Game Joins Anderson For Offense

Basketball Betting Lines

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a win over a Derrick Rose-less Chicago team, the Memphis Grizzlies will invade the Big Easy tonight in hopes on climbing above .500 for the first time this season against the Hornets. Rudy Gay scored 24 points on Monday while Mike Conley filled the stat sheet with 20 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals as the Grizzlies routed the Bulls, 102-86, in their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day game.

 

"They are a great defensive team and I just tried to penetrate and make plays for guys," Conley said. "To beat a good team like Chicago, you have to have energy. You have to outwork them. That's what we wanted to do from the beginning of the game, pick up fullcourt, inbounds plays and make a statement that we're going to be in this game for all four quarters."

 

The Hornets, meanwhile, have dropped four straight, including a 108-99 setback in Memphis last Saturday. New Orleans followed that with an 84-77 home loss to Portland, it's ninth loss in 10 games.

 

Jarrett Jack ended with 21 points for the Hornets, who have lost six in a row at home for the first time since Feb. 22-March 18, 2006.

 

"We just shot ourselves in the foot," Okafor said. "We played good defense and set our turnovers across the board. We just have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball."

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The improved Pacers take their act out west for a three- game road trip starting with tonight's tip-off in Sacramento. Indiana, which will play six of its next seven away from home, won its third straight game on Saturday when Danny Granger scored 21 points as the Pacers beat the Boston Celtics for the second time in nine days, 97-83.

 

"Our defense is probably ahead of what I thought. Our rebounding is where I thought it would be and our offense is behind," coach Frank Vogel said after his latest win.

 

The Kings, meanwhile, are returning home for a short stop after a 1-4 road trip, culminating with Monday's 99-86 loss at Minnesota.

 

"I've got the simplest offense you can run," said Sacramento coach Keith Smart, who is 2-5 since taking over for the fired Paul Westphal. "You just move it to a spot and move it to the next spot. But for whatever reason we're trying to make the play ourselves with the defense set."

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Big East Conference odds

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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