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Georgetown at Temple on NCAA betting slate

A couple of teams that have been beating the odds to start the 2010-11 college basketball season square off in Philadelphia on Thursday when the Temple Owls host the Georgetown Hoyas. ESPN2 will broadcast the contest from Temple's Liacouras Center starting at 6 p.m. PT.

The interconference rivalry dates back over 80 years. Last year's contest from DC's Verizon Center likely ranks as the ugliest display of basketball in the 35 previous matchups.

One excuse for the poor performances by both squads was it came very early on the slate (Nov. 17, 2009) with both squads playing just their second games of the '09-'10 campaign. Georgetown closed as a 10-point favorite on its home court and needed a late bucket to hold off Temple, 46-45. The Hoyas took a 19-13 lead into the locker room half and built a 12-point lead in the second half before the Owls mounted their rally.

Temple and Georgetown combined to hit just 33 field goals, and sinking only six of their 41 shots from long range, while turning the ball over 26 times. The Owls' 6-for-13 performance from the charity stripe cost them a chance for a fourth consecutive win over the Hoyas.

Thursday will find Temple trying to improve on a 21-14 all-time series lead.

The Owls began the year ranked in the top 25 before a pair of losses in the Old Spice Classic during the Thanksgiving holiday pushed them outside the two polls. Temple dropped a 57-50 decision to Cal as 4½-point chalk on Turkey Day, then fell 54-51 to Texas A&M three days later as a one-point underdog.

Those are the only two losses the Owls have suffered on the court and at the window with Fran Dunphy's squad 5-2 straight up and against the spread.

Temple cashed this past Sunday as a 5½-point 'dog, grabbing the straight-up upset over Maryland, 64-61. The Owls nearly blew a 15-point advantage in the BB&T Classic at Verizon Center that had a partisan Terps crowd in attendance. Ramone Moore led four Owls in double-figures with 16 points, scoring half his points at the charity stripe.

Free throws have been a bit of a problem for the Owls who rank near the bottom of the country scoring just 9.7 points per game from the line, connecting 63 percent of the time. Hitting three-point shots is also a shortcoming with Temple next-to-last on the NCAA charts at 23.4 percent.

The Owls will need to post better marks in both columns or Georgetown is very likely to run the Owls off their own floor. The Big East power is sinking 51 percent from the field, ninth best in the nation, and popping 44 percent of their three pointers. Georgetown is also among the better squads at the line with a 71.6 percent mark there.

The Hoyas enter this battle a perfect 8-0, ranked nine by the AP and a stellar 6-1 against the spread to begin their schedule.

John Thompson III's troops have also proven they can beat a good team on the road after taking down Missouri in Kansas City last week, 111-102, an overtime contest that closed as a pick at the sports books. The Hoyas stormed out of the gate to build an 18-point lead in the first half before the Tigers battled back. Missouri held a 94-91 lead with 15 ticks left, but Georgetown's Chris Wright nailed a three just before the buzzer to force extra play.

Jason Clark hit a trio of three's in overtime to give the Hoyas the hard-fought triumph.

Georgetown followed that up with a 68-51 win at home this past Saturday over Utah State. The Hoyas were favored by 10½ to notch their fifth-straight cover. Wright led all players with 21 points, the only player to score at least 10 in the game.

The Hoyas head back home after this one for a Sunday matchup with Appalachian State, so there shouldn't be much danger in them looking past the Owls. Temple will be hosting Akron that same day.

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Senators host Rangers in NHL betting rematch

The offensively challenged Ottawa Senators hope to break out of a miserable goal drought Thursday when they host the New York Rangers in an Eastern Conference matchup. The Sens have scored one goal or less in six of their last eight outings.

Ottawa continued its difficulty scoring goals during Tuesday’s 4-1 loss at Montreal as a 135 road underdog. The loss lowered the Sens’ record to 12-15-1-1 and dropped their goal differential to minus-23.

The Senators entered Tuesday’s battle having seen the ‘under’ cash in eight straight games, with the ‘total’ being set at 5 ½ goals on each occasion.

However, NHL oddsmakers finally lowered the ‘total’ to five goals in Tuesday’s game, which resulted in a ‘push.’ Nevertheless, the ‘under’ is 17-11-1 in Ottawa’s first 29 encounters and 11-4 in its first 15 home dates.

