Bobcats welcome Jazz to Charlotte

Basketball Betting Lines

11/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz are battling through a rough road trip and will try to get back on track tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Utah is just 1-2 so far on the swing and dropped a 95-87 decision to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at the Verizon Center. Carlos Boozer chipped in a team-high 20 points and pulled down seven rounds for the Jazz, who will also visit LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

C.J. Miles netted 16 points and point guard Deron Williams, who missed the first six games of the season with a sprained left ankle, had eight points, six rebounds and a game-high seven assists. Utah opened the season winning six of seven games.

Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko (finger) is doubtful for Friday's game and center Mehmet Okur (personal) is out indefinitely. Okur was excused by the team to attend to a family illness in his native Turkey. The big man is currently in his fifth season with the Jazz and is averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Charlotte will continue a six-game homestand on Friday and is 1-2 on the residency after losing two in a row. In Tuesday's 88-80 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Jason Richardson had 23 points for the Bobcats, who have lost four of their last five games. Richardson, though, is expected to miss a week of action after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday. He is averaging 17.6 points this season.

Adam Morrison had 16 points while Gerald Wallace chipped in 13 points, seven boards and three steals in defeat. The Bobcats will also host Orlando and Dallas on the homestand.

Utah and Charlotte split a pair of meetings last season, but the Jazz have won two of the past three encounters.

The Jazz are winless in their previous two trips to Charlotte.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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