Sixers hand Bobcats 7th straight loss

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobcats coach Paul Silas wasn't on the court Friday night to see his team lose a season-high seventh straight game.

Ejected during a timeout, he missed the last 2 1/2 quarters of another bleak loss.

Lou Williams scored 17 points, Jrue Holiday had 15 and the Philadelphia 76ers easily handled Charlotte, 89-72, leading wire-to-wire and by as many as 30 points.

Silas was ejected as the game got out of hand, tossed after receiving two technical fouls during a timeout in the second quarter while his team trailed by 21.

The Bobcats, who are an NBA-worst 3-17, continue to deal not only with the frustration of losing, but also with injuries to some of their best players.

Gerald Henderson returned Friday from a one-game absence because of a bruised lower back, scoring seven, but D.J. Augustin missed his third straight game with a toe injury and D.J. White sat with a left knee contusion.

Shorthanded, the Bobcats lost their fourth straight game by at least 10 points after staying within single digits in their previous three losses. They also had a six-game losing streak earlier in the season,

The Atlantic division-leading Sixers, meanwhile, avoided losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Coming off an overtime loss to New Jersey on Wednesday, they opened with a 14-3 run sparked by Jodie Meeks' three-pointer and never looked back. Holiday scored the last seven points of the burst, including a three to cap it.

Meeks finished with 14 points for Philadelphia and Thaddeus Young had 10, while rookie Kemba Walker scored 14 to lead the Bobcats.

The Sixers held Charlotte to 21.1 percent shooting in the first quarter and had a 23-10 lead at the buzzer.

They continued to pour it on, scoring a season-high 36 points in the second quarter. Silas was ejected after the Bobcats took a timeout while trailing 46-25.

Meeks hit both technical free throws, ending an 18-4 run that pushed the lead from nine points to 23 with 4:48 remaining in the first half.

The Sixers led 59-37 at the break, shooting 56.1 percent in the first half, and carried a 26-point lead into the fourth quarter. They went ahead by as many as 30.

Game Notes

The home team has won the last five games in this series, and 19 of the last 22...The Bobcats have lost four of five and nine of their last 11 games at Philadelphia...The Sixers signed free-agent veteran center Francisco Elson earlier Friday to provide some depth at the position with Spencer Hawes (Achilles) and Nikola Vucevic (quad) missing time because of injuries. They are 2-1 on a seven-game homestand...The Bobcats return home to play Washington on Saturday.

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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.