Slumping Lakers target win vs. Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers hope to avoid their longest losing streak in three seasons tonight when they hit the hardwood against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center.

The Lakers dropped their third straight game in Orlando on Sunday when Vince Carter scored a team-high 25 points, and Dwight Howard added 15 points and 16 rebounds, as the Magic escaped with a 96-94 win in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant, who missed a potential game-tying shot at the fourth-quarter buzzer, led all scorers with 34 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who have dropped three straight -- all on the road -- for the first time since January 23-27, 2008. Pau Gasol donated a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.

LA, which earned a 98-92 victory over the Magic on January 18 at Staples Center, defeated Orlando for the NBA title in five games last year. It was the Lakers' 15th title in franchise history.

With the Magic up 94-89 in the final minute, Bryant drained a corner three with 26.4 seconds on the clock. After Jameer Nelson was fouled and made 1-of-2 from the stripe, Bryant hit a long jumper from the top of the arc with 12.9 ticks left to cut LA's deficit to one.

The shot was originally ruled a three before the officials briefly reviewed it, and the replay clearly showed Bryant's foot was on the line. Carter was then fouled and made 1-of-2 with 9.7 seconds to go before Bryant's medium- range jumper was off the mark as time expired.

"I didn't release it the way I really wanted to so I tried to compensate for it because I felt the ball slipping," Bryant said. "That is my shot. You give that to me 10 times and I make it nine times."

The Lakers haven't dropped four in a row since April 8-13, 2007.

The Raptors, who are kicking off a four-game western road trip tonight, are coming off an embarrassing loss on their home floor to the woeful Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Thaddeus Young scored a career-high 32 points and rookie point guard Jrue Holiday had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in that one, as the Sixers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 114-101 win.

Jarrett Jack had a team-high 20 points to go along with nine assists for Toronto, which was coming off a 102-96 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. The Raptors, who shot 51.2 percent from the floor, have dropped six of seven overall, however.

Chris Bosh returned to the lineup after missing the previous six games because of a balky ankle and flu-like symptoms, and finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"I felt good, but anytime you are absent for any length of time, it's tough to get your legs back," Bosh said. "The main thing is I'm happy to be back playing."

Bryant has owned Toronto in Hollywood recently, averaging 43.4 points in the team's last five contests at Staples Center, including a career-high 81 on Jan. 22, 2006.

Overall the Raptors have dropped eight of their last nine games to the Lakers in LA but did snap a four-game skid to Phil Jackson's club with a 106-105 win north of the border back in January.

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The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

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Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

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Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

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Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)

Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

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Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

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