Clippers resume road trip vs. 76ers

Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers will close out a seven-game stretch that head coach Doug Collins dubbed as "Death Row" when they entertain the upstart Los Angeles Clippers tonight from Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers are 4-2 on the meaty schedule against NBA powerhouses Orlando, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio, but dropped a 100-90 decision to the Spurs Wednesday night in the second installment of a three-game homestand. Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, off the bench and Andre Iguodala posted 17 and seven rebounds for Philadelphia, which lost for the second time in eight tries and had a four-game home winning streak cut short.

Jrue Holiday had 15 points and Elton Brand returned from a two-game absence because of a thumb injury to notch 11 points and 13 boards.

"This is a world championship team and organization," Collins said of the Spurs. "Pop is a great coach. They string you out. They get you in pick-and- roll and put three-point shooters on the floor."

Collins' squad is still a solid 13-4 in south Philly this season and will play three straight and seven of eight games on the road after tonight. 76ers center Spencer Hawes was out with a strained left Achilles. He missed 10 straight games, then returned for two and aggravated the injury again. The Atlantic Division-leading Sixers fell to 0-5 when allowing 100 or more points.

Philadelphia has yet to lose consecutive games this season. On Thursday, Iguodala was named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star squad. It is the first All-Star appearance for Iguodala, now in his eighth season in the league and with the 76ers. He is averaging 13 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals this season.

"I could not be more proud of Andre Iguodala for being recognized as an All- Star," Collins said. "Andre has meant so much to the success of our team this season and he is one of the most talented, unselfish players I have ever had the opportunity to coach - the entire 76ers organization, our coaching staff, his teammates and I are thrilled he will be representing us in this year's All-Star game."

The Clippers will continue their 11-day, six-game road trip tonight and are 2-1 on the sojourn following Wednesday's 99-92 loss at Cleveland.

Chris Paul finished with 16 points and 12 assists, while Blake Griffin had 25 points and 15 boards for the Clippers, who had won six of their last seven games entering the game. Caron Butler had 21 points in the loss and Randy Foye started in place of injured guard Chauncey Billups, who is out for the season after suffering a torn left Achilles in Monday's game, and recorded 15 points.

"We came out flat, I couldn't make a shot, we didn't defend well" said Paul.

Paul and Griffin were voted as starters for the West's All-Star team.

New Clippers forward Kenyon Martin made his season debut and scored six points. Martin played for the Xinjiang Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association during the NBA lockout, and was contractually obligated to wait until the end of the Tigers' season before returning to the NBA. He was cleared to play by FIBA, basketball's international governing body last week.

Los Angeles will also visit Charlotte and Dallas on the trek, and is 5-5 as the guest this season. It had a four-game road winning streak stopped in Cleveland and owns a 6-2 record against the Eastern Conference this season.

The Clippers lost both meetings with Philadelphia a season ago and is just 2-6 in the past eight matchups in this series. The Clippers have lost three of four and 12 of their last 14 visits to the City of Brotherly Love.

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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.

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