Pacers, Bulls clash at Conseco Fieldhouse

Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Chicago Bulls squad that's struggled on the road for much of this season will try to turn around its historic lack of success at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse in tonight's Central Division clash with the Indiana Pacers.

Chicago is just 9-17 as the visitor thus far in 2009-10 and has dropped its last two tests away from home, although the club did string together five straight road wins from January 22-29. The Bulls have been worse when traveling to Indiana over the years, earning just three victories in its last 22 tries as the guest in this series.

Since Conseco Fieldhouse opened in 1999, Chicago has gone just 3-17 in road games against the Pacers, including defeats in both meetings between the teams held in Indianapolis last season.

The Bulls did deal Indiana a 104-95 setback in the Windy City back on December 29, though, and halted a three-game losing streak with Saturday's 95-91 home triumph over Miami.

"It was a big win," said forward Luol Deng, who led Chicago with 25 points. "Every time you have a losing streak you just want to put an end to it."

Chicago prevailed over the Heat by getting to the free throw line and hitting those shots. The Bulls had a season-high 35 attempts from the charity stripe and converted 28 of them.

Deng went 9-of-11 from the foul line and Derrick Rose, who scored 24 points in the win, made 6-of-8 free-throw shots.

John Salmons chipped in 15 points for Chicago and Brad Miller notched 13 points, eight rebounds and five steals to help off offset the absence of fellow bigs Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. Noah is expected to remain sidelined until after the All-Star break with plantar fasciitis in his foot, while Thomas was suspended by the Bulls for Saturday's contest for conduct detrimental to the team.

Thomas, averaging 8.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in a reserve role this season, is expected to play tonight.

Indiana had posted back-to-back home wins over Toronto and Detroit to begin February, but couldn't keep up the momentum in Saturday's trip to rival Milwaukee. The Pacers dropped a 93-81 decision to the Bucks after being outrebounded by a 43-33 margin and committing 19 turnovers that led to 25 points by their opponent.

"They hurt us on the boards," remarked Pacers center Roy Hibbert. "That has to be my responsibility to keep the big guys off the offensive glass."

Hibbert collected just four rebounds in addition to scoring 10 points, while leading scorer Danny Granger managed 14 points -- eight under his season average -- on 5-of-14 shooting. T.J. Ford topped the Pacers with 20 points off the bench.

Ford saw the majority of minutes at point guard with regular starter Earl Watson missing a second straight game due to a personal matter. The well- traveled veteran will likely be back in the lineup for this evening's matchup, however.

Indiana has also played its last two tilts without reserve guard Luther Head, who remains day-to-day with a viral infection.

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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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