Though Ottawa’s anemic power play unit finally scored in its lone chance with the man advantage in the loss at Montreal, the squad is just 3-for-21 in its last 10 games. The pitiful power play is one of the main reasons the Sens rank 28th offensively with a 2.1 GPG average.

Defensively, the Senators rank 22nd by allowing 2.9 goals per game. They are also a poor 24th on the penalty kill with an 80.2 percent success rate.

Backup Ottawa netminder Pascal Leclaire stopped 30-of-33 shots before leaving as a result of lower body injury with just over two minutes remaining in the Montreal loss. Leclaire, who saw his record slip to 2-7-1, is listed as “day-to-day.”

No.1 goalie Brian Elliot is 10-8-0-1 with a 2.81 GAA, a .913 save percentage and three shutouts.

The Rangers have not played since Sunday when they dropped a 3-1 decision to these same Senators as 160 home favorites. The loss lowered the Rangers’ ledger to 13-29-2 in the last 44 series meetings against the Senators.

The combined four goals slipped below the 5 ½-goal closing total, leaving the ‘under’ 19-6-2 in the last 27 series meetings between the Rangers and Senators.

The Rangers lost despite out-shooting the Senators, 26-25. Neither team was able to score on the power play, with the New Yorkers going 0-for-4 and Ottawa going 0-for-1.

Leclaire was in goal for Ottawa and stopped 25-of-26 shots to register the victory. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23-of-25 shots in a losing effort to see his record fall to 11-10-1-0. Lundqvist has a 2.52 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and four shutouts.

Chris Kelly notched the three-goal hat trick to account for all of Ottawa’s offense, including a shorthanded marker to open the scoring in the first period. Brandon Prust was responsible for the Rangers’ lone goal.

The Rangers are one of the league’s rare teams with a better record on the road (10-4-0-0) than at home (6-8-1-0). Despite taking an average of just 27 shots on goal (ranked 28th), the Rangers are 14th offensively with a 2.8 GPG average. They rank 11th defensively, allowing 2.7 goals per game.

New York is still without a couple of forwards in Vaclav Prospal (knee) and Chris Drury (finger). The centers aren’t scheduled to return until the middle of this month.

The Rangers will stay on the road for a Saturday game at Columbus to play the Blue Jackets. The Senators will play the second half of a back-to-back situation with a Friday home game against the New Jersey Devils.

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NBA Betting: Orlando Magic at Trail Blazers

East meets West as the Orlando Magic take on the Portland Trail Blazers this Thursday night in the first of two meetings this season. Tip-off from the Rose Garden in Portland is set for 7:30 p.m. (PT) and the matchup will be broadcast nationally on TNT.

Orlando has led the Southeast Division standings through the six weeks of the NBA regular season, but suddenly a new premium has been put on winning with the Miami Heat starting to finally play up to their talent level. Heading into this game, the Magic have won seven out of their last 10 and have an overall record of 15-6 straight-up but are just 8-13 against the NBA spread.

They lead Atlanta by a game and Miami by a game and half in the division and are in second place in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando was hit by the flu bug last week that sidelined four of their players including Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. The Magic managed to get by Detroit on Friday night 104-91 as four-point road favorites, but the depleted lineup took its toll in a 96-85 loss as a 4 ½-point road underdog the following night against Milwaukee. The total went ‘over’ the 184 ½-point line against the Pistons but stayed ‘under’ 183 ½ against the Bucks.

Howard returned to the lineup for Monday night’s game against the Hawks, but it was not enough to keep the Magic from dropping their second straight game in a 80-74 loss as a 6 ½-point home favorite. The total stayed well ‘under’ the 186 ½-point line as this game was a defensive battle from the start. The Magic shot a dismal 37.8 percent from the floor compared to their 46.9 percent season average. A visibly weak Howard did have 14 points and 13 rebounds but below his 20.9 points per game season average.

Portland took a step closer to getting back to .500 for the year with wins in its last two games after losing six straight before that. The Trail Blazers are currently 10-11 SU (10-9-2 ATS) on the year, 5.5 games in back of Utah in the Northwest Division and ninth in the Western Conference.

