Hawks cruise to wire-to-wire win in Indiana

Basketball Betting Lines

12/26/2009 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Al Horford scored 25 points and yanked down a season-best 19 rebounds as Atlanta never trailed in posting a 110-98 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Joe Johnson added 24 points and Josh Smith scored 22 for the Hawks, who won for the eighth time in 10 games. They've also beaten the Pacers five straight times. The trio of Horford, Johnson and Smith combined to go 28-of-42 from the field.

Jamal Crawford chipped in 19 points in the victory.

Troy Murphy and Tyler Hansbrough each had a strong game for Indiana, which dropped its fifth in a row. Both scored 19 points with Murphy logging 12 rebounds and Hansbrough 11. Luther Head also scored 19 in defeat.

Smith scored 12 points in the first quarter as the Hawks gained an early advantage they never relinquished. He had a layup and dunk as part of a 9-0 run to open the game. Mike Bibby capped the burst with a three-pointer, and a three-ball from Marvin Williams expanded the margin to 18-4 just 4:08 into the contest.

Atlanta led by as many as 17 in the quarter before settling for a 33-20 cushion after 12 minutes. The Hawks didn't turn the ball over in the opening 12 minutes, while scoring eight points off five Indiana miscues.

A jumper by Brandon Rush had the Pacers within 37-33 with 7;41 remaining in the half, but Atlanta pulled away with an ensuing 12-2 burst, culminated by Horford's jam inside three minutes left. It was 51-40 at the half.

The Hawks were ahead by double digits nearly the entire third quarter and carried an 84-66 margin moving to the fourth. Johnson netted 10 points in the third, a period in which the Hawks went 12-of-19 from the field.

The lead reached as high as 20 in the fourth.

Game Notes

Horford tied a season-high in points...Atlanta won in Indianapolis for just the fourth time in the last 19 meetings...The Hawks are only a half-game behind Orlando for the top spot in the Southeast Division...The Hawks next face the Cavaliers on back-to-back nights, starting Tuesday in Atlanta...Indiana plays at Miami Sunday...T.J. Ford had 10 points and nine assists for the Pacers...Smith also had five blocks in the win.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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