Daily Sports Roundup
Thursday, March 11
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Flames play host to the Senators, the Bulls meet the Magic, and the ACC tournament has its first round in Greensboro.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA offers up three games on Thursday, with Atlanta at Washington, Portland at Golden State, and Chicago at Orlando. The Bulls couldn't stop Utah's offense in their last game on Tuesday night, as they were thumped 132-108 at home. Derrick Rose picked up 25 points and 13 assists in that defeat for the Bulls, while Brad Miller was good for 20 points in the losing cause. The Magic had no trouble with the Clippers in their last game on Tuesday, winning 113-87. Dwight Howard poured in 22 points to go along with 15 rebounds in that matchup.
As well, action continues in the Big East, Big 12, C-USA, Mountain West, and Pacific-10 tournaments on Thursday's college hoops schedule, while the Big 10, SEC, and ACC tournaments all get underway. The action in the ACC event at Greensboro Coliseum has Virginia vs. Boston College, Miami vs. Wake Forest, North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech, and N.C. State vs. Clemson. The Tigers fell 70-65 to Wake Forest in their regular-season finale, but they did beat N.C. State 73-70 back on January 16. Trevor Booker tossed in 20 points for Clemson that day.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, there are 10 games on the NHL's schedule for Thursday, including Ottawa at Calgary. The Senators began their Alberta swing with an easy 4-1 win over the Oilers in Edmonton on Tuesday night. Chris Kelly, Matt Cullen, Mike Fisher, and Milan Michalek all scored for the Sens in that victory, while Brian Elliott made 18 saves. The Flames doubled up on the Red Wings in their last game on Tuesday, winning by a final score of 4-2. Jarome Iginla scored his 31st goal of the season in that win for Calgary, and Miikka Kiprusoff made 28 saves.
Also on the ice on Thursday: Atlanta at Columbus, Tampa Bay at Toronto, St. Louis at the Islanders, Edmonton at Montreal, Pittsburgh at Carolina, Minnesota at Detroit, Florida at Colorado, Nashville at San Jose, and Boston at Philadelphia. The Flyers slipped past the Islanders for a 3-2 win in their last game on Tuesday night, with Simon Gagne scoring the game-winning goal. Michael Leighton made 23 saves in the win. The Bruins fell 4-3 on the road to the Maple Leafs Tuesday night, with Mark Recchi picking up a goal and two assists.
Thursday's Wagering Tips
Lines off the board
Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic – Taj Gibson (foot) is questionable with a case of plantar fasciitis. Luol Deng (calf) is expected to miss at least two games with a strained calf.
Portland Trail Blazers at Golden State Warriors – Monta Ellis (back) practiced on Wednesday and is probable (see report below). Ronny Turiaf (knee) missed the team’s last game and is questionable.
Atlanta Thrashers at Columbus Blue Jackets – Rick Nash (lower body) left the Jackets game on Monday and is questionable. Kristian Huselias (hand) has missed the last two games and is questionable.
Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers – Zdeno Chara (lower body) missed his first game of the season on Tuesday and is questionable.
Line to keep an eye on
The total in the Hawks-Wizards matchup moved from an opener of 195 to 194 in most markets but as low as 193.5. The last three games in this series have gone under.
Weather to watch
The wind will be a factor at the WGC-CA Championship in Miami this week. Wind is expected to blow anywhere from 14-17 mph during Thursday’s opening round. There is also a 30-40 percent chance of rain throughout the day with thunderstorms in the area.
With the rain, greens are expected to be soft which should produce low scores. Nick Watney said, “This is definitely a tournament you’ve got to go pretty low to win.” The last two winners of this event shot 19- and 17-under par.
Who’s hot
The Flyers are 7-3 in their last 10 games, earning 3.6 units on the moneyline.
Syracuse is 4-1 SU and ATS in its last five games.
Texas A&M is 10-0 ATS in its last 10 matchups.
Who’s not
Michigan is 4-6 SU and ATS in its last 10 outings.
The Hawks are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games and 7-13 ATS in their last 20.
The Bulls have dropped five straight overall and are 0-5 ATS during that streak.
Key stat
1966 – The last year North Carolina, Connecticut and UCLA were not in the NCAA Tournament.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Monta Ellis has missed the Warriors last five games with a back injury but returned to practice on Wednesday. Ellis’s availability for Thursday’s game is still uncertain but Golden State’s studio analyst Matt Steinmetz tweeted that there, "Doesn't seem like any reason he shouldn't play Thursday." Ellis is averaging 25.7 points and 5.3 assists per game this season.
Notable quotables
"That (expletive) that Matt Barnes pulled. That ain't never going to happen again."
-- Lakers forward Lamar Odom said on Tuesday in regards to the physical way Barnes played defense on Kobe Bryant. During the game, Odom called Barnes “a monkey”.
"Morning yall up early w/ the babies watchn Dora. Seems Lamar can't keep my name out his mouth maby I need 2 put my sons (expletive) diaper n it"
-- Barnes tweeted in retort on Wednesday morning.
Tips and notes
- Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has changed the team’s second scoring line in an effort to get more production from Henrik Zetterberg who has a -2 rating in his last 12 games. Babcock has moved Valtteri Filppula from center to wing and placed him on the line Zetterberg and Danny Cleary. Drew Miller will man the center position on the third line between Todd Bertuzzi and Jason Williams.
- Steve Stricker hasn’t scored above par in his first four tournaments of 2010 and has three Top 10s in his three stroke play events, including a win at the Northern Trust Open. In Stricker’s last four wins he shot 16-under, 17-under, 20-under and 17-under. He has to be a great with the putter to produce these kinds of scores and greens are expected to be taken advantage of at Doral. Stricker is +1400 to win the tournament.
- Wizards’ guard Randy Foye leads the team with 35 starts this season (62 total games) and is still getting use to all of his new teammates, who are also getting use to the team’s offense. Foye said the transition has been tough because “when I call sets, a lot of them don't know exactly what we're in.” Washington’s confusion has carried over to the floor where the Wiz have lost 6-of-7 games (2-5 ATS).