Heat and Hawks clash in Atlanta

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - (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 a season-long, six-game road trip in the nation's capital on Friday. Dwyane Wade scored 26 points in that one to lift Miami to a 106-89 victory over woeful Washington.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points to go with 11 rebounds, while LeBron James added 18 points and nine assists for the Heat, who bounced back from a loss at Orlando on Wednesday to win for a fourth time in their past five games overall.

"We all had a good feel for the ball tonight," said Bosh. "The way you start is usually the way you're going to play for the rest of the night."

Miami, which is 8-5 as the visitor on the season, will also visit Milwaukee, Indiana and Cleveland on its current trek.

The Hawks have hung tough despite a litany of injuries, especially in the middle where centers Al Horford (torn left pec) and Jason Collins (sprained left elbow) remain sidelined.

Atlanta won its second straight contest on Friday in Orlando when Josh Smith scored 23 points and pulled down a season-high 19 rebounds as the Hawks escaped Amway Center with an 89-87 overtime win over the Magic

"I thought our guys did a great job in just responding to the challenge. We really wanted to come in here and play with aggression," said Atlanta head coach Larry Drew. "I thought we really did a great job."

Joe Johnson added 14 points and Marvin Williams and Jeff Teague scored 13 apiece for Atlanta, which has won the two straight since snapping a three-game losing streak on Wednesday.

The Hawks, who are 9-4 in the ATL on the season, are a perfect 7-0 when Smith scores 20-or-more points.

This will be the third meeting between the two clubs this season. Atlanta topped the Heat in South Florida back on Jan. 2 but Miami responded and won a triple-overtime contest in Atlanta three days later despite missing both James and Wade.

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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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