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Hawks remain unbeaten by edging Thunder

Basketball Betting Lines

11/09/2008 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson scored 25 points to help the Atlanta Hawks remain unbeaten with an 89-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Marvin Williams added 16 points for the Hawks, who at 5-0 are off to their best start since winning their first 11 games of the 1997-98 campaign. Ronald Murray had 14 points in the win and Mike Bibby 13. Al Horford hauled in 12 rebounds and Solomon Jones had 10 boards.

Kevin Durant had 20 points for the Thunder, who have lost three straight and five of six to open the season. Russell Westbrook scored 15 points and Joe Smith tallied 14 points and nine rebounds in defeat.

A 12-2 run by Atlanta opened an 80-77 lead with 3:47 left. Murray sparked the run with a pair from the line and Williams closed it with a three-pointer from the right wing.

Three free throws from Smith tied it at 80 with 2 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

Johnson added a couple of baskets to give the Hawks an 84-80 lead with 90 ticks left.

Following a timeout, Durant fed Smith down low, but his layup was off the mark and Murray grabbed the rebound. Atlanta worked the ball upcourt, but missed on a couple of threes.

However, the club dwindled the clock down to 34.3 seconds, and after a timeout, Bibby was fouled and hit both shots to increase the lead to 86-80.

Two free throws from Smith made it a four-point game with 16.9 seconds left. Oklahoma City was forced to foul, and Bibby hit just 1-of-2.

The Thunder rushed downcourt and Desmond Mason tallied a layup to make it 88-85. Jeff Green then missed a potential tying three-pointer in the waning seconds, and Williams made one free throw to seal Atlanta's win.

The Hawks jumped out to a 22-14 lead after the first quarter, but the Thunder stormed back for a 41-38 lead at the half.

The teams traded baskets and the lead see-sawed before Earl Watson's jumper gave the Thunder a 56-53 lead with just under five minutes left in the third quarter.

After three minutes of scoreless ball, Durant connected on a bucket to make it a five-point game.

The Hawks trimmed their deficit a shade, 62-58, heading into the final 12 minutes of play.

Two free throws from Jones, a jumper from Williams and two more from the stripe by Maurice Evans gave the Hawks a 66-64 lead with 9:18 showing on the clock.

The Thunder answered back and the teams found themselves knotted at 68 a minute later. Oklahoma City, though, opened a 75-68 advantage as Mason dropped a layup, Smith hit a free throw and Durant had a three-point play.

Game Notes

Atlanta forward Josh Smith (ankle) is out for the next two to four weeks after spraining his ankle against the Raptors...The Thunder are 1-3 at home this season...The Hawks had lost eight of the past nine matchups in this series...Atlanta won despite shooting 37.2 percent from the field...The Thunder ended at 39.1 percent...Oklahoma City forward Chris Wilcox left in the first quarter after spraining his right knee.

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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.

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