Rebounds Carries Mullens With Game The Raptors

Basketball Betting Lines

After tonight's game the Raptors play three straight and 11 of 14 on the road.

 

Indiana, which beat Toronto earlier in the year, has won four of the last five meetings. The Pacers, though, have dropped eight of 10 in Toronto.

 

Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is expected to return to the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Boston Celtics. Rose sprained his toe during the first quarter of Tuesday's 111-100 win at Minnesota. He wore a walking boot as a precaution during Friday morning's shootaround.

 

John Lucas III started in his place on Wednesday and scored 25 points in Chicago's 78-64 win against Washington.

 

The Bulls, 10-2, own the best record in the Eastern Conference.

 

Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings added Hall of Famer Alex English to their coaching staff on Friday. English spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach and director of player development with the Toronto Raptors.

 

A second-round selection by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976, English is predominantly known for spending 11 of his 16 NBA seasons with the Denver Nuggets. He led the franchise to nine consecutive playoff appearances -- including a berth in the 1985 Western Conference Finals -- from 1982-1990.

 

The 23-year-old appeared in 43 games (three starts) last season -- his first in the league -- with Houston and Memphis, averaging 2.3 points, 1.8 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 10.3 minutes.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.