Charlotte Bbcats betting odds

Oden successful in home debut; Blazers blitz Bulls

Basketball Betting Lines

11/20/2008 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy scored 20 points and Greg Oden had a successful regular season home debut, as the Portland Trail Blazers dominated the Chicago Bulls to the tune of 116-74 at the Rose Garden.

The game marked the first meeting between the top pick in the 2008 and 2007 drafts. Oden, who was playing his first regular season home game one year and 144 days after he was picked in 2007, scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 17 1/2 minutes of action. Chicago's Derrick Rose was picked first in the most recent draft and shot just 1-of-8 for six points on the night.

"We're becoming dominant at home," said Blazers forward Channing Frye said of the team's 4-0 home record while being interviewed by teammates Roy and Martell Webster. "We've got to continue to establish our game, like running the ball and playing unselfish. Tonight everyone was scoring. Chicago tried to play good d. We took them out of their stuff early and kept putting pressure on them."

Oden, who sat out his first season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee, received a standing ovation as he entered the game off the bench in the first quarter. He came into the game averaging 15.3 points in his last three games after totaling three points in his first two contests. The seven- footer poured in a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday night's win over Golden State.

"I think it started with our defense and shadowing Rose," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said. "That seemed to disrupt their offense. With the kind schedule we've had, and the close games we've had, we like to have a game like that."

Joel Przybilla added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Blazers, who have won six of eight. LaMarcus Aldridge posted 11 points in the victory.

"Overall I thought we just came out and were all about business," McMillan said. "From start to finish, this was our best game of the season. We got aggressive from the start, got our rhythm and hit our shots."

Andres Nocioni came off the bench to score 13 for the Bulls, who have lost four of six. Drew Gooden and Ben Gordon each scored 11 points, while Larry Hughes posted eight points for Chicago.

"They jumped on us early," said Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro. "They put a little pressure on us and got us out of it a little bit. Their big guys just controlled the paint on us. We got in foul trouble early. From the tip, they controlled the tempo of the game. We had too many turnovers and we got back on our heels. The list can go on and on. It was just one of those games where we could never get anything going. Give Portland a lot of credit."

Steve Blake scored five early points for the Blazers, who took a 12-1 lead to open the game. Portland extended its lead to 25-7 with just over four minutes left on Oden's emphatic dunk -- his first points at the Rose Garden in the regular season.

"We just came out from the jump and they applied a lot of pressure defensively," Gordon said. "We couldnt get anything going. We could just never get over that hump. It seemed like the game was over before it even started the way we came out tonight."

The Blazers finished the first quarter up 34-13, as the Bulls missed 10 of their last 12 field goal attempts while shooting a paltry 25 percent overall (5-for-20) for the quarter.

The Portland lead eventually grew to 30, and the hosts carried a 62-37 into halftime. Roy led all scorers in the half with 12, while Oden had nine points and seven rebounds.

The Blazers led by as many as 36 in the third quarter thanks to a 14-0 run and were in front 88-57 going into the fourth. Portland started out the fourth on a 14-2 spurt, leading by 47 at one point in the rout.

Game Notes

Portland has beaten Chicago three straight times...The Blazers dominated the paint, outrebounding the Bulls, 49-33...Blake had 10 points and five assists before leaving with a gash on his head after hitting a camera in the third quarter...Chicago moved to 0-2 on a seven-game road trip that started with a 116-109 loss to the Lakers Tuesday night...Every Portland player scored at least one point...The Blazers' largest margin of victory was 50, when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 129-79, on November 21, 1982.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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