Lakers, Hornets clash in the Big Easy

Basketball Betting Lines

03/29/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers continue their quest to wrap up the top seed in the Western Conference Monday when they visit the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Hornets.

The Lakers won for the eighth time in nine tries Saturday and improved to 2-1 on their five-game road trip when Pau Gasol recorded 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting and added eight rebounds and four blocks, as Los Angeles dropped the free-falling Houston Rockets, 109-101.

The Lakers more than recovered from a 91-75 drubbing at the hands of Oklahoma City on Friday, as they shot 57.5 percent from the floor to send the Rockets to their fourth straight loss.

Kobe Bryant, who had just 11 points on Friday, finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers, who own a six-game lead over Dallas for the top spot in the Western Conference with nine games remaining.

Lamar Odom contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar chipped in 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the victory.

"Overall, considering how we played [Friday], we rebounded nicely on both ends of the floor," Bryant said. "I think defensively we played aggressive in the first half, and we had a little bit of a let up in the second half."

The Hornets, meanwhile, were officially eliminated from postseason competition on Saturday after Brandon Roy shot 12-for-14 from the floor to end with 28 points, as the Trail Blazers improved their own playoff standing and simultaneously eliminated New Orleans with a 112-101 win.

Rookie Darren Collison was 10-for-10 from the floor to lead the Hornets with 22 points. He fell one made field goal shy of setting the franchise record for consecutive made in a game.

David West came up with 18 points, Emeka Okafor scored 14 and Chris Paul continued to work his way back into form with 10 assists and seven points in the loss, the Hornets' 12th in the last 15 games.

"It was an incredible performance by Portland especially as far as execution and high level play. Roy played extremely well, as usual," Hornets head coach Jeff Bower said.

The Lakers have won three straight over New Orleans, including a pair of games played in LA this season.

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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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