Spurs finish Florida trip in Orlando

Basketball Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An intriguing interconference matchup is on tap tonight in central Florida, where the San Antonio Spurs take on the playoff-bound Orlando Magic at Amway Arena.

San Antonio is still trying to solidify a postseason spot in the West and is currently seventh in the conference standings, just a half-game behind Phoenix and a full game in back of Oklahoma City. Utah is only two games ahead in the fourth spot.

The Spurs kept their chances of moving up the charts by recording their fourth straight win with Tuesday's 88-76 victory at Miami in the opener of a short road trip. Manu Ginobili scored 22 points, George Hill added 16 and Tim Duncan checked in with 12 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio, which is 8-1 in the previous nine contests.

"It's hard to say we're back or we're about to make a run for a championship," Ginobili said. "We've lost so many bad games, so we have to stay humble and keep working."

Richard Jefferson had 15 points and eight rebounds to help the Spurs improve to 16-15 away from the Alamo City.

Orlando had an eight-game winning streak come to an end with a 96-89 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday despite 27 points and 16 rebounds from Dwight Howard. Howard has recorded an NBA-best 53 double-doubles this season and posted a league-high 69 double-doubles in 2007-08. He leads the NBA in both rebounding and blocked shots, and is trying to become the first player in NBA history to lead the league in that category more than once.

Vince Carter ended with 23 points and Mickael Pietrus added 20, as the playoff-bound Magic scored just 36 points in the second half and were outrebounded by a 46-34 margin. Orlando, which is second in the East, had a six-game home winning streak broken and fell to 27-7 as the host in the loss to Charlotte.

"Our defense wasn't very good at times, our offense was even worse," Orlando guard J.J. Redick said. "You can't really win when that happens."

The Magic are shooting for their third straight Southeast title and sit three games ahead of Atlanta in the division. They have won the last two meetings with San Antonio, which is 6-3 in the past nine matchups as the guest.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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