Banged up Hornets look to stay unbeaten against LeBron and Cavs
Basketball Betting Lines
11/01/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After opening the 2008-09 season with consecutive wins on the road, the Hornets will return home for back-to-back games, starting with tonight's showdown between LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at New Orleans Arena.
The Hornets won their season opener on Wednesday with a 108-103 triumph at Golden State, then traveled to Phoenix the following night and beat the Suns, 108-95, at US Airways Center. Chris Paul finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double and had 20 points, 10 assists and eight boards in the win.
Morris Peterson scored 21 points for the Hornets, who played without center Tyson Chandler because of a sprained right ankle. New Orleans forward Peja Stojakovic left the game in the fourth quarter due to a severe right ankle sprain and registered 20 points. David West had 18 points for New Orleans.
Chandler and Stojakovic are expected to miss Saturday's game. The Hornets will also host Atlanta on their brief homestand.
Cleveland is 1-1 on the season, having lost to Boston in the season opener on Tuesday before handing the Charlotte Bobcats a 96-79 defeat on Thursday.
In the win over Charlotte head coach Larry Brown and the Bobcats, James had a solid performance with 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the way.
Daniel Gibson went 4-of-6 from three-point range on the way to a 25-point night and Mo Williams scored 17 points to go with seven assists for the Cavaliers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 11 points and Ben Wallace contributed 10 rebounds and five blocks in the win.
The Cavs will visit Dallas after their bout in New Orleans.
New Orleans won both meetings with Cleveland last season, but the Cavs have won eight of the last 11 encounters.
Cleveland has lost two straight and 12 of 15 contests at the Hornets.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Off to their best start in franchise history, the New York Rangers head north this evening to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. New York was last in action on Thursday, when it posted a 3-2 win over At
<< Semin leads Caps into Buffalo to battle Sabres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their star Alexander Ovechkin struggling and over in
his native Russia, the Capitals have relied on his countryman to pick up the
scoring. Alexander Semin will try to lead Washington to another win tonight,
as the club v
<< Bruins return home to face Stars
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins begin a three-game homestand tonight,
when they welcome the Dallas Stars to TD Banknorth Garden.
Boston is returning home from what can be considered a successful three-game
road trip. Netminder Tim Thoma
<< Gone dry: Oilers try to halt skid in road test with Hurricanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After opening the season with four straight wins, the
Oilers have gone cold at both ends of the ice. Edmonton will attempt to halt a
five-game losing streak this afternoon in a test with the Carolina Hurricanes
at the RBC Cen
<< Nets entertain Warriors in home opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After opening the season with a win on the road, the New
Jersey Nets kick off the home portion of their schedule by welcoming the
Golden State Warriors to the Izod Center.
Vince Carter scored 21 points and had six assists,
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils continue a four-game homestand this evening, as they welcome the struggling Atlanta Thrashers to the Prudential Center. New Jersey began its residency with a 6-5 shootout loss against Toronto on Wedn
Mavs shoot for 9th straight win vs. Timberwolves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Mavericks will try to give new head coach Rick
Carlisle his first win tonight, when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves
at the Target Center.
Dallas opened the new season with Thursday's 112-102 loss to the
Canadiens try to hand Islanders sixth straight setback >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens seek a third straight win tonight,
as they travel to New York and Nassau Coliseum to battle the Islanders, a team
that has lost five straight.
Montreal began the year with a shootout loss to Buffalo
Rockets welcome Thunder to Houston >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets are off to a good start this season and
will aim for their third straight win tonight, when the Oklahoma City Thunder
pay a visit to the Toyota Center.
Houston began the 2008-09 campaign with Wednesday'
Bucks welcome Raptors for home opener >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After splitting their first two games on the road, the
Milwaukee Bucks return to the Bradley Center for the first time in the 2008-09
season to face off with the talented Toronto Raptors.
Richard Jefferson scored 20 points
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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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.