Bulls continue lengthy road trip vs. Nets

Basketball Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls are in the midst of a nine-game road trip and will continue the lengthy trek tonight against the New Jersey Nets.

Chicago improved to 3-2 thus far on the road swing following Saturday's 113-90 victory at Milwaukee behind Derrick Rose's 26 points and 13 assists. Rose scored 16 of his team's first 18 points and is averaging 29.8 points over his last six contests. He has also scored 30 or more points four times in that span for the Central Division-leading Bulls, who improved to 11-5 as the guest and won for the 13th time in its last 17 tries. Chicago leads the NBA in road wins with 11 and sports the East's best overall record at 20-6.

"I was just taking what they were giving me," Rose said of the quick start. "They were giving me my shot, I was taking it and thank god tonight they were going in."

Luol Deng returned from a seven-game absence due to a wrist injury to post 21 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Korver and Joakim Noah finished with 18 and 14 points, respectively, in the win. The Bulls shot 53.3 percent for the game and are 10-0 this season when reaching the century mark in scoring. Fourteen of Chicago's 20 wins this season have been by 10-plus points.

The Bulls' nine-game road trip is the longest since the 1992-93 season, when they went 6-3 on a nine-game trek. In 1974-75, Chicago played a team-record 11 straight games away from home (7-4). It will also make stops in New Orleans, Charlotte and Boston.

Chicago's 20-6 start to the season is the fourth-best in franchise history after 26 games. Chicago opened 23-2 in 1995-96, 22-3 in 1996-97 and 21-4 in 1991-92.

New Jersey lost at New York on Saturday, dropping a 99-92 decision even though Deron Williams did all he could with 21 points and 11 assists. Kris Humphries added 20 points and 12 rebounds and Jordan Farmar scored 19 off the bench for the Nets, losers in two straight and four of five games. New Jersey had a 12- point lead late in the first quarter before collapsing.

Nets coach Avery Johnson put a boxing spin on the outcome afterwards.

"They swung last," he said of the Knicks, "and kind of knocked us out."

Johnson has used 12 different starting lineups in the first 25 games this season. The Nets are tied with Toronto for last in the Atlantic Division and will play two in a row and four of the next five games at home. They own a 3-7 record in Newark, NJ this season and are just 6-12 versus the East.

Williams is averaging 26.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists in New Jersey's eight wins this season, while Humphries posted his 10th double-double of the season. He is averaging a double-double with 13.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

New Jersey lost the first meeting with Chicago by a 110-95 score on Jan. 23 at the United Center. Rose had missed the previous four games with a toe sprain and recorded 22 points and eight assists. Rose, who is probable for Monday with a sore back, is averaging 18.7 points and 6.3 assists in 12 career games against the Nets.

The Bulls have won three in a row over the Nets, but are just 2-16 in their past 18 trips to the Garden State.

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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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