Hawks resume road trip in Detroit
Basketball Betting Lines
01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to bounce back from a miserable showing their last time out tonight when they continue a five-game road trip against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace in Auburn Hills.
Atlanta seemed lost at times on Wednesday when it dropped a 105-83 decision to the San Antonio Spurs. Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 20 points, while Josh Smith netted 13 on 6- of-17 shooting.
The Hawks had won six of seven coming in, but trailed by as many as 26 to the Spurs. THey also turned the ball over 17 times in the loss and slipped to 0-5 this season when scoring less than 90 points.
"They outplayed us," Hawks head coach Larry Drew said bluntly. "If you look at that stat sheet, they beat us in just about every category."
Detroit, meanwhile, also enters tonight's contest on a losing note after falling, 101-98, to the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
Austin Daye had a team-high 28 points for Detroit, but was whistled for a traveling violation while attempting a potential game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds.
Greg Monroe posted 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, though he also missed a critical basket late in regulation.
"We definitely gave a great effort tonight, everybody's intensity was really high, everybody was focused and we were all playing together," said Monroe. "It was a tough loss."
As well as they may have played against one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, it was still the Pistons' 12th loss in 14 tries. However, head coach Lawrence Frank was pleased with his team's effort.
"I thought our guys showed great fight, spirit and resolve," Frank said. "You have to look at the fight for the whole game. If we can establish this as part of our DNA, we'll put ourselves in position to win a lot of games, but it can't be just (against) Miami."
The Hawks took three of their four meetings with the Pistons last season and have won five of seven and eight of the last 11 overall in this series. Atlanta, though, has dropped 10 of 12 in Detroit.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.