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03/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder hope to get back into the win column when they continue a three-game road trip Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
The Thunder suffered a 119-90 loss at Denver on Wednesday, as All-Star Kevin Durant and rookie James Harden had 19 points apiece in a losing cause. Serge Ibaka came up with 15 points and 13 boards for Oklahoma City, which had won three in a row and 12 of 14 overall entering the contest. It was Durant's lowest scoring output since he posted 13 points in a loss to Houston on December 19.
"They made shots and we couldn't come down and get the shots we wanted. A great team like them, they executed," said Durant of the lopsided loss.
Russell Westbrook finished with 11 points in defeat. The Thunder are sixth in the Western Conference and will close out the road swing on Sunday at Sacramento. Oklahoma City is 17-13 as the visitor this season.
Los Angeles will close out a three-game homestand this evening and has lost three of its last four games. In a 127-101 setback versus the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, All-Star Chris Kaman finished with 24 points and nine rebounds, and Eric Gordon ended with 21 points.
Rasual Butler netted 16 points, while Steve Blake and Drew Gooden each contributed 14 for the Clippers, who are 1-1 on the residency and 18-13 in Hollywood this season.
"It was a good first half, but I was disappointed in our third quarter," said Clippers coach Kim Hughes, whose squad was outscored 39-18 in the third stanza. "We rushed shots. They pounded us on the boards. We've got some work to do."
The 2009-10 season series between the Thunder and Clippers is tied at a game apiece. LA has won 13 of the last 20 contests between the teams.
<< Bosh set to return as Raptors host Knicks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors are currently mired in one of their
worst losing spells of the season, but relief finally appears to be on the
way.
With Chris Bosh expected to return to the lineup, the slumping Raptors will
try to re
<< Surging Bucks visit Wizards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks continue their push towards a
postseason berth tonight at Washington's Verizon Center, where the surging
club will shoot for a home-and-home sweep of the struggling Wizards.
Milwaukee posted its seventh
<< Lakers aim for season sweep of Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers resume a three-game road trip in
Charlotte tonight hoping to get back on the winning track against a slumping
Bobcats team.
The Lakers dropped the opener of their trek in South Beach last night when
<< Cavs and Pistons clash at the "Q"
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers shoot for their
sixth straight win Friday when they welcome Central Division rival Detroit to
Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs earned their fifth consecutive triumph on Wednesday in Ne
Canucks continue epic road trip against Blackhawks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will aim for a third straight
victory when they continue their record road trip tonight at United Center
with a test against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Canucks are 6-4-0 on a 14-game swing that began
Sabres hope to get on track versus Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling Buffalo Sabres will aim for their first
win since the Olympic break when they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers for
tonight's Eastern Conference battle at HSBC Arena.
The Sabres have lost two straight since th
Hawks to host road-challenged Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks will welcome the Golden State Warriors to
town this evening for a showdown at Philips Arena.
Atlanta can't seem to gain any ground on the Orlando Magic, who are two games
ahead of the Hawks for both first
Southeast-leading Magic to pay a visit to hapless Nets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic will shoot for their fourth straight win
when they visit the lowly New Jersey Nets tonight at the IZOD Center.
Orlando made it three straight wins with a 117-90 victory over the Golden
State Warriors Wedn
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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