Felton helps Bobcats rally past Heat

Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymond Felton poured in 15 points and dished out a season-high 11 assists, as the Charlotte Bobcats rallied late to down the Miami Heat, 83-78, at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Stephen Jackson added 17 points for the Bobcats, who improved to 23-8 at home this season. That matches the franchise record of 23 home wins in a season set last year.

Boris Diaw donated 11 points and eight rebounds for Charlotte, which went perfect on a three-game homestand.

Dwyane Wade had 27 points and seven boards for the Heat, who saw a three-game win streak come to an end. Jermaine O'Neal added 19 points and five rebounds. Michael Beasley finished with 11 points and nine boards in defeat.

Miami started the fourth on a brief 6-1 flurry to go in front 72-63 with nine minutes to play.

But Charlotte fought right back with a 15-4 spurt to go ahead by two. D.J. Augustin tallied the first eight points of the run, which Felton ended with a trey to give the Bobcats a 78-76 edge with 3 1/2 minutes to go.

The margin was the same following buckets from O'Neal and Tyrus Thomas. Wade then missed a three-pointer before Charlotte was called for a shot clock violation with 32.3 ticks left.

Udonis Haslem couldn't make a 15-foot jumper and Felton was there for the defensive rebound. Felton made 1-of-2 from the foul line with 7.2 seconds remaining to make it 81-78.

Miami's next trip down the court ended with Wade missing a trey. Diaw pulled down the defensive rebound and made a pair of free throws with 2.3 ticks left to seal the victory.

The Heat led by as many as 11 in the first quarter and took a 30-20 margin into the second.

Miami scored the first four points of the second to build a 14-point cushion. Charlotte was down by the same margin late in the stanza when they scored the final five points to cut the gap to 48-39 at the half.

Trailing 63-52 with less than six minutes left in the third, the Bobcats ripped off nine straight points to get within two. Felton tallied five points during the burst, which Tyson Chandler capped with a deuce to make it 63-61 with 2:30 remaining. Miami led by four, 66-62, after three periods.

Game Notes

The Bobcats have won the first three meetings with Miami this season and nine of the last 13 matchups between the clubs. The Heat have also lost six of their last seven trips to the Queen City...Miami shot 40.3 percent from the floor, while Charlotte made 38.9 percent of its shots...The Bobcats went 22-of-30 from the foul line, while Miami went 13-of-16 from the charity stripe.

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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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