Suns attempt to end skid in Dallas

Basketball Betting Lines

12/04/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns will try to stop a season-high three-game losing streak tonight when they pay a visit to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

The Suns dropped their third in a row after Wednesday's 104-91 setback at New Orleans in the opener of a short two-game road trip. Amare Stoudemire scored 26 points while Leandro Barbosa and Grant Hill chipped in 19 and 17 points, respectively, in defeat.

Phoenix was without two-time MVP Steve Nash (flu) and Shaquille O'Neal (rest) against the Hornets, who took advantage without the big man inside and won the rebounding war by a 46-30 margin. Nash and O'Neal are expected to play tonight for the Suns, who are 7-3 as the guest. Nash is questionable and played with Dallas for six seasons. O'Neal is probable for Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks will continue a lengthy seven-game homestand tonight and opened the season-long residency with a 100-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday to improve to 3-4 as the host.

Jose Barea's three-pointer with 50.2 seconds to play lifted the Mavs and Dirk Nowitzki added a game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas, which has won two straight and seven of eight. Jason Terry scored 26 points and Barea finished with 15 in the win.

The Mavericks will also host the Hawks, Spurs, Bobcats, Thunder and Nuggets. In injury news for Dallas, forward Josh Howard is questionable against Phoenix due to a sprained left ankle.

Dallas went 2-1 against Phoenix a year ago and has won 10 of the past 17 matchups. The Mavs have scored more than 100 points against the Suns in 16 of the previous 17 meetings.

Phoenix has lost two of three games at American Airlines Center.

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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.