a reverse dunk on the baseline and Marion
followed that with another reverse jam to extend the West's advantage to
136-106 with 6:51 on the clock.
The West coasted to the finish line from there. Bryant capped his MVP
performance with a spinning slam with 30 seconds left.
Game Notes
This was the first All-Star game held outside an NBA franchise city...Bryant
captured his second All-Star MVP award. His first was in his hometown of
Philadelphia during the 2002 game...Wade's follow shot in the lane with
16.6 seconds remaining rallied the East past the West, 122-120, at Houston's
Toyota Center in last year's game...The East still holds a commanding 35-21
advantage in the all-time series...New Jersey guard Jason Kidd was originally
named as a reserve to the East squad, however but was sidelined with a back
injury and did not play in the contest. Meanwhile, the Western Conference was
without ailing center Yao Ming and guards Steve Nash of the Suns and Denver's
Allen Iverson...Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton entertained the crowd before the
game while the city's nine time entertainer of the year Andy Gans sang the
National Anthem...Six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton and Christina Aguilera
headlined the halftime show.
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Visnovsky added a goal and an assist in regulation and
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What Is the Point Spread?
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
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.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
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