Hawks rally to beat Sixers

Basketball Betting Lines

11/01/2008 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson scored 35 points and hit a key three-pointer late, as the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 23-point deficit to notch a 95-88 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in their home opener.

Josh Smith added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Mike Bibby added 19 points for the Hawks, who remain undefeated this season after winning their season-opener on Wednesday at Orlando.

Atlanta ended the game on a 17-4 run over the final 6:30.

Thaddeus Young tied a career high with 22 points for Philadelphia, while Elton Brand notched his third double-double this season with 17 points and 16 boards.

Andre Iguodala had 16 points for the Sixers, whose starting five all reached double-digit scoring, but have lost two of three to start the season.

Atlanta entered the fourth quarter down by nine points, but quickly got back in the game and started its game-ending run on a Smith jumper, which Zaza Pachulia followed with a short shot of his own.

Johnson's jumper with four minutes left tied the game at 84-84 before Brand sank a shot to put the Sixers back ahead -- the only Philadelphia field goal in the game's final 6:57.

Johnson tied the game with a pair of field goals, then after a series of missed shots, dunked with 1:53 on the clock to give the Hawks their first lead of the contest.

Samuel Dalembert was then fouled and sank both free throws for the Sixers, but their defense broke down on the next possession and allowed Ronald Murray to drive through the paint for a finger-roll layup with 1:21 left and a 90-88 Atlanta lead.

Brand missed badly on his next attempt and Atlanta's Al Horford got the rebound, but stepped out of bounds. However, Iguodala traveled, giving Atlanta the ball back.

Johnson, though, obtained the ball and, after Young fell down, stepped back and drilled a three from about six feet behind the arc. The field goal gave the Hawks a 93-88 advantage, and they cruised to the win from there.

The Sixers built up a big first-quarter lead thanks to a 14-2 run. Young helped start it with a couple of three-pointers that sandwiched an Andre Miller jumper. Young later added a layup and Brand capped the surge with a pair of free throws to make it a 31-14 game.

Philadelphia took a 34-18 advantage into the second quarter, and boosted the lead to 44-21 after an Iguodala jumper midway through the stanza. Atlanta trimmed its deficit a bit from there, but a Brand jumper gave the Sixers a 57-44 lead at halftime.

The Sixers still held a double-digit lead in the third quarter, but Atlanta chipped away more and got its deficit under 10. Smith and Johnson made back- to-back shots to bring the Hawks within 64-57 with 6:18 left in the third.

The teams traded baskets until the end of the quarter, when a Murray jumper brought Atlanta within 75-66.

The Hawks quickly made up more of the deficit at the start of the fourth when Smith made a three and followed with a basket for a 75-71 contest.

Philadelphia boosted its lead when Young made a three-pointer and Miller provided a layup, but Atlanta got within a basket with seven straight points. A Smith layup, Pachulia jumper and Smith three brought the Hawks within 80-78 with 7:43 remaining.

Game Notes

Dalembert finished with 12 points and 11 boards, while Miller had 11 points and eight assists for Philadelphia. The Sixers bench provided just 10 points...Atlanta won three of four meetings last season...Young scored 22 in a March 9 game against Milwaukee last season.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

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.