Spurs close out Rodeo Road Trip in Denver

Basketball Betting Lines

02/23/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle said it felt like the team hit every green light during the 1998 season until getting sideswiped in the NFC Championship game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The San Antonio Spurs can relate to that somewhat after they absorbed their first loss on an annual Rodeo Road Trip the last time out. An 11-game winning streak and an unblemished mark on the trek went down the tubes in Portland, but the Spurs have a chance to redeem themselves tonight against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

San Antonio is 7-1 on the nine-game road swing and had an eight-game winning streak on the road cut short with Tuesday's embarrassing 137-97 setback to the Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden, where the Spurs shot a dismal 38.1 percent and trailed 66-43 at halftime. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan did not play due to a coach's decision and rookie Kawhi Leonard led the way with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in San Antonio's seventh straight loss in Rip City.

"They've been going and going and going and if you don't do it now I think you're asking for trouble," Popovich said about resting Duncan and Parker.

Danny Green and Cory Joseph scored 16 and 13 points, respectively, and both Dejuan Blair and Gary Neal ended with 10 points. The Spurs still lead the Southwest Division by 2 1/2 games ahead of Dallas and fell to 10-9 away from the Alamo City this season.

After their stint in the Rocky Mountains, the Spurs will rest during the break before opening a seven-game homestand versus Chicago, Charlotte, Denver, New York, the LA Clippers, Washington and Orlando. San Antonio will be without Manu Ginobili (oblique) and Tiago Splitter (calf), who are both expected to be sidelined for a couple of weeks.

Parker and Duncan are expected to play tonight. Parker is posting 19.5 points per game, while Duncan owns averages of 19.9 points and 8.6 boards.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets hope to head into the All-Star break on a positive note and have lost four of five and nine of the last 12 games.

In Wednesday's 103-95 loss at the Clippers, Chris Paul had a season-high 36 points to go along with nine assists to lead the hosts and dunk master Blake Griffin added 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Arron Afflalo paced the Nuggets with 20 points, while Jordan Hamilton added a career-high 18 points for Denver, which suffered its fourth straight loss on the road.

"They made shots at the right time and we missed shots. They rebounded and we just couldn't put the ball in the basket," said Nuggets guard Andre Miller, who had eight points and eight assists.

Kenneth Faried and Corey Brewer recorded 12 points apiece in defeat. Rudy Fernandez (back) and Ty Lawson (ankle) did not play Wednesday and are questionable versus the Spurs.

Denver is back at home and sports a 9-7 record at the Pepsi Center. It has won two in a row in the Rockies and lost the first meeting of the season with San Antonio, 121-117, in the Alamo City. The Nuggets have lost six of seven matchups with the Spurs.

The Nuggets and Spurs have split the past eight encounters in Colorado.

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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.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

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