Blazers welcome Suns to Rip City

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blazers haven't been much of a threat away from Rip City this season but things have been far different when they are hitting the hardwood in the Pacific Northwest.

Portland will shoot for its sixth straight win at the Rose Garden tonight when they host the Phoenix Suns.

The Blazers are 8-1 at home on the season vs. a dismal 3-7 as the visitor. The team's latest setback away from home came on Wednesday in Oakland when Stephen Curry hit six of Golden State's 11 three-pointers and finished with 32 points and seven assists, as the Warriors took down Portland, 101-93.

The Blazers were trying to win for the third time in as many days, but shot just 36 percent from the floor in the second half. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points, Jamal Crawford and Nicolas Batum each netted 16 and Wesley Matthews had 15 in the loss.

The Suns, meanwhile, lost their second straight and for the seventh time in nine tries on Tuesday when Andrea Bargnani returned from a prolonged absence to net a season-high 36 points as the Raptors downed Phoenix, 99-96, in the Valley of the Sun.

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 12 boards for the Suns. Steve Nash finished with 17 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, and Hakim Warrick chipped in 17 points off the bench.

"No one's gonna throw in the towel," said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. "I'm not gonna allow that from a player's standpoint or a coach's standpoint."

Phoenix will be without backup center Robin Lopez tonight. The 7-footer was suspended for one game after being ejected Tuesday for making contact with an official after disputing a foul call.

The Suns have won two straight over the Blazers, including a 102-77 rout in the desert back on Jan. 6. Phoenix is winless in five straight trips to the Rose Garden.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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