Mavs kick off road trip in Oakland vs. Warriors
Basketball Betting Lines
02/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southwest Division-leading Dallas Mavericks will hit the road for three games starting with Monday's contest against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena.
Dallas will also visit Denver and Oklahoma City on the road trip, and owns a 16-10 mark outside of Big D this season. It has lost four of its last five games, including Friday's 117-108 setback versus the Minnesota Timberwolves at American Airlines Center.
Dirk Nowitzki finished with 21 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who lost to the Timberwolves for the first time since January 4, 2006. Nowitzki didn't get the start because he was late for shootaround. Jason Terry tallied 20 points, while Rodrigue Beaubois added a season-high 17 points off the bench in defeat.
"We're not going to be good until we play hard," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said. "But look, they shot 55 percent in the first quarter, the second quarter was by far our best when they shot 43 and we did a much better job, more proactive. They shot 60 in the third and 55 in the fourth. Those numbers don't lie. We had another disappointing loss."
Terry has started the last nine games and has scored 20-plus points in six of those for the Mavs, who are an NBA-best 14-4 in games after a loss.
Golden State will try to put the brakes on an eight-game losing streak tonight and will resume a three-game homestand. In a 104-95 setback versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, Corey Maggette scored 24 points and rookie Stephen Curry tallied 23 points for the Warriors, who got 11 points and a career-high 11 boards from Anthony Tolliver.
"Not a good performance by us today, we just didn't look like a team tonight," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "I had a lot of guys that didn't play well and all at the same time. When you turn the ball over 23 times in this league it makes it pretty hard to stay competitive. There will be nights like this, but we will lick our wounds tomorrow and get ready to play."
Andris Biedrins had 18 rebounds in defeat and Monta Ellis scored 15 points. Nelson is still 11 wins away from breaking Lenny Wilkens all-time record. He is the second-winningest coach in NBA history (1,322), trailing only Wilkens (1,332).
The Warriors, who haven't won since beating New Jersey on January 22, will also host the Los Angeles Clippers and are 9-14 in Oakland this season.
The 2009-10 season series between Dallas and Golden State is tied at a game apiece. These two teams have split the previous 18 encounters.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic hope to carry the momentum from their big win at Boston into tonight's home tilt versus the New Orleans Hornets at Amway Arena. Orlando posted a 96-89 triumph over the Celtics on Sunday at TD Garden, as
<< Missed opportunities cost Colts
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning was one quarter away from
capturing his second Super Bowl title in four years, but the four-time league
MVP didn't get enough support from his teammates, and in the end a costly
interce
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Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a city that has struggled in both the world of
sports and in day-to-day life, Drew Brees has brought a smile to the faces of
the New Orleans residents.
The party will be rocking for the next few days in the B
<< Line of Scrimmage: Saints' Night, Manning's Nightmare
Miami Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raise your umbrella and your Hurricane
glass to the New Orleans Saints, who are Super Bowl XLIV champions because
they were flat-out better than the Colts in an incredible, exhilarating upset
victory that ca
<< Bellucci beats Monaco in Chile final
Santiago, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci defeated
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Sunday.
The third-seeded Bellucci downed the second-seeded Monaco 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 in
just over two
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs face the toughest test of their annual Rodeo Road Trip when they face the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center tonight. Each year around this time the Spurs hit the road
Colonials face tall task in clash with Panthers >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Panthers take a break from
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Colonials of the Northeast Conference at the Petersen Events Center in the
Steel City.
R
Villanova visits West Virginia in Big East showdown >>
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in Morgantown against the West Virginia Mountaineers this evening.
Villanova dropped a 1
Jayhawks and Longhorns duke it out in Austin >>
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Big 12 heavyweights collide in Austin
this evening, as the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks take on the ninth-ranked Texas
Longhorns from the Frank Erwin Center.
Bill Self's Jayhawks sit atop the Big 12 stan
Ramblers try to cool off red-hot Bulldogs >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Butler Bulldogs continue their
run at a perfect Horizon League campaign tonight, as they host the Loyola
Chicago Ramblers at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Bulldogs are enjoying another terrific season
Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting
So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.
Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?
If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)
Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).
In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.
Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.
| The Bubble Breakdown | |||
| CONFERENCE | LOCKS | SHOULD BE INS | AT-LARGES TAKEN (assuming no auto bid outlier) |
| ACC Betting Odds | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Big East Betting Odds | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Big Ten Betting Odds | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Big 12 Betting Odds | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Pac-10 Betting Odds | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| SEC Betting Odds | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| MVC Betting Odds | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MWC Betting Odds | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 28 | 5 | 25 |
As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.
(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)
If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech
The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.
Work left to do:
Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.
Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).
Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.
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