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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.
<< Sun Devils stun USC
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Pendergraph scored 14 points and grabbed 15
rebounds, and the longest losing streak in Division I basketball came to an
end, as Arizona State recorded its first Pac-10 win of the season, 68-58, over
22nd-ra
<< Murray wins SAP Open for second straight year
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Murray defeated Ivo Karlovic in an
exciting final at the SAP Open on Sunday to successfully defend his title in
San Jose.
In their first-ever meeting, Murray battled back to down the big-se
<< Blues skate past Wild
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Backes' pair of scores lifted the Blues
to a 5-3 win over the Wild at Scottrade Center.
Jamal Mayers, Jay McClement, and Keith Tkachuk also lit the lamp for St.
Louis, which has won three in a
<< No. 10 ASU tops UCLA
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Briann January had a career-high 22 points
with nine assists and six steals, and the 10th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils
downed UCLA 80-69.
Emily Westerberg and Danielle Orsillo added 12 points apiece
Mets ink Sandy Alomar Jr. to minor league deal >>
Port St. Lucie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets have signed catcher
Sandy Alomar Jr. to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring
training.
The 40-year-old Alomar played in 27 games last season with the Los An
Powerful Penguins put streak on the line against Isles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins look to continue their best run
since the franchise's glory days when the NHL's hottest team visits the New
York Islanders this afternoon in a President's Day matinee from Nassau
Coliseu
Predators try to end recent woes against struggling Coyotes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators will try to regain possession of
first place in the Central Division as they continue a homestand this evening
with a matchup against the slumping Phoenix Coyotes.
Nashville lost its grasp on
Flyers, Bruins look to continue good play of late >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams that have shown improved play in recent
weeks will get together this evening at the Wachovia Center, where the Boston
Bruins resume a long road trip with a showdown against the Philadelphia
Flyers.
MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines
New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.
"The World Series is the biggest baseball event in the sports betting world and MySportsbook.com is excited that we are first to market with betting lines on every team," says Tim Dalton, Marketing Director, MySportsbook.com. "We are getting things ready for a great baseball season and our members are looking forward to our Player Payback Bonuses, as well as Dime Lines, all season long."
Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.
"These betting lines are ripe for the picking," Dalton added, "baseball fans know that the season is long and many factors, including players staying healthy, will affect these Future odds as the baseball season progresses. Betting on your favorite team in the beginning of the season could prove quite lucrative. We are seeing examples of this right now in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament with a lucky few that placed pre-season bets on George Mason to win it all. Anything can happen."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs..
About www.MySportsbook.com
MySportsbook.com is the foremost online sportsbook offering Internet wagering to its worldwide customers. Fully licensed and regulated in St. John’s, Antigua since 1997, MySportsbook.com offers a complete range of online casino games, sports betting lines, poker tournaments and horse racing offtrack betting daily through its portfolio of companies and managed services. With over 7 years of experience, MySportsbook.com has become one of the most respected companies in the gaming industry by providing unparalleled 24/7 customer support and timely payouts. MySportsbook.com is part of the SportingBet PLC group of companies that is publicly-traded on the London Stock Exchange ( LSE ) under the symbol SBT.L. MySportsbook.com provides a secure environment for sports and casino wagering and has been featured in numerous media outlets, including MAXIM Magazine, Cigar Aficionado, and CNN’s Paula Zahn Now among others.
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.
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:
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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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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