Kobe leads Lakers into Philadelphia

Basketball Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The superstars keep rolling into South Philly and Los Angeles Lakers stud Kobe Bryant is next on the A-list when he leads his team against the 76ers tonight from Wells Fargo Center.

Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have all brought inspiring crowds out to the Sixers' home games recently and now it's Bryant's turn to try and stun the friendly faithful. Bryant, a product of Lower Merion in nearby Philadelphia, is averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 28 career games against the Sixers.

Bryant registered 21.0 ppg in two wins against Philadelphia last season and Los Angeles has won four straight and nine of the past 11 contests in this series. The Lakers are unbeaten in their last four trips to the City of Brotherly Love after losing the previous seven meetings there. Monday's showdown is the lone matchup of the season between the two clubs.

The Lakers will continue a six-game road trip this evening and had won three straight and four of five games until dropping a 96-87 decision in Utah on Saturday. Bryant had 26 points and Pau Gasol contributed 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who got 21 points and 12 boards from Andrew Bynum. Lakers first-year head coach Mike Brown wasn't around to see the end of the contest after he was ejected with 8:35 left in the fourth quarter.

"I was trying to give our guys some juice," Brown said. "I got techs, I shouldn't have gotten two techs. I put our guys in a deeper hole than we were already in, and that probably cost the game."

LA is scheduled to visit the Celtics, Knicks and Raptors on the trek and is just 3-8 as the guest this season. It is 11-2 at home and 1 1/2 games behind the upstart Clippers for bragging rights in the Pacific Division. Bryant (28,573 points) is now 23 points shy of tying Shaquille O'Neal (28,596 points) for fifth on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Philadelphia is back home after a quick visit to Atlanta on Saturday, when it recorded a 98-87 victory thanks to rookie Nikola Vucevic's team-high 15 points. Vucevic led six players in double-figure scoring, as Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes posted 14 points apiece. Evan Turner and Jodie Meeks finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively in the win.

The Sixers rebounded from Friday night's loss to the Miami Heat and were able to post their sixth win in eight tries.

"Four games in six nights, the emotional game [Friday] night against Miami ... I can't tell you how proud I am of the guys=," Sixers coach Doug Collins said.

Hawes made a surprise return to the lineup after missing the previous 10 games due to injury. Collins' team, which went 5-2 on a recent homestand before heading south to Atlanta, will also welcome the Spurs and Clippers to town on this upcoming residency. The 76ers are 12-3 at home this season and own a 3 1/2-game advantage over Boston for the lead in the Atlantic Division.

In team news, Meeks has been playing well lately, posting 10 or more points in four of the past six games. The Sixers are 9-1 when he scores 10-plus points.

The 76ers have yet to lose consecutive games this season. They are 17-7 overall, the best start since going 18-6 in 2000-01, when the team last advanced to the NBA Finals against tonight's opponent. Of the Sixers' 17 wins, 15 have been by double-digits.

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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.