Celtics get back to work in Utah

Basketball Betting Lines

02/19/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics kick off the second half of their season tonight by resuming a torturous six-game road trip in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.

The Celtics improved to 2-0 on the trek before the All-Star break when Paul Pierce outscored the Mavericks in the final period, pouring in 18 of his 31 points down the stretch as Boston rallied to claim a 99-92 victory over Dallas last Thursday.

Boston outscored the Mavs, 30-17, in the final 12 minutes, led by plenty of daggers from Pierce. The All-Star's two biggest came in the closing minute- plus, with a fall-away jumper giving the Celtics a 93-91 edge with 1:12 on the clock and another tough mid-range bucket pushing the lead to four with 38.5 ticks to play.

Rajon Rondo allowed Boston to hang on in the early going, registering his second career triple-double. He finished with 19 points to go along with 14 assists and a team-best 15 rebounds, and achieved the feat with 53.2 seconds still left in the third quarter.

Kevin Garnett added 16 points and five rebounds and Ray Allen had 20 points, as Boston, which headed into the break with the most victories in the league at 44-11, has won three of four overall.

The C's have also won nine straight on the road and are 20-7 on the year as the visitor and will finish their current swing with games against Phoenix, Denver and the LA Clippers.

The Celtics did receive some bad news off the court, however. The team's top bench player, the athletic Tony Allen, underwent surgery to repair ligaments in his left thumb on Wednesday and will miss the next eight weeks.

The 6-foot-4 Allen is currently in his fifth season with the Celtics and is averaging 7.8 points and 1.25 steals in 19.1 minutes per game.

The Jazz, meanwhile, improved to 2-0 on a five-game homestand on Tuesday when C.J. Miles scored a game-best 24 points, Deron Williams added 20 and Utah welcomed Andrei Kirilenko back to the lineup in a 117-99 rout of Memphis.

Kirilenko, who missed 11 games after undergoing ankle surgery, played 17 1/2 high-energy minutes with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Ronnie Brewer chipped in 19 points and Williams added 15 assists to his point total. Paul Millsap tallied 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

"He (Kirilenko) made a big steal and then on the other end had a big basket and then blocked a couple of shots. That was something that we missed with him," Utah head coach Jerry Sloan said of Kirilenko.

Star forward Carlos Boozer (knee) remains out for the Jazz but center Mehmet Okur, who missed the win over Memphis with the flu, is expected back tonight.

Utah won its ninth consecutive game against Memphis and improved to an impressive 22-6 at home this season. It will conclude its homestand against New Orleans and Atlanta.

The Jazz had a 37-4 record at EnergySolutions Arena last season, the NBA's best home mark, but the Celtics were responsible for one of those losses. -- a 104-98 triumph on December 29, 2007. Overall, the Celtics have won two of their past three games with the Jazz, including a 100-91 win in Boston earlier this season.

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SPORTS BETTING

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.

Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking

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