Reeling Magic welcome Pacers to Central Florida

Basketball Betting Lines

01/29/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Eastern Conference playoff contenders meet in Central Florida on Sunday when a struggling Orlando team plays host to the Indiana Pacers in the Magic Kingdom.

Orlando has dropped three of four and is coming off a bad loss in the Big Easy on Friday when Carl Landry netted a team-high 17 points and the New Orleans Hornets rolled over the Magic, 93-67, to snap a nine-game losing streak.

Dwight Howard scored 28 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, his 15th double- double of the season, for Orlando, which continued to struggle offensively, shooting just 39.3 percent from the floor and turning the ball over 23 times.

"We were just awful," said Magic head coach Stan Van Gaudy. "It didn't matter what we called. We had no energy coming off of screens, the ball didn't move, guys didn't want to shoot the ball. It's very, very bad right now."

Earlier in the week Orlando set a franchise record for fewest points in an 87-56 road loss to Boston and followed that up blowing a 27-point lead against those same Celtics three says later.

"The three worst losses I think we've had since I've been here and it's in the matter of five days," Van Gundy said. "It's tough to take."

About the only thing that went well for Orlando over the past week was a 102-83 triumph in Indiana between the two Boston contests. Ryan Anderson scored a game-high 24 in that one but was forced to sit out in New Orleans with a strained left calf and remains questionable for tonight.

Also the Magic's starting point guard, Jameer Nelson, left Friday's game against the Hornets in the second quarter after being hit in the jaw but expects to play tonight.

The Pacers, meanwhile, are also coming in off a tough shooting night during a 94-87 setback in Boston on Friday. Danny Granger netted 21 points in that one to lead Indiana, which went a dismal 1-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Center Roy Hibbert was forced to leave the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury, but returned in the third and ended with 11 points and seven rebounds. Paul George contributed 16 points and nine boards while David West has 14 and 8 in the loss.

"We had a lot of great looks that didn't go down," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "Some of that was their defense. You have to credit their defense, they shut Orlando down twice, they shut us down tonight. We didn't play a good game and you have to play a good game to beat this basketball team in their building."

Orlando has won six straight over the Pacers, including last Tuesday's win in Indy.

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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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