Surging Magic continue push towards postseason, visit Wizards

Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The lowly Washington Wizards will continue playing out the string tonight when they host Eastern Conference power Orlando.

The Wizards lost their sixth straight game last night in Auburn Hills when Will Bynum provided a spark with a career- best 20 assists, helping the Detroit Pistons beat Washington, 101-87.

Andray Blatche led all scorers with 23 points to go with 10 rebounds to lead the Wizards, who have also dropped six straight to the Pistons. Al Thornton racked up 16 points and six boards and Randy Foye added 11 points with eight assists.

"It's tough because you do have guys that are going out there and competing," said Wizards coach Flip Saunders. "Mental mistakes are leading to stupid, mental mistakes and what happens is they emotionally wear you down, especially, as you well know, we don't have a big margin of error with our guys."

The Magic, meanwhile, continue to roll and lead the Southeast Division by four games over Atlanta after Vince Carter scored 23 points on Thursday as Orlando nearly doubled-up Chicago in the first half en route to a 111-82 drubbing of the Bulls at Amway Arena.

Most of Orlando's starters played limited minutes due to the game being a 32- point blowout by halftime.

Matt Barnes ended with 14 points, Brandon Bass had 13 with eight rebounds and Dwight Howard 12 and six for the Magic, who shot 55.1 percent from the field to cruise to their seventh straight win.

"Our defense has really picked up," Howard admitted. "Hopefully we'll continue to do that. And also stay humble while doing that.

A triumph tonight would give Orlando eight straight wins for the first time since April of 2006, but Washington has surprisingly won two straight in the series after dropping the previous five meetings.

Casinos-internet-casinos Basketball Betting News

<< Hawks welcome Pistons to Dixie
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The playoff bound Atlanta Hawks return to the cozy confines of Philips Arena Saturday to take on a Detroit Pistons team headed for the NBA Draft Lottery. The Hawks salvaged the finale of their recent three-game road trip o

<< Blackhawks visit Flyers in afternoon clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the top teams in the Western Conference will head to the East Coast today as the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Philadelphia Flyers for an afternoon battle at Wachovia Center. The Blackhawks have 93 points on the year

<< Panthers shoot for rare victory over Sharks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida needs all the victories it can muster from now until the end of the season to even have a chance at making the playoffs. The Panthers could have a tough time getting a win today, when they visit the mighty San Jose Sh

<< Leach faces James in Texas Tech lawsuit deposition
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -Mike Leach is sitting across from his accuser as Craig James gives sworn testimony in the former coach's lawsuit against Texas Tech.James, whose complaint of mistreatment of his son led to Leach's firing, declined to comment Sat

<< UNLV knocks off BYU to reach Mountain West title game
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tre'Von Willis finished with 18 points and made critical free throws down the stretch, as UNLV upended No. 14 BYU, 70-66, to reach the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Willis

Nuggets press on without Karl in Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets continue their push to the postseason without head coach George Karl tonight against a desperate Memphis Grizzlies team. The Nuggets played without Karl, who is undergoing radiation and chemotherapy to

Spurs shoot for 16th straight win over Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are quite a few rivalries in the NBA but don't count the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers among them. A rivalry generally contains a little give-and-take or back-and-forth. When the Spurs and Clippers get t

Mavs aim to push win streak to 14 vs. Knicks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Dallas Mavericks will try to stretch their season-high winning streak to 14 games tonight when they resume a four-game homestand against the woeful New York Knicks. Dallas kept its longest winning streak of the

Raptors resume road trip in Oakland vs. Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors haven't been playing like a team headed towards the postseason and will resume a four-game road trip Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland. Toronto is currently eighth in the Easte

Habs and Bruins square off as playoff hopefuls >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens look to further their playoff chances and defeat Boston for the fifth time in six meetings this year tonight at the Bell Centre, while the Bruins hope to strengthen their hold on the Eastern Conference'

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

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.