Hawks visit lowly Nets

Basketball Betting Lines

03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks will hit the road for two straight games starting with tonight's showdown against the lowly New Jersey Nets at the IZOD Center.

Atlanta will visit Toronto as well and is 16-16 as the guest this season. It is currently third in the Eastern Conference standings, just a half-game ahead of Boston, and has won two straight and eight of the last 11 games. In a 112-99 victory versus Detroit on Saturday from Philips Arena, Joe Johnson finished with 26 points and Josh Smith added 18 and a career-high 11 assists for the Hawks, who shot a season-high 63 percent.

"Any time we can come out of the gate like that, it gives us confidence throughout the game," said Johnson, who is expected to miss Tuesday's game with an Achilles injury. "That makes us a tough team to beat. When you've got to play catch-up on the road like that, it's always tough."

Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jamal Crawford made all three of his long- distance attempts on his way to 17 points in a winning effort.

New Jersey will try to put the brakes on an 11-game home losing streak this evening versus the Hawks, and has dropped four in a row overall. The Nets fell to 7-59 this season after Saturday's 116-108 loss at Houston in which Courtney Lee posted 24 points to lead the charge. Over his last seven games, Lee is averaging 20.6 ppg.

Brook Lopez posted a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds for New Jersey, which is trying desperately to avoid finishing with the worst record in NBA history, set by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers (9-73).

"It was a combination of their effort and our lack of effort," Lopez said on NBA.com. "They moved the ball real well on us, and that was the difference."

In injury news for the Nets, guard Devin Harris (illness) is listed as questionable for Tuesday's game.

Atlanta has won the first two meetings with New Jersey this season and three in a row overall. The Nets, however, are unbeaten in the previous five matchups as the host in this series.

The Hawks have lost 14 of their last 15 games in the Meadowlands.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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