Nash pulls out of All-Star Game with shoulder injury

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2007 -

PHOENIX (AP) - Steve Nash has withdrawn from Sunday's All-Star game because of lingering inflammation in his right shoulder.

The league's two-time defending MVP has missed the last 3 1/2 games because of the injury. The Phoenix Suns said Monday he won't play at Seattle on Wednesday night, the club's last game before the All-Star break.

The decision means Nash will have had two weeks to rest and treat the shoulder before the Suns play their first post-All Star contest Feb. 20 against the Clippers in Los Angeles.

Nash, who turned 33 last Wednesday, was scheduled to play in his fifth All-Star game in the last six years. Although he is averaging career highs in points (19.3) and assists (an NBA-leading 11.8), he was not voted a starter by fans. Instead, he was one of three Phoenix players added as reserves.

NBA commissioner David Stern will announce Nash's replacement. There must also be a substitute for Nash in the All-Star skills competition.

Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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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 .

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