Magic Leads Head In Start

Basketball Betting Lines

David Lee posted 26 points and Brandon Rush added 14 off the bench to help the Warriors get back in the win column.

 

"Monta did a great job of getting in the seams understanding he didn't have it offensively, meaning scoring, and the great players figure out how to impact a game even though they are not able to do what they do best," Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers try to follow up their biggest win of the season tonight when they head to Boston to face the Celtics at TD Garden. Indiana picked up a big win over the Eastern Conference-leading Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, as Danny Granger had 22 points, Roy Hibbert scored 20 to help the Pacers to a 95-90 win, their first victory in the Windy City in almost four years.

 

The Pacers snapped a six-game road losing streak against the Bulls, winning in Chicago for the first time since March 22, 2008.

 

The win over the Bulls was even more impressive considering just one night earlier Indiana suffered an embarrassing 19-point loss at home to the Orlando Magic.

 

Pierce had 24 and Kevin Garnett added 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Celtics, who held the Magic to a franchise-low 56 points in a win on Monday, trailed by as many as 27 in the first half but made the comeback despite playing without starters Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen.

 

"It should give us tremendous confidence, especially with guys hurt - key guys hurt," said Pierce. "We didn't have Jermaine to guard Dwight (Howard), we're without our All-Star point guard, our All-Star 2-guard. Everything was in the making for us to lay down and get ready for tomorrow, but there's something about this locker room where the light has switched on."

 

Indiana has beaten the Celtics twice already this season and has won three straight in the series after losing five in a row to Boston. The Celtics have also lost four of six as the visitor in this matchup.

 

The Magic set new franchise lows for fewest points scored in a game, in a half and lowest field goal percentage in a game in an 87-56 loss at Boston on Monday. Orlando shot a franchise-low 24.6 percent from the floor, going just 16-of-65, and committed a season-high 25 turnovers. It then rebounded the following evening with a 102-83 win at Indiana.

 

Boston was on the docket again Thursday in central Florida and the Magic suffered a 91-83 setback. They did a little better shooting with a 38-percent clip but were done in by a 27-8 margin in the fourth stanza. Dwight Howard had 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Ryan Anderson and Jameer Nelson scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Orlando, which has alternated wins and losses over its last six games.

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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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