Clippers resume road trip vs. 76ers

Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers will close out a seven-game stretch that head coach Doug Collins dubbed as "Death Row" when they entertain the upstart Los Angeles Clippers tonight from Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers are 4-2 on the meaty schedule against NBA powerhouses Orlando, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio, but dropped a 100-90 decision to the Spurs Wednesday night in the second installment of a three-game homestand. Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, off the bench and Andre Iguodala posted 17 and seven rebounds for Philadelphia, which lost for the second time in eight tries and had a four-game home winning streak cut short.

Jrue Holiday had 15 points and Elton Brand returned from a two-game absence because of a thumb injury to notch 11 points and 13 boards.

"This is a world championship team and organization," Collins said of the Spurs. "Pop is a great coach. They string you out. They get you in pick-and- roll and put three-point shooters on the floor."

Collins' squad is still a solid 13-4 in south Philly this season and will play three straight and seven of eight games on the road after tonight. 76ers center Spencer Hawes was out with a strained left Achilles. He missed 10 straight games, then returned for two and aggravated the injury again. The Atlantic Division-leading Sixers fell to 0-5 when allowing 100 or more points.

Philadelphia has yet to lose consecutive games this season. On Thursday, Iguodala was named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star squad. It is the first All-Star appearance for Iguodala, now in his eighth season in the league and with the 76ers. He is averaging 13 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals this season.

"I could not be more proud of Andre Iguodala for being recognized as an All- Star," Collins said. "Andre has meant so much to the success of our team this season and he is one of the most talented, unselfish players I have ever had the opportunity to coach - the entire 76ers organization, our coaching staff, his teammates and I are thrilled he will be representing us in this year's All-Star game."

The Clippers will continue their 11-day, six-game road trip tonight and are 2-1 on the sojourn following Wednesday's 99-92 loss at Cleveland.

Chris Paul finished with 16 points and 12 assists, while Blake Griffin had 25 points and 15 boards for the Clippers, who had won six of their last seven games entering the game. Caron Butler had 21 points in the loss and Randy Foye started in place of injured guard Chauncey Billups, who is out for the season after suffering a torn left Achilles in Monday's game, and recorded 15 points.

"We came out flat, I couldn't make a shot, we didn't defend well" said Paul.

Paul and Griffin were voted as starters for the West's All-Star team.

New Clippers forward Kenyon Martin made his season debut and scored six points. Martin played for the Xinjiang Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association during the NBA lockout, and was contractually obligated to wait until the end of the Tigers' season before returning to the NBA. He was cleared to play by FIBA, basketball's international governing body last week.

Los Angeles will also visit Charlotte and Dallas on the trek, and is 5-5 as the guest this season. It had a four-game road winning streak stopped in Cleveland and owns a 6-2 record against the Eastern Conference this season.

The Clippers lost both meetings with Philadelphia a season ago and is just 2-6 in the past eight matchups in this series. The Clippers have lost three of four and 12 of their last 14 visits to the City of Brotherly Love.

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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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