Bulls aim for home-and-home sweep of Knicks

Basketball Betting Lines

02/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling New York Knicks will try to snap a four-game slide tonight, when they open a three-game homestand at Madison Square Garden versus the Chicago Bulls in the finale of a home-and-home series.

New York was pummeled by the Bulls, 118-85, last night at the United Center despite reigning double-double king David Lee posting 24 points and 12 rebounds. Al Harrington added 15 points and eight rebounds for New York, which has dropped seven of its last eight games.

"They just overwhelmed us physically to every ball, every rebound, every shot and every fast break," Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni said. "They clobbered us, and we just have to regroup and be ready for tomorrow night."

Slam Dunk champion Nate Robinson did not play with the flu and is questionable for tonight's game. New York will also host Oklahoma City and Milwaukee on the residency, and is 12-16 at MSG this season. The Knicks have won 11 of their last 19 home games after starting the season 1-8 on their own court.

Meanwhile, the Bulls will hit the road for back-to-back games against the Knicks and Timberwolves, and are 10-17 away from the Windy City this season. They have won six of the last eight games outside of the United Center.

Chicago has won three of four games and is 8-4 in its last 12 contests. In last night's victory versus the Knicks, All-Star Derrick Rose shook off a hip injury to record 29 points in just over 27 minutes of action, while Luol Deng netted 18 points for the Bulls, who are seventh in the Eastern Conference.

"Very strong win for us. We shot the ball as well as we did all year," said Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro.

Kirk Hinrich amassed 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas each totaled 11 points in a winning cause.

Chicago has won 11 of the past 16 matchups with New York. These two clubs have split the previous 10 encounters in the Big Apple.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.