Jazz battle for playoff position in New Orleans

Basketball Betting Lines

04/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah returns to the hardwood tonight in the Big Easy against the New Orleans Hornets hoping to improve on its playoff position in the jumbled Western Conference.

The Jazz enter tonight's contest as the West's fifth seed but are just one- half game behind both Dallas and Phoenix and one game south of Denver, which also leads Utah for the Northwest Division crown. Securing one of the top four seeds and homecourt advantage in the first round of the postseason is paramount for each of those clubs.

The Jazz took a big hit in their last encounter as the lottery-bound Rockets dismantled them in Houston, 113-96, on Wednesday. Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks each scored 28 points to lead the Rockets in that one.

Utah was coming off Tuesday's 140-139 overtime win over Oklahoma City, but totaled 26 turnovers in losing. Carlos Boozer had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Jazz.

"They played better than we did," Boozer said. "They hit shots, they rebounded, they played well. I know we were all searching for our energy. We didn't have it, but that's not an excuse. They took it to us."

The setback could have been Utah's second straight, as the NBA admitted Wednesday that game officials made a mistake Tuesday. The league said officials missed a foul on the Thunder's Kevin Durant as he attempted a three- pointer at the buzzer, which allowed the Jazz to come away victorious.

Standout center Mehmet Okur left in the third quarter against Houston with a sore Achilles' and did not return. The veteran is questionable for tonight's contest.

The Hornets, meanwhile, continue to stumble toward the finish line and lost their fourth straight on Wednesday when D.J. Augustin made a key three-pointer with 15.8 seconds left, as the Charlotte Bobcats clinched the franchise's first- ever playoff berth with a 104-103 victory over New Orleans.

Rookie Marcus Thornton finished with 36 points for the Hornets. Fellow freshman Darren Collison had 24 points and nine assists, while David West added 13 points and eight boards in defeat.

"I thought we did a good job just fighting and staying competitive," West said.

Star point guard Chris Paul has been shut down for the season by the Hornets. Paul played in seven games after missing two months due to a knee injury but suffered a ligament tear in his right middle finger.

The injury will not require surgery and the timetable for Paul's return to basketball activities is approximately seven weeks.

"It has been a very difficult season for me in terms of injuries," said Paul. "I hate not being out on the court helping my team, but the best thing for me to do is to get completely healthy. I am hopeful to be back playing basketball by June."

Utah has taken six of the past seven meetings in the series.

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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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