Mavs-Spurs series shifts to the Alamo City for pivotal Game 3

Basketball Betting Lines

04/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The scene shifts to south Texas Friday night as the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks hook up for the pivotal Game 3 of their Western Conference quarterfinals set.

Tim Duncan, who turns 34 this weekend, totaled 25 points and 17 rebounds on Wednesday, and San Antonio opened a huge lead before holding off the Mavericks, 102-88, to even the series at a game apiece.

Manu Ginobili added 23 points for the Spurs, who led by as many as 20 in the third before watching that margin close to five in the fourth. Duncan had 10 of his points in that last quarter, including a personal 8-0 push to open a 97-84 San Antonio lead with under four minutes left.

"We went to Tim just about every other time down the stretch and he came through by scoring and rebounding at the other end," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's always that guy that gets taken for granted because he's been doing that for so many years just being an anchor for us. And he did a really good job of scoring when they cut it to six or eight and he really helped us keep the lead."

Tony Parker chipped in 16 points and eight assists in a reserve role, while Richard Jefferson scored 19 in the win.

"It's a much nicer trip after a win, so we're going to enjoy it. But at the same time we've got to be so humble," Ginobili said. "This is a long series. We've lost at home to them many times, so we've just got to stay humble, keep working hard knowing full well that it's going to be a long series."

Jason Terry came off the bench for 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki contributed 24 with 10 rebounds for Dallas, which grabbed Game 1, 100-94, on Sunday and had won four straight postseason games against the Spurs.

Caron Butler had 17 points and seven rebounds while Jason Kidd went just 1- of-7 from the field and ended with five points and eight assists after missing a triple-double by two rebounds in the opener

"We started out and missed, blew three coverages on the first three plays of the game and those are mental mistakes," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "They scored, Dirk had two fouls and it we were digging ourselves out of a hole from there going forward. In the playoffs you have to be very precise. You are going to make mistakes, but to start the game was a really tough situation for us."

The best-of-seven set continues in San Antonio on Sunday for Game 4.

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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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