Celtics head north of the border to face Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics may have seen their longest winning streak of the season come to a halt on Thursday. But, a trip north of the border to face the Toronto Raptors could get them back on track.

Boston saw its five-game winning streak stopped on Thursday, as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Celtics, 88-87, in overtime at TD Garden.

Ray Allen paced Boston with 22 points and All-Star reserve Paul Pierce added 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Garnett posted 12 points and 12 boards, but shot just 2-of-13 from the floor after halftime.

The Celtics failed to get a quality attempt off at the end of the fourth quarter, and missed four shots in the final 70 seconds of overtime.

At the end of regulation, Pierce dribbled down the final seconds and was hounded outside the arc before passing to Mickael Pietrus with two seconds left. Pietrus' off-balanced 31-footer was nowhere close to the rim as the buzzer sounded.

"I shouldn't have picked up my dribble. It kind of broke up the play when I picked up my dribble," Pierce admitted.

Pierce's three actually gave Boston the lead, 87-86, with 1:51 left in the extra session, but the Celtics went cold from there. Pierce had a chance to give Boston the lead late but his forced 18-footer drew iron and Allen's put- back was blocked by Pau Gasol.

"I was in the perfect situation and [Gasol] came out of nowhere," Allen said.

The Celtics should be able to get back on track tonight as they face a Raptors team that has lost three straight games after a 105-99 setback to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

DeMar DeRozan paced the Raptors with 25 points, including 4-of-6 three-point shooting. James Johnson contributed 15 points and Kleiza and Leandro Barbosa added 12 and 11, respectively, off the bench for Toronto, which lost for the fifth time in six tries overall and fell to 3-7 at home this season.

"They've got the No. 1 bench in the NBA in scoring. They played hard," said Johnson. "They came with a lot of energy."

Toronto continues to play without injured star Andrea Bargnani, who is sidelined with a strained left calf.

Boston beat the Raptors by 36 points last Wednesday and has topped them five straight times and in 13 of the last 14 meetings. The Celtics have also had success in Toronto, where they've won seven of eight and eight of their last 11.

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NFL Football Betting Online

In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.

It is called the "pointspread."

Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.

But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.

A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.

In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.

The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .

Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.

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