Blazers try to halt home skid vs. Wizards

Basketball Betting Lines

02/14/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers will try to halt a rare losing streak at the Rose Garden when they play host to a Washington Wizards team coming in off its second road victory.

The Blazers had been a gaudy 11-1 in Rip City before losing two tough ones to Oklahoma City last Monday and Houston two days later. They rebounded in New Orleans on Friday before tripping in a 97-94 double overtime loss at Dallas on Saturday.

All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge netted a game-high 33 points in Big D for the Blazers, including a game-tying bucket with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Aldridge also pulled down 12 rebounds, while Jamal Crawford contributed 19 points for Portland, which fell to 4-10 on the road.

"I thought our guys fought tonight to get themselves back into the game, and to give ourselves a chance to win the game," Portland head coach Nate McMillan said. "We have opportunities, and we've had them all season long where you've got to make plays, you've got to make shots, you've got to get stops, and, again, tonight we don't make shots when we have the opportunity."

The Blazers haven't lost three straight in the Pacific Northwest since March 29-April 6, 2008 but could be without starting center Marcus Camby tonight. The big man sprained his right ankle in Dallas and is listed as questionable.

The Wizards, meanwhile, won just their second road game of the season on Sunday in Auburn Hills when John Wall matched a career-high with 15 assists and scored all nine of his points during a game-changing run in the second half as Washington thumped the Pistons, 98-77.

JaVale McGee recorded a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Nick Young added 22 points for the Wizards, who are 2-10 away from home this season. The Wizards had lost six of their last seven games coming in.

"These games when we're close to these teams and have the same kind of record, these are like championship games," Wall said of the 8-21 Pistons. The Wizards are 6-22. "You have to take advantage of them."

Washington, which is a dismal 1-16 against teams with winning records, has dropped six straight in Rip City since a 114-106 triumph back on March 28, 2005.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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