Points Beats Pierce Over Moore

Basketball Betting Lines

Paul Pierce had 19 points and seven assists for the Celtics, who have won two straight and three of four games since a five-game slide.

 

Orlando made just 4-of-16 three-pointers and Dwight Howard was the only player to score in double figures with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Former Celtics forward Glen Davis made his return to Boston and recorded six points and 11 rebounds.

 

Celtics veteran guard Ray Allen missed the game due to a left ankle sprain and is expected to miss Thursday's contest. Guard Rajon Rondo has been sidelined the last three games (2-1) and is listed as probable. In other injury news for Boston, guard Keyon Dooling (knee) and center Jermaine O'Neal (knee) are both questionable, while forward Mickael Pietrus (shoulder) is expected to miss tonight's contest. O'Neal and Howard got into a scuffle in the third quarter and were whistled for technical fouls.

 

Ryan Anderson was held scoreless against the Celtics, but bounced with 24 points in Indianapolis.

 

"That's the beauty of this league," said Anderson. "We have back-to-back games and opportunities where we can redeem ourselves...These are important comeback games. That's the way we can play every night."

 

The Magic, who shot 45.8 percent and sank 13-of-32 three-pointers, are in the midst of alternating home and away games over the next six games. Davis and Hedu Turkoglu scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the recent win.

 

Sloan signed with Atlanta on December 9. He averaged 17.8 points as a senior at Texas A&M.

 

The Aussie native is averaging 11.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in just 12 games so far this year. He missed four games earlier this season due to personal reasons, and missed another due to a concussion.

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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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