Road warriors: Grizzlies run road streak to seven with rout in Boston

Basketball Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Gay led a potent Memphis attack with 28 points, as the Grizzlies' ran their road winning streak to seven games with a convincing 111-91 win over the Celtics.

O.J. Mayo notched 17 points, and Marcus Williams scored 16 off the bench. Zach Randolph returned from a stiff back to add 13 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis, which is riding the longest road winning streak in franchise history and has won four of five overall.

Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen each scored 17 points for the Celtics, who lost their second in a row following a four-game win streak. Paul Pierce had 14 points and Rasheed Wallace 11.

Memphis rolled to a 27-12 lead after 12 minutes and were up 20, 33-13, in the early going of the second after opening with a 6-1 spurt.

The Grizzlies kept pouring it on, as Mike Conley's three-pointer and a Mayo reverse layup to follow made it 43-22 with 5 1/2 minutes left. The margin at halftime saw the Grizzlies' ahead 55-33.

Boston got its offense on track in the third quarter, nearly matching the output for the first half with a 30-point frame. The C's used a quick 9-0 burst to get within 14 on a Pierce three at the seven-minute mark, but Memphis' lead remained in double digits, 82-63, beginning the final period.

Hasheem Thabeet and Sam Young put in a pair of high-percentage baskets early in the fourth to run the difference to 22. By the time Gay and Pierce traded threes at the halfway point, the visitors had built a 102-77 advantage to win going away.

Game Notes

Memphis shot 55 percent from the floor compared with Boston's 43.8-percent effort...The Grizzlies halted a six-game losing streak in this series. Memphis last defeated the Celtics on December 6, 2006...Michael Finley scored 10 points in his second game with the Celtics. Kevin Garnett was 3-of-9 from the field for six points and added seven boards, while Nate Robinson was scoreless in nearly 15 minutes off the bench...Conley had 12 points, Young scored 11 and Marc Gasol secured 10 boards with seven points and five assists in the win...The Grizzlies' last road loss came at Minnesota on February 6.

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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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