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Celtics shoot for commanding 3-0 series lead over visiting Magic

Basketball Betting Lines

05/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics return to TD Garden tonight hoping to take a commanding 3-0 lead over the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals.

Paul Pierce scored 28 points with five assists and five rebounds on Tuesday, as Boston took a surprising 2-0 edge in the set, downing Orlando, 95-92, in Game 2 at Amway Arena.

"It was a great game, a game of runs," said Boston head coach Doc Rivers. "They brought the fight to us and we withstood the hits."

The win marked the first time in the Celtics' storied history that the franchise has taken two straight road games to start a playoff series. It was also the team's fifth straight playoff triumph overall, as well as Orlando's second straight home loss for the first time all season. In fact, Orlando had not lost consecutive home games since Games 4 and 5 of last season's NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Pierce fouled out with 31.9 seconds left in the game and Boston clinging to a 95-92 lead, and watched from the bench as Vince Carter missed two key free throws. After a Kevin Garnett miss at the other end, the Magic had one last chance, which ended in Jameer Nelson's off-balance 30-foot heave that drew air just short of the rim.

Rajon Rondo added 25 points with eight assists and five boards for the Celtics while Garnett and Kendrick Perkins donated 10 points apiece for Boston.

Dwight Howard, in a far better effort than his 13-point showing in the series opener last Sunday, scored a game-best 30 points with eight rebounds, while Carter and JJ Redick added 16 points apiece for Orlando.

"We have to go play the next game and win it," said Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy. "We played harder, but we don't sustain it."

The Celtics, who have never blown a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series, now have a chance to advance to the Finals without leaving Beantown but the team struggled on its home floor this season, compiling just a 24-17 mark as the host, tied for the worst of all teams that made the playoffs.

Boston, which was 26-15 as the visitor in the regular season, was one of just two NBA teams that was better on the road than at home, the first time the C's had a better record on the road than at home since 1974. The Celtics have seemed to rebound in the postseason, however, compiling a 5-1 home mark so far in the playoffs.

"I think our guys are getting comfortable playing at home again," Rivers said.

"I feel pretty good about it," Perkins added. "I think this Game 3 is the most important, though. We can't give them any hope."

The Magic do have hope though. Van Gundy's club was one of two teams to win twice in Boston this year and also topped the Celtics in Beantown twice in the playoffs last season, including the deciding Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals -- Boston's first-ever loss at home in a seventh game.

"We have won there before, and there's no reason we can't do it again," Magic forward Rashard Lewis said. "Boston came to us and beat us twice on our home court, so it's happened before. Why can't we do it?

"Last year, Boston never lost a Game 7 on their home floor. We went in and beat them. It can happen."

The Magic won three of four games vs. the Celtics in the regular season this year and has taken both previous playoff matchups between the two franchises, last year's semifinals set and a first round win back in the 1994-95 season.

The best-of-seven series continues on Monday in Boston for Game 4.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

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.