Fernandez leads Nuggets over Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Fernandez poured in 23 points to lead four teammates in double-figures as the Denver Nuggets topped the Toronto Raptors, 96-81 at Pepsi Center.

Danilo Gallinari dropped in 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Nene finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who extended their winning streak to six games. Andre Miller finished with 13 points and matched a season-high with 12 assists to go with six rebounds.

The Nuggets were also without point guard Ty Lawson, who sat out with a sprained ankle.

Leandro Barbosa paced the Raptors with 19 points, while Jerryd Bayless had 18 and James Johnson donated 16 points. Aaron Gray had a big night on the glass, grabbing 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost nine of their last 11.

Toronto also played its first game without forward Andrea Bargnani, who will be out indefinitely after re-aggrevating a calf strain in a double-overtime win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

Denver came out on fire in the first quarter, ripping off a 16-2 run to start the game before a running jumper by Johnson finally stopped the run with 3:08 left in the opening 12 minutes.

The Nuggets continued to make shots, shooting 55 percent in the frame. Gallinari led the offensive outburst with three treys and nine points.

Miller capped the quarter by nailing a 60-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to put Denver ahead 28-12.

The Nuggets continued to hammer Toronto in the second quarter, shooting 57 percent from the floor and outscoring the Raptors, 26-20.

Fernandez finished with 10 points in the frame and the Nuggets took a 54-32 lead into the locker room.

Trailing, 67-47, with 5:47 to go in the third quarter, the Raptors stepped up their game, using an impressive 27-13 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to get the deficit all the way down to 80-74 with 9:37 to play in regulation.

Gallinari stopped the run with a jumper and Fernandez nailed a trey on the Nuggets next touch to push the lead back to 85-74 with 6:10 left in regulation and they cruised the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Friday marked the first meeting of the season between the teams. Denver took both games last season...The Nuggets improved to 4-0 against the Atlantic Division this season...Toronto's 32 first-half points was a season- low...Denver shot 46 percent from the floor and 8-of-27 from beyond the arc, while the Raptors shot just 39 percent from the floor and 7-of-19 from three- point range...The Nuggets had the edge on the glass, outrebounding Toronto, 45-43...Denver converted 16 Raptors turnovers into 19 points.

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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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