Cleveland holds off Kings

Basketball Betting Lines

03/28/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James scored 23 of his game-high 34 points in the second half, as the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Sacramento Kings, 97-90.

James also dished out eight assists and grabbed seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had an eight-game winning streak snapped at San Antonio on Friday. Cleveland improved to 58-16 on the season and sits atop the East, 6 1/2 games ahead of the Magic, who play later Sunday versus Denver.

Antawn Jamison donated 26 points and nine rebounds, while J.J. Hickson and Anthony Parker each chipped in 10 points for the victors.

Andres Nocioni finished with 21 points off the bench for the Kings, who have dropped four in a row. Beno Udrih recorded his first career triple-double with 18 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds. Carl Landry ended with 17 points, while Jason Thompson added 16 points and 14 boards in defeat.

The Kings were without centers Spencer Hawes (lower back strain) and Sean May (bruised knee) and forward Francisco Garcia (sore wrist). Rookie guard Tyreke Evans missed his fifth straight game with a concussion.

Ahead 85-84 with under eight minutes left in the game, Cleveland went on a 9-2 flurry to create some breathing room. James scored the first four points and Jamison the final five of the burst to make it 94-86 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Thompson made a pair of free throws before Udrih's mid-range jumper cut the gap to four, 94-90, with 2 1/2 minutes to go. Udrih's deuce ended Sacramento's six-minute drought from the field.

James' three-pointer with two minutes remaining gave Cleveland a seven-point margin. James went on two miss two shots from beyond the arc in the final minutes, but the Kings turned the ball over multiple times and missed two shots as neither club scored the rest of the contest.

Ahead by five, 22-17, late in the first quarter, the Cavaliers ripped off six straight points to build a 28-17 margin. Zydrunas Ilgauskas' layup had Cleveland in front 30-21 after 12 minutes.

The Kings chipped away at the deficit in the latter stages of the second. Udrih's two free throws and Landry's jumper had Sacramento within two, 50-48, with two minutes remaining. The visitors trailed 58-52 at the break.

Sacramento started the third on a 10-2 spurt to take the lead. Nocioni made a trey to start the burst, which Udrih ended with a jumper to make it 62-60 three minutes in.

However, the Cavs quickly charged back in front and led for the rest of the frame. The score was 78-76 heading to the fourth.

Game Notes

The Cavaliers were without forward Anderson Varejao due to a sore left hamstring...Cleveland has won eight straight over Sacramento and swept the home-and-home series between the two clubs for a fourth straight season...The Kings fell to 0-3 on a five-game road trip...The Cavs shot 50.7 percent from the field, while Sacramento made 43 percent of its shots...Kings forward Dominic McGuire left in the first quarter with a foot injury.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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