Points Joins Rebounds Over Duncan

Basketball Betting Lines

San Antonio continues its Jekyll and Hyde type season, staying perfect at the At&T Center on Wednesday with a 101-95 overtime victory over South Texas rival Houston. Conversely the Spurs are 0-4 on the road.

 

Richard Jefferson's three-pointer with over a minute left in the extra frame lifted San Antonio against the Rockets. Jefferson ended with a trio of three- pointers in the game for a total of nine points for the Spurs, who improved to 7-0 at home for the first time since the 2007-08 club, which began 13-0.

 

"I'm happy with that one. It was a tough one," Parker said. "Houston is a very physical team and they played great tonight. Everybody had to play great and it was a great win for us. We needed it."

 

Duncan will have an opportunity to climb another spot tonight, as the former MVP sits just 15 points behind Gary Payton's total of 21,813.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling New Jersey Nets will resume a four-game road trip in the desert tonight against the Suns. Turning things around in Phoenix will not be easy for New Jersey, however. The Nets have consistently struggled in the Valley of the Sun, dropping 16 of their past 17 visits.

 

The Nets have lost nine of 10 overall since winning their season opener with the latest defeat coming Wednesday in Denver when Danilo Gallinari led six teammates in double-figures with 22 points as the Nuggets downed New Jersey, 123-115.

 

"It was pretty good offense for our team," Nets head coach Avery Johnson said. "Any time you score 115 points, you would think that it's going to be a win. We shot the ball well, we just couldn't get any stops defensively."

 

The Suns haven't been playing all that well either and dropped the opener of a brief two-game homestand to Cleveland on Thursday. Rookie star Kyrie Irving outdueled Steve Nash in that one, scoring a game-high 26 points.

 

Former All-Star Michael Redd scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a 3-of-7 effort from beyond the arc, in his Suns debut. Redd, an 11-year veteran with a history of knee problems, signed with the Suns on Dec. 29. He had spent his entire career in Milwaukee.

 

The Suns, who will hit the road for a five-game trip after tonight's game, have won four straight and nine of 10 overall vs. the Nets.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers try to string back-to-back wins together this evening when they visit the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Indiana improved to 4-0 at home on Wednesday, as Danny Granger scored 24 points, leading the Pacers to a 96-84 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Pacers led by as many as 24 points and halted Atlanta's three-game winning streak.

 

Granger shot 9-of-16 from the floor, but is among the league's worst with a field goal percentage of 33.6.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.