Curry leads Golden State past Denver

Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry poured in 36 points, including six treys, as Golden State downed slumping Denver, 109-101, at Pepsi Center.

Klay Thompson added 19 points off the bench, Dorell Wright had 15 points and Monta Ellis, one game after scoring a career-best 48 points, donated 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. David Lee also reached double figures with 12 points and eight rebounds for Golden State, which snapped a two-game skid.

Aaron Afflalo led the way for the home team with 26 points, while Nene added 15 points and Ty Lawson chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Al Harrington also scored 11 and Kenneth Faried posted eight points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have dropped five in a row with four of those coming at home.

The Nuggets have Afflalo and Nene back in the fold from injuries, but are still missing leading scorer Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and Corey Brewer.

The two teams traded blows in the first quarter with Curry's three pulling the visitors within 28-27 after one period. Golden State started the second quarter strong, taking a lead as large as 39-31 on the heels on a Rush three and Thompson jumper.

The Nuggets responded with the next eight points capped by Harrington's trey for a one-point advantage, and the score stayed close for the remainder of the half. Nene's slam in the closing seconds gave the home team a 51-47 margin at halftime.

Denver lost control of the game in the third as Golden State scored at will and held Denver in check. Curry and Wright drained back-to-back threes and Ellis connected on a tough fadeaway to cap eight straight points for a 61-53 game. After an Afflalo trey, Golden State scored the next 10 points, putting a stamp on an 18-3 scoring stretch with Curry's three-pointer for a 71-56 lead.

Afflalo was the only Nugget to score for nearly six minutes, but Denver hung around with Lawson's layup drawing the Nuggets within 71-63. The Denver defense, however, had no answer for the Warriors, who pushed out to an 80-65 lead on Nate Robinson's fadeaway jumper nearing the one-minute mark. Golden State took an 84-71 lead into the fourth period.

It didn't get better from there for the Nuggets. Lee rattled off a pair of buckets at one point for a 98-80 game, and Denver never seriously threatened throughout the final stanza.

Game Notes

Golden State had lost 10 of the last 12 matchups with Denver prior to Thursday's win...The Warriors also snapped a six-game skid in Denver....Denver made 43.5 percent of its shots, while Golden State made 51.9 percent of its attempts and 13 three-pointers....Afflalo was 5-of-8 from long distance, while the rest of the Nuggets were 4-of-16.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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