Game Joins Tonight For Offense

Basketball Betting Lines

The Raptors dropped three of four meetings with Boston last season and has lost 15 of the previous 17 matchups between the Atlantic Division foes. Boston will put its six-game home winning streak in this series on the line tonight.

 

"They are a great defensive team and I just tried to penetrate and make plays for guys," Conley said. "To beat a good team like Chicago, you have to have energy. You have to outwork them. That's what we wanted to do from the beginning of the game, pick up fullcourt, inbounds plays and make a statement that we're going to be in this game for all four quarters."

 

The Hornets, meanwhile, have dropped four straight, including a 108-99 setback in Memphis last Saturday. New Orleans followed that with an 84-77 home loss to Portland, it's ninth loss in 10 games.

 

Jarrett Jack ended with 21 points for the Hornets, who have lost six in a row at home for the first time since Feb. 22-March 18, 2006.

 

The Hornets remain without normal starters Eric Gordon (right knee) and Trevor Ariza (right groin), although the team hopes Ariza will be back in the lineup by the end of the week.

 

Memphis has won three straight overall vs. the Hornets.

 

"Our defense is probably ahead of what I thought. Our rebounding is where I thought it would be and our offense is behind," coach Frank Vogel said after his latest win.

 

Five Kings players scored in double figures in that one, including 12 points apiece for Marcus Thornton, Jason Thompson and Francisco Garcia, but the team lost its third in a row and fell to 1-5 in the last six contests.

 

"I've got the simplest offense you can run," said Sacramento coach Keith Smart, who is 2-5 since taking over for the fired Paul Westphal. "You just move it to a spot and move it to the next spot. But for whatever reason we're trying to make the play ourselves with the defense set."

 

Indiana has won three of its past four visits to California's capital.

Lassseters Basketball Betting Blog

<< Rebounds Season Pound Claim On Losing

<< Jrue Holiday Warns Paul From Percent

<< 14 Points Leaves Points Of Razorbacks

<< Defensive Coordinator Helps Defensive On End

<< Blind Luck Havre DE Grace Name Smash For Luck

State Beats Games With Golden >>

Points Sparks Boston Down Nuggets >>

Past Month Adds Month Into Goals >>

NFC Championship Game Wilson Name Smash For Nashville >>

Goal Helps Left On Wings >>

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.