Magic stay hot, cool Spurs

Basketball Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter recorded 24 points and eight assists, leading the Orlando Magic in a 110-84 rout of the San Antonio Spurs in a matchup between the NBA's two hottest teams.

Both teams came in having won eight of nine, but it was the Magic who never trailed in a game they dominated from start to finish. Rashard Lewis added 20 points, while Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick each poured in 10.

Dwight Howard contributed with nine points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which has won three straight over San Antonio for the first time in franchise history.

The Magic also came into the game having clinched their fourth playoff berth in as many years after the Charlotte Bobcats lost on Tuesday.

"We can't be satisfied just getting to the playoffs at this point, with what we went through last year," Nelson said. "To have a taste of the championship, you want to win it. It's what we're playing for. We're not one of those teams that are happy all year and let's celebrate just because we made the playoffs. We're one of the teams that wants to win it, to have a legit chance."

Richard Jefferson scored 20 points to lead the Spurs, who could not record their third five-game win streak of the season Manu Ginobili added 18 points in the defeat.

Tim Duncan went a miserable 1-for-10 from the field for only a season-low five points.

"It was a tough game," Ginobili said. "We were coming from Miami on a back-to- back against a great team. They started making a lot of shots. We kind of gave up in the third quarter after a good run at the end of the second, but we just couldn't hold it."

Orlando jumped out to a 29-24 lead after the first quarter, then grabbed a 43-26 advantage behind a 14-0 burst early in the second.

Brandon Bass and Redick each had four points during the stretch, and Redick drilled a pair of free throws to cap the stretch with five minutes left.

A Matt Barnes layup quickly increased the lead to 20 at 48-28, but the Spurs finished the half on a 14-4 run to close to within 10, 52-42, at halftime.

The Magic did not relinquish their lead in the third, pushing the margin back to 15, 65-50, on a Barnes shot midway through the period.

A 9-0 burst later had the hosts ahead by a score of 74-52 after a pair of Nelson free throws with 3 1/2 minutes left, and it was 80-58 heading to the fourth.

Orlando maintained their enormous advantage down the stretch.

Game Notes

The Spurs had held seven of their last eight opponents to fewer than 93 points...San Antonio fell to 4-2 since guard Tony Parker broke his finger...The Spurs are a half-game ahead of idle Portland for the seventh spot in the West...Orlando is 28-7 at home, and San Antonio is 16-16 on the road...Barnes returned from a one-game absence (toe) to score eight points.

Wwwgamblingregistry Basketball Betting News


<< Mavs get back on track with win over hurting Bulls
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caron Butler scored 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 26 as the Mavericks ran past Chicago, 113-106, sending the short-handed Bulls to their ninth consecutive defeat. J.J. Barea registered 15 points for Dalla

<< Bourque scores twice to push Flames past Avs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rene Bourque tallied twice and Vesa Toskala made 32 saves as Calgary clipped Colorado, 3-2, at Pepsi Center. Eric Nystrom picked up the other score for the Flames, who snapped a two-game slide and won for the

<< Millsap, Korver pace Utah rout of Minnesota
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver were at the head of a balanced scoring attack with 21 and 20 points, respectively, as the Utah Jazz logged a runaway win over Minnesota, 122-100. Carlos Boozer had 19 poin

<< Brooks perfect from long distance, Rockets end Memphis' road run
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Brooks led all scorers with 31 points and made all seven of his three-point attempts as the Rockets topped the Grizzlies, 107-94, ending Memphis' franchise-record seven-game road winning streak.

<< Celtics get St. Patty's Day win over Knicks
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce scored 29 points in 24 minutes to lead Boston in a 109-97 win against the Knicks amid a sea of green on St. Patrick's Day at the Garden. Kevin Garnett added 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting f

Cal starter Amoke suspended on eve of NCAA tourney >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - California starting forward Omondi Amoke has reportedly been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules and is not expected to suit up for the Bears' NCAA Tournament opener against Louisvi

Ryan nets two as Ducks continue Blackhawks' slide >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobby Ryan notched a pair of goals as Anaheim doubled up Chicago, 4-2, at Honda Center. Todd Marchant and Saku Koivu also tallied and Corey Perry added a pair of assists for the Ducks, who have won two i

Rockies closer Street likely to start season on DL >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies closer Huston Street is likely to start the upcoming season on the disabled list due to a right shoulder injury. Street underwent an MRI Wednesday and has been experiencing sor

Wozniacki reaches Indian Wells semis >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caroline Wozniacki gutted out a three-set victory late Wednesday to reach the semifinals at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open. The native of Denmark, who was last year's U.S. Open runner-up and entere

Warriors rally from 21 down to top Hornets >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Tolliver registered a career-high 30 points, as the Warriors rallied from down 21 late in the third quarter for a 131-121 triumph over the New Orleans Hornets. Monta Ellis scored 28 points and t

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:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.