Bulls, Pacers square off in Indy

Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls aim for their third straight win this afternoon on the road against the Central Division-rival Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Bulls recorded their second straight victory by handing the Denver Nuggets a 116-99 loss on Friday at the United Center. Ben Gordon led the charge with 37 points, while Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, in a winning cause.

Joakim Noah ended with 13 points and seven rebounds for Chicago, which got 10 points, six rebounds and six assists from rookie Derrick Rose. The Bulls' new additions from Thursday's trade, forward Tim Thomas, center Jerome James and guard Anthony Roberson, did not play in the game. Center Brad Miller and forward John Salmons, acquired from Sacramento on Wednesday, also did not see action. James is out with an Achilles' injury, and Miller is questionable with an abdominal strain. Salmons (lower back) is listed as probable.

Indiana, meanwhile, is familiar with the injury bug as leading scorer Danny Granger is out with a torn tendon in the sole of his right foot. Granger is averaging 25.0 points per game this season for the Pacers, who have alternated wins and losses over the past eight games.

In Friday's 112-105 triumph at Minnesota, Marquis Daniels netted 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting to help the Pacers end a 10-game road losing streak. Jarrett Jack scored 18 points and handed out five assists, while Troy Murphy pumped in 16 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

T.J. Ford added 13 points and Brandon Rush 10 for Indiana, which is also toiling without sharp-shooting forward Mike Dunleavy, who is out indefinitely with a right knee injury. Dunleavy also missed the first 34 games of the season with the problem.

The Bulls defeated the Pacers, 104-91, on November 15 this season in the Windy City, and have won 10 of the past 16 meetings. Indiana, however, has won 17 of the previous 20 contests as the host in this series.

Chicago is 10-19 as the guest this season, while Indiana sports a 16-11 mark at Conseco Fieldhouse in 2008-09.

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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.