Thursday's Trends and Indexes - 2/13 (NBA, NCAAB, NHL, Misc.)

[Udog]

NCAAB

Thursday, February 13

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Four more NCAAB games postponed
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The winter storm slamming the American east coast has postponed more NCAAB games Thursday. There is now a combined 10 games postponed between Wednesday and Thursday.

The postponed games and make-up dates are:

Lipscomb @ Mercer - Friday, February 14 7PM ET
Western Carolina @ Chattanooga - Friday, February 14 7PM ET
SMU @ Rutgers - Friday, February 14 (no tip-off time announced)
Northwestern @ Michigan State - Monday, February 17 7PM ET


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[Udog]

NBA

Thursday, February 13

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Thursday's NBA TNT doubleheader betting news and notes
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Before the NBA pauses for the All-Star Weekend, close out the first half of the season with a bang. Here are some handy betting news and notes for Thursday's doubleheader action - Brooklyn at Chicago, and Oklahoma City at Los Angeles.

Brooklyn Nets at Chicago Bulls (-4, 182.5)

-- The Nets rested Kevin Garnett on the second game of a back-to-back earlier this week and were promptly destroyed by the Detroit Pistons, 111-95 Saturday night. “We can’t use it as an excuse that we didn’t have KG out there,” said forward Paul Pierce.” We have to be ready from the jump. We have to be ready to play.” Brooklyn hosted the Charlotte Bobcats Wednesday.

-- Brooklyn’s bench has carried it in its last three games before Charlotte. This includes Monday’s 93-81 win over New Orleans in which Mason Plumlee, Alan Anderson, and Mirza Teletovic accounted for over half the Nets’ points. No Brooklyn starter has scored over 20 points during this three-game span.

-- With a win over the Nets Thursday, the Chicago Bulls could climb as high as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. ‘‘We’re not satisfied with being .500,’’ center Joakim Noah told reporters. ‘‘Our whole mentality is just playing with an edge, playing [with] more of an edge than the other team.’’

-- Power forward Carlos Boozer missed his second game in a row with a calf injury forcing coach Tom Thibodeau to shorten his bench to just eight players in the rotation. Taj Gibson has thrived in Boozer’s absence averaging over 22 points and 10 rebounds per game while the team has gone 2-1 SU and ATS without the former Duke Blue Devil in the lineup. Boozer is expected to return Thursday night.


Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers (+11.5, 205.5)

-- Kevin Durant was seen icing his hip early in the Thunder’s win over Portland but the MVP candidate stayed in the game, as OKC opened up a four game lead over the Trail Blazers atop the Western Conference with the win. Durant did sit out a victory over the Boston Celtics in late January to, reportedly, nurse a sore shoulder.

-- The Thunder were an impressive 7 for 14 from behind the 3-point line versus Portland, continuing a marked improvement from November when they were hitting just over 31 percent from downtown.

-- Lakers point guard Steve Nash doesn’t expect to play Thursday after leaving L.A.’s last game with nerve issues. Nash’s absence left the Lakers with too few players to practice Wednesday, so instead they had a shootaround and video session.

-- The Lakers are currently on a six-game SU home losing streak, the first time this has happened since the 1992-93 season. "It's just frustrating, you know," center Chris Kaman told reporters. "Obviously everybody knows we want to win. It's not like we're out here trying to chase (draft) picks. It's not what we're doing at all, I promise.”


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[Udog]

NASCAR number: Countdown to Daytona

There are 10 days remaining before the 2014 Daytona 500; hence, the number for today is:

10: The number of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races won by Richard Petty at Daytona International Speedway, a total that includes a record seven Daytona 500s (1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979 and 1981). In addition, Petty collected the last of his series-record 200 wins at the 2.5-mile superspeedway in July 1984, driving not for family-owned Petty Enterprises but for Mike Curb. President Ronald Reagan flew to Daytona on Air Force One and was in attendance during Petty's milestone race.