Rebounds Beats Season In Raptors

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"Our mental approach to the game was much, much better to start the game, especially on the defensive end," said Afflalo, who also blocked two shots.

 

Philly has won three straight in this series.

 

Crawford's troubles have coincided with Portland's although the club did snap a three-game skid and improved to 1-2 on a six-game road trip Monday in the Big Easy when LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds, helping the Blazers handle the New Orleans Hornets, 84-77.

 

"Sure it was ugly but we needed a win and we'll take it. We know we can play better and we know we'll have to play better, but we're happy with the win," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said.

 

Veteran Portland center Marcus Camby is likely to miss a third straight game tonight with a sprained left ankle.

 

Joe Johnson finished with 27 points and six assists for the Hawks, who have won three in a row and six of seven overall.

 

Their last three victories, against admittedly inferior competition in Charlotte, Minnesota and the Raptors, have come despite the fact they've played without Horford, who will be out for the next three to four months because of torn pec suffered last week.

 

"I think from an effort, energy, intensity and focus standpoint, I thought we were where we need to be," said Detroit coach Lawrence Frank. "If we can get that effort for 36 of 48 (minutes) and we focus on cleaning up our execution, we will get better."

 

Prince posted two steals for 400 in his career and needs one block for 400. Greg Monroe had only four points and grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds. The Pistons, who are last in the Central Division, have lost eight of their last nine games and fell to 1-6 as the visitor this season. They are averaging a league-low 85.0 points per game and have one of the worst records in the NBA at 3-11.

 

Love tied Hall of Famer and former Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon for the NBA's longest double-double streak to start a season (1992-93) with 33 points and 11 boards in Monday's 99-86 win versus Sacramento. Luke Ridnour added a season-high 25 points and Wayne Ellington scored 15 points off the bench for the Timberwolves, who snapped a three-game home losing streak and improved to 3-5 in the Twin Cities.

 

"Once we get everybody healthy ... we're very good," said Love, who is just one 30-point effort short of tying Kevin Garnett's franchise record of four in a row set from March 22-28, 2000. "We can surprise a lot of people. We just want to continue to get better."

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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.

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