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Pacers roll into Big DBasketball Betting Lines02/03/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The much-improved Pacers will shoot for a season-high fourth straight win Friday when they visit Big D to take on their former coach, Rick Carlisle, and the reigning NBA champion Mavericks. Indiana opened a brief two-game road trip by earning a 109-99 win over Kevin Love and the Timberwolves on Thursday. Danny Granger nailed five three- pointers and netted 29 of his season-high 36 points in the second half of that one to lead the Pacers. "Danny Granger just came back to life and had a stellar night," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. Darren Collison filled the stat sheet with 20 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two steals while Roy Hibbert added 15 points and nine rebounds for Indiana, which won its third straight game. David West finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for Indiana. "Really excited about this win for our club. (A) road win on the second night of a back-to-back against a club playing at a high level. We were really excited to get out of here with a W," Vogel said. Backup guard George Hill missed Wednesday's game after suffering an ankle injury against the Nets a day earlier. Hill, the team's highest-scoring bench player, is currently listed as out indefinitely. The Mavs lost for the first time in four games Thursday when Russell Westbrook finished with 33 points, including six in the final two minutes, as the Thunder escaped American Airlines Center with a 95-86 victory over Dallas. Jason Terry netted 25 points to lead the shorthanded Mavs, who got 12 points apiece from Shawn Marion and Brandan Wright. Dirk Nowitzki, however, shot just 2-for-15 from the field and posted eight points and eight rebounds in the loss, Dallas' second over the last eight games "They're playing the best right now," Terry said of the Thunder. "For the time being they are the team to beat." Nowitzki is averaging just 9.3 points on dismal 28.2 percent shooting in three games since missing four straight contests, an absence designed to rest his sore knee and improve his conditioning Meanwhile, veteran point guard Jason Kidd (strained right calf), starting center Brendan Haywood (lower back tightness) and the versatile Lamar Odom (stomach virus) all missed the game against the Thunder. Haywood and Odom practice Thursday and should be back tonight but Kidd is expected to remain sidelined. Carlisle, who coached in Indy from 2003-07, was ejected with 9:34 remaining in the fourth quarter against OKC after receiving his second technical foul for kicking a ball into the stands. The current Mavs mentor was subsequently fined $35,000 by the NBA early Friday morning. Owner Mark Cuban suffered a bigger hit to his pocketbook, getting tagged for $75,000 for criticizing the officiating after the contest. Carlisle, who has already apologized to his fans and Cuban for his actions, once won 61 games with the Pacers and the franchise hasn't had a winning record since Carlisle went 44-38 with the 2004-05 team, something that looks like it will change this season. "They've got all the ingredients of championship teams - they've got athleticism, length, skill and size," Carlisle told the Pacers' website. "They're going to be a major factor." Dallas has won six of its last seven meetings with Indy. The Pacers have lost seven in a row and 11 of 12 trips to Dallas.
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana Should be in: Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it? Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel. Work left to do: Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third. Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim. Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either. Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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