Lakers finish Grammy Road Trip in Toronto

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a bad case of Linsanity safely in the rearview mirror the Los Angeles Lakers will get back to business and finish their annual Grammy Road Trip north of the border against the Toronto Raptors.

The Lakers served as nothing more than a speed bump for Jeremy Lin on Friday as the Harvard product's coming out party continued when he dropped in a career-high 38 points with seven assists and four rebounds, as the Knicks downed Los Angeles, 92-85, at Madison Square Garden.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points and pulled down 10 boards for the Lakers, but it was not enough for LA to avoid its third loss in four games and its first setback in 10 games against New York.

Pau Gasol added 16 points and 10 rebounds while Andrew Bynum struggled against the Knicks' Tyson Chandler, netting just three points.

"You have got to give [Lin] credit. He played a terrific ball game and he was the difference in the ball game," Lakers head coach Mike Brown said. "I don't ever remember anybody getting to the rim for that many layups against us."

LA is 2-3 on its current trek and just 4-10 overall as the visitor on the season.

The Raptors, meanwhile, snapped a three-game skid and improved to 1-1 on a seven-game homestand, topping Boston on Friday, 86-74, behind DeMar DeRozan's 21 points at Air Canada Centre.

It was a modicum of revenge for Toronto, which was routed by the Celtics 100-64 back on Feb. 1

"It was a message," said DeRozan. "The last time we played these guys we got embarrassed. We knew we had to come out and play with pride. It just shows we can beat any team in the league when we play like that."

Jose Calderon and Amir Johnson each contributed their sixth double-double of the season for the Raptors. Calderon netted 17 points and dished out 14 assists in the victory, while Johnson put up 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

Toronto, which is 4-7 at ACC and will also host New York, San Antonio, Charlotte and Detroit on its residency, continues to play without injured star Andrea Bargnani, who is sidelined with a strained left calf. Guard Jerryd Bayless also is doubtful for Sunday's game with a sprained left ankle.

The Lakers have won three straight and seven of eight overall vs. the Dinos.

Sportstakecenter Basketball Betting News

<< Jazz start tough stretch in Memphis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis continues a five-game homestand Sunday when it welcomes the struggling Utah Jazz to FedEx Forum. The Grizzlies improved to 2-1 on the residency Friday when Rudy Gay scored 21 points as Memphis defeated the Indiana

<< Warriors entertain Rockets in Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will shoot for a fourth straight win tonight in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets improved to 3-1 on a six-game road trip Thursday in Phoenix when Luis Scola scored 16 points and wa

<< Rangers welcome Caps for matinee at MSG
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off another dominating performance against their nearest division rivals, the first-place New York Rangers will welcome the Washington Capitals for today's battle at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers visited Philade

<< Heat and Hawks clash in Atlanta
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to tighten things up in the Southeast when they entertain division-leading Miami at Philips Arena. The star-studded Heat lead the Hawks by two games entering tonight's contest and improved to 1-1 on

<< Streaking Pistons host lowly Wizards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The improving Detroit Pistons shoot for a season-high fifth straight win when they take on the lowly Washington Wizards in the middle contest of a three-game homestand. Greg Monroe recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds as the

U.S. finishes off Davis Cup sweep of host Swiss >>
Fribourg, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States had already clinched a victory over host Switzerland in their best-of-five Davis Cup tie before capping off the weekend on Sunday with two more singles wins in a 5-0 sweep i

Isles, Panthers clash at the Coliseum >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Florida Panthers will try to post their first three-game winning streak since early December when they visit the New York Islanders for today's clash at Nassau Coliseum. Florida, which leads Washington by t

Ducks try to bounce back in Columbus >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to rebound from a loss tonight, when they play the second test of an eight-game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The Ducks became the 19th straight opponent to los

Kings end road trip in Dallas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will try to end a rough road trip on a positive note when they visit the rival Dallas Stars for today's Pacific Division battle at American Airlines Center. The Kings are 1-3-1 so far on a six-game sw

Pens welcome Bolts to Steel City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins tied a season-high for goals in a game on Saturday and will try to carry some of that offense into tonight's contest when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at Consol Energy Center. The Penguins host

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com