Surging Bucks host Allen, Celtics

Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweet-stroking veteran Ray Allen has already recorded his 20,000th career point and will add to that mark tonight, when the Boston Celtics hit the road to Milwaukee for a showdown with the Bucks.

On Sunday, Allen hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 17.1 seconds left in regulation to lift the Celtics to an 86-83 comeback victory over the Washington Wizards at TD Garden. Allen ended with a game-high 25 points for Atlantic Division-leading Boston, which closed out the game on a 20-4 run in the final 6:33 of the fourth quarter for its fourth straight win.

"The bigs set great screens, and I came off," Allen said of his big shot. "I think I had more time but that's one thing about shooting the ball, I don't like sitting there on the three point line, once I come off its like the ball comes and I'm up in the air with it."

Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo chipped in 17 and 15 points, respectively, for the victors, while Kevin Garnett had eight points and 10 boards in the win.

The Celtics, seeded third in the Eastern Conference, have won two in a row away from Beantown and are 22-10 as the guest this season.

Bucks head coach Scott Skiles has his squad on the right path, as the Bucks are riding a three-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 10 games. Milwaukee opened a four-game homestand with Saturday's 92-85 victory over the LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers at the Bradley Center thanks to 25 points from Brandon Jennings, who buried 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

James was given the night off to rest a twisted right ankle and the Bucks took advantage. Carlos Delfino added 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Luc Mbah a Moute tallied 10 points and 11 boards for the Bucks, who got 15 points and nine boards from Andrew Bogut and seeded fifth in the East.

"When we had to get stops and a rebound, we did," said Skiles, who is two wins (348) away from the 350th victory of his coaching career. "We had a lot of guys chipping in."

Milwaukee's next win will match their win total from last season (34). It will also host the Jazz and Pacers on the residency and owns a 20-9 record in Wisconsin this season. The Bucks are unbeaten in their last four home games and are three wins shy of 500 at the Bradley Center. They are 11-2 at home in the new year.

Boston defeated Milwaukee, 98-89, back on December 8 this season and has won seven of eight and nine of the last 12 meetings.

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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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