Portland came into the game against the Los Angeles Clippers this past Sunday as a 6 ½-point home favorite and was able to post a nine-point win to cover. The Trail Blazers opened up a 22-point lead at the half on the Clippers and held on for the 100-91 victory.

They were a 2 ½-point home favorite against Phoenix on Tuesday and relied on a 37-point fourth quarter to knock off the Suns 106-99. Andre Miller was out of the lineup serving a one-game suspension, but Wesley Matthew’s team-high 24 points helped fill the void.

Brandon Roy is the team’s leading scorer with 18.2 points per game and Marcus Camby is averaging 10.5 rebounds per game. The Trail Blazers are averaging just 95.19 points per game and their 43.2 field goal percentage rank them near the bottom of the league. Defensively, they have been much better, holding their opponents to 95.6 points per game.

Orlando is 2-4 ATS in its last six games overall and 2-4 ATS in its last six games on the road. The total has stayed ‘under’ in four of its last five games.

Portland is 3-1 ATS in its last four games overall and 3-2 ATS in its last five home games. The total is 3-2-1 in its last six games overall.

Head-to-head, the Magic have won two out of the last three games both SU and ATS including a 92-83 win as an 8 ½-point road favorite the last time they played in Portland. The total has stayed ‘under’ in the last two meetings.

Orlando should be back to full strength for this game but traveling cross-country and playing in a very difficult place to win a game will takes its toll. Stick with the Trail Blazers to make it three in a row.

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Nets next in line for hot Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have won 10 straight games, with a 7-3 NBA spread record in that stretch. Rick Carlisle’s crew plays its second straight home game as part of Thursday’s league slate against the New Jersey Nets, who are 1-4 ATS in their last five contests.

Dallas’ latest triumph came in Tuesday’s 105-100 victory as an 8 ½-point home favorite against the Golden State Warriors. The Mavs led by as many as eight points, while being outscored in the paint, 46-34.

Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki put up a team-high 25 points. The 32-year-old hit 10-of-18 from the field, while adding four blocks.

Dallas’ Ian Mahinmi logged 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, notching his first double-double of the season. The center played for a season-high 21 minutes due to starting big man Tyson Chandler missing the contest due to a stomach illness.

Chandler (9.3 RPG) is presently listed as “questionable” to play against the Nets, according to the DonBest.com injury report.

The tight battle’s combined 205 points jumped above the closing ‘total’ of 204 ½ by a ‘hook.’ Both clubs united to drain 17-of-40 from beyond the arc.

Dallas dropped to 4-6-2 ATS in its first 12 home dates, with the ‘under’ moving to 8-4. Nowitzki and Co. have allowed a stingy 91.3 PPG in that stretch.

New Jersey began its two-game road trip with Tuesday’s 116-101 defeat as a 6 ½-point road dog against the Atlanta Hawks. The Nets outscored Atlanta on fast breaks, 23-10, while being outrebounded, 39-34.

Nets center Brook Lopez notched a team-high 24 points. The Stanford alum hit 8-of-16 field buckets, while sinking 8-of-11 at the foul line.

New Jersey’s Devin Harris logged a season-high 13 assists en route to finishing with 18 points. The eight-year guard logged his first double-double in 18 games, while adding a team-high three steals.

The shootout’s combined 217 points soared above the ‘total’ of 185 ½. New Jersey allowed Atlanta to hit a sizable 60.3 percent of its shots from the field.

The Nets plunged to 6-6 ATS in their first 12 road games, while improving the ‘over’ to 5-6-1. Harris and Co. have scored a lowly 92.5 PPG in that span.

Dallas is 3-2 ATS in its last five meetings against New Jersey, with the ‘over’ cashing at 4-1.

The Mavericks won last March’s duel between the foes, 96-87, failing to cover ATS as an 11-point home favorite. Nowitzki struggled for Dallas, hitting only 3-of-16 from the field in 40 minutes of play. Harris finished with team-highs of 21 points and seven assists for the Nets.

Thursday’s tip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (PT), with the game available for viewing on NBA League Pass.

Dallas will be idle for one day, remaining at home to host the Utah Jazz as part of Saturday’s league schedule. New Jersey will have two days off, returning home for Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.