Batum makes 9 three-pointers, Blazers down Nuggets

Basketball Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There was nothing wrong with Nicolas Batum's left knee on Saturday.

Batum returned from a brief two-game absence and nailed a franchise record nine three-pointers en route to a career-high 33 points as the Portland Trail Blazers routed the Denver Nuggets, 117-97.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and nine rebounds while Marcus Camby pulled down 20 boards for the Blazers, who moved to 11-1 at the Rose Garden this season.

Danilo Gallinari netted 20 points while Kosta Koufos finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost four of their last five games.

Batum's three-pointer late in the first quarter capped a 10-4 Blazers run as the hosts took a 33-24 advantage before taking a 33-26 lead into the second.

Back-to-back Batum treys gave Portland its largest lead of the half, 50-34, with 7:24 to play in second.

But the Nuggets closed the stanza on a 10-2 run, cutting the margin to 59-53 heading into the locker room. Batum had five treys and 17 points in the first half.

The Blazers pulled away in the third quarter.

Koufos' reverse layup pulled the Nuggets within 68-63, but the Blazers responded with a 17-4 run to make it 85-67 with 1:20 to go in the third. Aldridge had eight points during the flurry, which Batum capped with his sixth three-pointer. Portland led, 85-71, after three.

Batum buried three more treys in the final quarter as the Blazers led by as many as 27, cruising to the easy win.

Game Notes

The Blazers scored 24 points off 17 Denver turnovers...Seven of Camby's rebounds were offensive boards...Gerald Wallace added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists for Portland...The Blazers were 15-of-33 from beyond the arc...Portland dished out 30 assists.

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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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