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04/23/2010 -
CHICAGO (AP) -It's not easy to fade into the crowd when you're 7-foot-1, 325 pounds, and your name is Shaquille O'Neal.
Yet, ``The Big Aristotle'' has been ``The Big Invisible'' the past two games for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After a solid playoff opener against the Chicago Bulls, O'Neal has just 14 points and 11 rebounds in limited minutes over the past two games.
To that, the Cavaliers said, give the big man some time. After all, he missed the final 23 regular-season games because of a torn ligament in his right thumb.
``I'm not concerned,'' LeBron James said. ``I think we know we need him to pick up his play and he knows that also. No matter who you are - no matter if you're the best player in the world - if you have an eight-week layoff, it's definitely going to take a toll on you to start. But we're looking for him to try to be productive as much as he can with that layoff, be a force in the interior and help us win these games.''
The Cavaliers are bent on delivering Cleveland its first pro sports championship since 1964, and they're a good bet to do just that after going a league-best 61-21.
If they're going to get by the Bulls, though, they'll have to work for it.
With a chance to go up 3-0 in their first-round series, the Cavaliers fell behind by 21 in Game 3 on Thursday and lost 108-106 after pulling within one in the closing seconds.
``I think right now we should be really confident, really loose,'' Chicago's Joakim Noah said. ``I like our chances.''
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, vowed to put forth a better effort at the start in Game 4 on Sunday and do a better job on Derrick Rose, who's averaging 27.3 points after scoring 31 on Thursday. James even said some adversity could be a good thing, considering they swept their way to the Eastern Conference finals last year before losing to Orlando.
Even so, they're in good position.
James is averaging 34.3 points after scoring 40 and then 39 the past two games, although he was whistled for a charge and stripped late in Thursday's game.
Mo Williams is averaging 17.3 and hit the late 3 that pulled the Cavaliers within one. And they're getting 16.0 points and 8.3 rebounds from Antawn Jamison in this series.
As for O'Neal?
Well, he's been quiet since the opener and did not make himself available for comment on Friday.
``I've got to get him more involved,'' coach Mike Brown said.
At 38 and a 15-time All-Star, O'Neal may be past his prime, but he can still be a force. He played well during the regular season, averaging 12 points and 6.7 rebounds in 53 games and helped the Cavaliers go 4-1 against the Magic and Lakers - two big championship obstacles and two teams that have given them trouble in the past - with him in the lineup.
Against the Bulls, O'Neal was solid in the opener with 12 points and five rebounds in about 25 minutes. In Game 2, he had eight points and seven boards in 15 minutes and delivered six and four while playing 20 minutes in Game 3, although Brown insisted he could have scored more.
``He had great looks last night, but it just popped out,'' Brown said. ``But those will go down as the series goes on. He's going to be a factor for us, a big factor for us. A big factor. So I've got to do a better job trying to find some minutes for him.''
Brown said there are no physical limitations, that the Cavaliers can push O'Neal ``as hard as we want to push him.''
``Obviously, he hasn't played in a while,'' Brown said. ``We're not giving him consistent minutes right now so he may still have a little bit of rust on him, but right now, he's good to go for as long as we need him.''
The Cavaliers were eyeing a championship when they made the offseason trade with Phoenix, hoping O'Neal could help them get by Dwight Howard and the Magic and, ultimately, capture the title.
At the moment, Brown is having a tough time working Shaq back into the rotation.
``If I feel like if there's a group out there that's playing well and he's not part of that group, I'll let that group run,'' Brown said. ``I'll let a group that's playing well run for as long as they can before making changes so I'm not going to get him out on the floor if I think it's going to hurt the team. But I need to try to figure out ways to get him some longer stretches on the court.''
NOTES: James reiterated that he should not have been called for a charge late in Thursday's game. ``I think I was in the right,'' he said. ``There's a lot of fines going on in the league right now. I like my money. My family likes my money, too, so I'll hold onto it.'' James charged into Luol Deng with 1:18 remaining, negating a basket. ... James also is amused when he hears opposing crowds chant ``MVP! MVP!'' for one of the home team's players, as Chicago fans did for Rose in Game 3. ``It's an all-league thing these days,'' he said. ``Everyone's an MVP when they get to the free throw line.'' ... Bulls backup G Acie Law was helped off the court after suffering an apparent ankle or Achilles tendon injury in a pickup game after practice. He has not played in the postseason.
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AP freelance writer Mark Perlman in Deerfield, Ill., contributed to this report.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Fire, Dynamo square off at Toyota Park
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire host the Houston Dynamo in
a Major League Soccer interconference matchup on Saturday night.
The Fire (1-2-1) are coming off their first win of the season - 2-0 at D.C.
United - and will
<< Price, O'Meara share lead with Cook, Sindelar
Savannah, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The teams of Nick Price and Mark O'Meara and
John Cook and Joey Sindelar both fired 10-under 62s on Friday to share the
first-round lead at the Legends of Golf.
Fred Couples, a three-time winner this
<< Azzi takes the reins of San Francisco women's hoops
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of San Francisco
announced the hiring of Jennifer Azzi as head women's basketball coach on
Friday.
Azzi, a 2009 inductee to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, star
<< Palermo continues push for Champions League
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Palermo begins its final push towards a top-
four spot on Saturday as they play host to third-placed AC Milan.
The club enters the weekend two points back of fourth-placed Sampdoria with
four games to pla
Durant shows he's more than a scorer with clutch D >>
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -There's no doubting that Kevin Durant can score.But it took some convincing for the NBA's scoring champion to believe that he could really impact a game when his shots weren't going in - a lesson that proved crucial to the Oklaho
Manny's ailing calf leads to DL stint >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez was placed
on the 15-day disabled list Friday after aggravating an existing right calf
strain.
Ramirez was forced to leave Thursday's 8-5 loss to Cincinnati in the si
Harvick remains in talks with RCR for 2011 >>
Talladega, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Harvick said on Friday he's had
numerous conversations with team owner Richard Childress regarding his
contract to remain at Richard Childress Racing for 2011 and beyond.
Harvick, curre
Columbus wants revenge against Real Salt Lake >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha said this
week he was "actually happy other teams are getting the attention" so far this
season in MLS.
Columbus had the best regular-season record in MLS the last two year
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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.
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:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
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