Clippers resume road trip in Orlando

Basketball Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A possible trade destination for Dwight Howard is Los Angeles with the revamped Clippers. For now, however, Howard is still property of the Orlando Magic, who will open a three-game homestand tonight versus the Clippers at Amway Center.

Howard, the subject of trade rumors during this compressed season, and the Magic will also host the Southeast Division-rival Heat and Hawks on the homestand and are slated to play six of the next seven games in central Florida. Orlando is 8-4 as the host and is coming off of Saturday's 85-81 win in Indiana behind Howard's 27 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Jason Richardson and Ryan Anderson had 17 and 12 points, respectively, for the Magic, who are unbeaten (3-0) since losing four straight.

"Both teams played really, really hard. When you have these kinds of schedules in the league you're going to have some games like that," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "It was our ninth game in 13 days and their ninth in 14. Basically nobody could make a shot and there were 41 turnovers in the game."

The Magic played without Jameer Nelson for the fifth straight game. He is listed day-to-day with concussion-like symptoms and hasn't played since a loss at New Orleans on Jan. 27. Orlando forward Glen Davis is eligible to return from a two-game suspension Monday because of conduct detrimental to the team.

Magic forward Quentin Richardson was ejected from Saturday's game following an altercation in the third quarter. Richardson, who had eight points in less than 14 minutes, came face-to-face with, and then shoved Pacers forward Danny Granger in front of the Orlando bench during a stoppage in play.

Orlando made 9-of-25 three-pointers against the Pacers and is shooting .386 (226-586) from beyond the arc this season.

Los Angeles will continue its 11-day, six-game road trip tonight and opened the trek with Saturday's 107-81 blasting of the Washington Wizards.

Blake Griffin recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while DeAndre Jordan added 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Clippers, who are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead and won for the fifth time in six games. Chris Paul had two points and seven assists, and has been clicking with Griffin and the rest of the Clippers.

"It's getting better and better," Griffin said of his chemistry with Paul. "No one ever comes in an just clicks like that right away. We knew it was going to take time. We weathered the storm, so to speak. I think now we're starting to pick it up a little bit."

Mo Williams had 17 points and eight assists, Caron Butler scored 14 and Chauncey Billups added 12 points in a winning effort. Butler was facing his former Wizards teams since he was traded to Dallas in 2010. Los Angeles will also visit the Cavs, Sixers, Bobcats and Mavs on the trek and is 4-4 on the road as opposed to a 10-3 home ledger.

The Clippers are 5-1 against the East this season and could unveil new addition Kenyon Martin tonight. Martin was signed on Friday and played for the Xinjiang Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association during the NBA lockout. He was contractually obligated to wait until the end of the Tigers' season before returning to the NBA. Martin was cleared to play by FIBA, basketball's international governing body, on Thursday and averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 48 games last season with the Denver Nuggets.

"Kenyon is the ultimate competitor and a key acquisition," stated club vice president of basketball operations Neil Olshey. "We expect that he will provide additional experience, passion and professionalism, as well as some important depth to our front court."

Los Angeles lost both meetings with Orlando a season ago and is winless in the last nine matchups between the two teams. The Clippers have lost five straight at Orlando. Howard is averaging 18.4 points and 13.1 rebounds in 14 career games against the Clippers. Paul has faced the Magic eight times in his career, posting 18.0 points and 8.5 assists in that time.

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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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