Hawks and Hornets tangle in the Big Easy

Basketball Betting Lines

01/29/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Hornets hope to build on their first win in over two weeks when they host the Atlanta Hawks in the Big Easy.

New Orleans tasted victory for the first time since Jan. 9 on Friday when Carl Landry netted a team-high 17 points as the Hornets rolled over the Orlando Magic, 93-67, to snap a nine-game losing streak.

Marco Belinelli had 15 points, Jason Smith scored 14 and Jarrett Jack added 11 with nine assists for NOLA, which is a Western Conference-worst 4-15 on the season.

"I can look at the stats sheet and point out a number of things, but when I'm in that locker room and in that huddle and the guys are supporting one another, out there fighting for one another and playing the way they played tonight, it makes the prospects in the future for our organization look bright," Hornets head coach Monty Williams said.

The win came on the heels of the team shutting down veteran center Chris Kaman in order to garner more playing time for Smith as well as Gustavo Ayon and Al- Farouq Aminu.

Kaman, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Chris Paul, was told he will no longer suit up for the Hornets as the team pursues a trade.

"We had a conversation with Chris and expressed that the Hornets are going to go in a different direction," general manager Dell Demps said. "Chris has been the ultimate professional during this process and we thank him for the way he has handled the situation."

The Hawks, meanwhile, improved to 2-1 on a five-game road trip Friday in Auburn Hills when Joe Johnson scored 30 points, including a game-tying three- pointer in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, to lead Atlanta to a 107-101 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Marvin Williams added 22 points and eight rebounds, while Josh Smith had 19 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks in the Hawks' third win in four games.

"We were relentless. We never gave up," said Johnson. "Even when things didn't look so bright for us, we hung in there, stayed with each other, stayed mentally tough, stayed with the game plan and were able to pull a big win out."

Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague was forced to leave the game against the Pistons late in the third quarter after rolling his ankle and is questionable for tonight's contest.

The Hornets have won three straight over the Hawks, including both meetings last season.

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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:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.