Rebounds Down Pierce Anderson

Basketball Betting Lines

Paul Pierce had 19 points and seven assists for the Celtics, who have won two straight and three of four games since a five-game slide.

 

Brandon Bass had 19 points and Kevin Garnett scored 14 with 10 rebounds in a winning effort. Boston, which shot a perfect 19-for-19 from the free throw line, last won three in a row during a four-game run from Dec. 30-Jan. 4 this season and hopes to build on its 2-4 road ledger tonight. Garnett is four rebounds short of tying Jerry Lucas for 14th on the all-time rebounds list.

 

Celtics veteran guard Ray Allen missed the game due to a left ankle sprain and is expected to miss Thursday's contest. Guard Rajon Rondo has been sidelined the last three games (2-1) and is listed as probable. In other injury news for Boston, guard Keyon Dooling (knee) and center Jermaine O'Neal (knee) are both questionable, while forward Mickael Pietrus (shoulder) is expected to miss tonight's contest. O'Neal and Howard got into a scuffle in the third quarter and were whistled for technical fouls.

 

Ryan Anderson was held scoreless against the Celtics, but bounced with 24 points in Indianapolis.

 

"That's the beauty of this league," said Anderson. "We have back-to-back games and opportunities where we can redeem ourselves...These are important comeback games. That's the way we can play every night."

 

The Magic, who shot 45.8 percent and sank 13-of-32 three-pointers, are in the midst of alternating home and away games over the next six games. Davis and Hedu Turkoglu scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the recent win.

 

Sloan signed with Atlanta on December 9. He averaged 17.8 points as a senior at Texas A&M.

 

Bogut injured the ankle early on against the Rockets while battling for a rebound.

 

Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce led five players in double-figures, as the Celtics erased a 21-point halftime deficit to down the Magic, 91-83, on Thursday. 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. They have won three straight and four of five.

 

The Magic bounced back from Monday's loss to Boston, which saw them register franchise lows in field goals (16) and field goal percentage (24.6), with a 102-83 win over Indiana on Tuesday.

 

They carried that momentum into Thursday, shooting 50 percent in the opening half en route to a 58-37 lead at the break.

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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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