Smith returns for Hawks

Basketball Betting Lines

12/03/2008 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, who had missed the previous 12 games due to a high left ankle sprain, returned to action by starting Wednesday's 105-95 win against Memphis.

Smith played just 11 minutes before hurting his ankle in a November 7 win over the Toronto Raptors. He had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's game, moving his average to 12.4 points and 7.6 rebounds over five contests this season.

Smith has 797 blocks for his career and is poised to become the youngest to reach 800 in a career. Smith turns 23 on December 5. Shaquille O'Neal had 800 blocks when he set the mark at 24 years and 9 days old on March 15, 1996 in a game against Vancouver.

Starlck Basketball Betting News

<< Backstrom, power play fuel Wild win over Blues
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a career-worst performance in his last outing, Niklas Backstrom turned aside all 22 shots he faced to record his third shutout of the season, as the Minnesota Wild blanked the St. Louis Blues,

<< Okafor lifts Bobcats to rare win streak, Thunder fall again
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emeka Okafor had a season-high 25 points to go with 13 rebounds to lead Charlotte to a 103-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Gerald Wallace added 21 points and Jason Richardson posted 18 points, mo

<< Boston wins 10th straight behind Rondo's triple-double
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rajon Rondo finished with 17 assists, 16 points and 13 rebounds, as the Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers, 114-96, for their 10th consecutive win. Rondo's triple-double was the Celtics' first since

<< Zherdev, Rangers top Pens in SO
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nikolai Zherdev netted the game-winner in the shootout, as the New York Rangers edged Pittsburgh, 3-2, at Madison Square Garden. After Markus Naslund scored on the opening shot for New York, Miroslav Sa

<< Quinn undergoes successful surgery on finger
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn underwent successful surgery on Wednesday to repair his broken right index finger, an injury he sustained in a November 17 game against Buffalo. Quinn broke

No. 15 Wake Forest routs Indiana >>
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Johnson scored 21 points and grabbed five rebounds, leading the 15th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons to an 83-58 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Johnson shot

Ming fuels Rockets past Clippers >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yao Ming scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets to a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center. Rafer Alston added 21 points, seven assists and ei

Villanueva leads Bucks over Bulls >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Villanueva scored 23 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks in a 97-90 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Richard Jefferson added 21 points for the Bucks, who snapped a s

Yao fuels Rockets past Clippers >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yao Ming scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets to a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center. Rafer Alston added 21 points, seven assists and ei

Hansbrough leads No. 1 UNC in rout of Michigan State >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Hansbrough scored 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to pace top-ranked North Carolina to a 98-63 blowout of No. 13 Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. By the way the Tar Heels (8-0) are


Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.