Bryant lifts Lakers past Thunder

Basketball Betting Lines

02/25/2009 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 36 points, as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 107-93, at Ford Center.

Bryant moved into 19th place on the NBA's career scoring list, ahead of Adrian Dantley. During the Lakers' 111-108 victory at Minnesota on Sunday, Bryant passed Elgin Baylor for 20th.

Paul Gasol added 14 points, eight rebounds, and six assists for the Lakers, who have won five in a row. Derek Fisher poured in 12 points, while Luke Walton ended with 11 points, five boards, and four helpers. Jordan Farmar added 10 points off the bench.

Oklahoma City was paced by Kevin Durant, who finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Kyle Weaver added 16 points off the bench for a struggling Thunder team, who have dropped six straight. Russell Westbrook ended with 14 points, while Jeff Green poured in 10 points and pulled down nine boards in defeat.

After going on an 8-2 surge to end the third frame, the Thunder rallied off six consecutive points to start the final frame. Nick Collison's hook shot topped off the spurt and cut the home team's gap to just one, 75-74.

Trailing 81-80 with under nine minutes to play, Bryant essentially lifted his team to victory by scoring six unanswered points to give the Lakers a five- point cushion.

LA, ignited by Bryant, used that energy to control the remainder of the game. Oklahoma City never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Walton spurred the Lakers on a 14-4 run to begin the contest. He tallied seven points during the surge and topped it off with a layup with under 7 1/2 minutes left.

Los Angeles was comfortably ahead for the remainder of the first quarter, and took a 32-22 lead into the second period.

Ahead 34-27 early in the second frame, LA ripped off 10 straight points to go up 44-27. Farmar's 18-foot jumper capped off the run with just over 7 1/2 minutes until the half.

The Thunder were able to cut into the Lakers lead somewhat, but Los Angeles took a 56-44 advantage into the locker room.

Trailing 73-60 late in the third frame, Oklahoma City finished the final 3:04 of the period on an 8-2 spurt to cut the Lakers' lead to seven, 75-68. Durant's three-pointer culminated the surge. The Thunder carried their momentum into the final 12 minutes of action.

Game Notes

The Lakers shot 52.6 percent from the field, while the Thunder hit 41.8 percent of their shots...LA went 7-of-15 from beyond the arc, compared to Oklahoma City which shot 5-of-15 from three-point land...The Lakers owned the boards, 45-30...LA handed Oklahoma City a 105-98 loss on February 10 at Staples Center and has won eight straight and 10 of the last 11 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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