Cavs shoot for 2-0 series lead over visiting Celtics

Basketball Betting Lines

05/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics will try to avoid falling in a 2-0 series hole when they face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers tonight in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Quicken Loans Arena.

Mo Williams sparked the Cavaliers in the third quarter on Saturday and LeBron James finished off the Celtics in the fourth, scoring 10 of his 35 points in the last six minutes, to lift Cleveland to a 101-93 win in the opening game.

James, wearing a protective sleeve on his injured right elbow, added seven assists and seven rebounds for Cleveland, which scored the final seven points to seal the win.

"It's been better, but I don't use excuses," said James, who was awarded his second straight MVP trophy on Sunday. "I'll be ready for [Game 2]."

James is scheduled to undergo daily treatments and a repeat MRI for his strained elbow but is not expected to miss any time in the series.

The diminutive Williams, meanwhile, netted 14 of his 20 points in the third and fueled his team with his first dunk as a Cav in Game 1. Shaquille O'Neal and J.J. Hickson each chipped in 11 points apiece for Cleveland, which held an aging Boston club to 5-of-19 shooting in the last 12 minutes and won for the 13th time in its last 14 postseason games at The Q.

"We stuck together throughout the game," Cleveland head coach Mike Brown said. "As the course of the game went on, we really kept our composure."

Rajon Rondo ended with 27 points, 12 assists and six rebounds to pace the Celtics, who received 18 points and 10 boards from Kevin Garnett.

Paul Pierce logged 13 points but was just 5-of-17 from the field.

"I thought we settled with our jump shots," Boston head coach Doc Rivers said of the second half. "Their pressure had a little bit to do with it. I just thought we got away from our game plan."

The Cavs and Celtics split four games in the regular season while both clubs finished off their opening round opponents this year in just five games, as Cleveland dispensed of Central Division rival Chicago, while the Celtics sent the Miami Heat back to South Beach.

The teams have met four times in the postseason dating back to the 1975-76 season when Boston won the Eastern Conference finals over the Cavs in six games. The C's also won a first round series over Cleveland in 1984-85, and in the East semis in 2007-08. The Cavs only win in the postseason over Boston came in the East semifinals during the 1991-92 season, also a seven-game set.

Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Friday in Boston.

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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.