Spurs continue dominance of Timberwolves
Basketball Betting Lines
03/12/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Jefferson and George Hill each scored 19 points and the Spurs beat Minnesota for the 11th straight time, pulling away for a 103-85 victory at the Target Center.
Tim Duncan posted 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spurs, who won for the fifth time in six games and continue to hold on to the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
Jefferson had nine boards and Hill dished out eight assists for San Antonio, which hasn't lost to the Timberwolves since January 3, 2007. Hill started in place again for Tony Parker, who sat out his third straight contest with a broken right ring finger.
"We know he's a very capable scorer," San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili said of Hill. "We've been doing it behind Tony a lot of games. Now he's taking over, playing more minutes. He's playing with more confidence."
Wayne Ellington tied a career-high with 17 points in a reserve role for Minnesota, which lost its eighth in a row. Al Jefferson tallied 13 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves (14-52), who continue to hold the worst record in the Western Conference. They've lost 14 of their last 15 contests.
"We came out and played real aggressive with a lot of energy, having fun. We came out after halftime kind of dead," Ellington said. "If we put that second half on, we'll definitely see a win. It'll make everybody feel better."
Down 22-21 after the first quarter, the Timberwolves surged ahead by as many as six in the second. Ryan Gomes hit a pair of free throws for a 35-29 lead with 7:46 left in the half.
The Spurs later hit the Timberwolves with an 18-4 burst, moving ahead 51-41 on a Duncan layup with a minute left in the half. Hill scored eight during the flurry, and the Spurs held a 51-43 edge at the break.
San Antonio opened the second half on an 8-0 spurt and maintained the double- digit advantage the rest of the night. It was 73-58 moving to the fourth and the largest lead was 23, the last time at 98-75 with under three minutes remaining.
Game Notes
Timberwolves forward Kevin Love didn't play due to a sprained left foot...Minnesota's Ryan Hollins sat out the final portion of his two-game suspension...Darko Milicic had 12 points and Ramon Sessions 10 for the Timberwolves...Keith Bogans had 10 points for the Spurs, who went 5-of-22 from beyond the arc.
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Randolph had 24 points and 11 rebounds, as the Memphis Grizzlies held on to take a 119-112 victory over the New York Knicks. O.J. Mayo had 22 points and Rudy Gay provided 20 for Memphis, which led by
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Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Salmons scored 24 points and hit a pair of important free throws with less than 20 seconds to go, and the Milwaukee Bucks continued their impressive homestand with a 95-87 win over the Utah Jazz.
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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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