Jazz, Grizzlies square off in Utah

Basketball Betting Lines

02/17/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz get back to work tonight, resuming a five- game homestand with hopes of continuing their dominance over the Memphis Grizzlies at EnergySolutions Arena.

Utah has topped Memphis eight straight times and will be aiming for a four-game season sweep of the Grizzlies. The last time Memphis triumphed over the Jazz was a 132-130 overtime win in Salt lake City on January 24, 2007.

The banged-up Jazz opened their residency in impressive fashion before the All-Star break last Wednesday when Mehmet Okur scored 22 points, pulled down eight rebounds and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 42.8 seconds left, boosting Utah to a 113-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Deron Williams eclipsed the 30-point barrier for a fifth straight game, finishing with 31 points and 11 assists, as the Jazz won for the fourth time in five contests.

Utah, which is now a gaudy 21-6 in Salt Lake City, will finish its residency against Boston, New Orleans and Atlanta.

The team hopes to have injured forwards Andrei Kirilenko (ankle) and Carlos Boozer (knee) back soon. In fact, Kirilenko is questionable for tonight's contest but Boozer is scheduled to remain on the sidelines.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, lost the opener of a three-game road swing in Philadelphia last Wednesday when Andre Miller scored 24 points and handed out nine assists as the 76ers gutted out a 91-87 win over Memphis.

Hakim Warrick matched a career high with 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting and grabbed eight boards for Memphis, which had won four of its first five games to begin the month of February but kicked off a three-game road trip in familiar fashion as the club is just 3-19 on the road this season.

O.J. Mayo had 16 points and hit 4-of-10 from beyond the arc while Mike Conley contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. Marc Gasol had 11 points and nine boards in the loss.

The Grizzlies will finish the trip with a visit to Portland tomorrow.

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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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