Hawks' Johnson gets late reward

Basketball Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hope Joe Johnson has a good travel agent, because it must have been tough making those last-minute switches for this weekend.

It came very late, but Johnson was finally rewarded for his stellar season on Wednesday when he was selected as an injury replacement for the Eastern Conference squad.

Johnson, who will appear in his first All-Star game, takes the place of the injured Jason Kidd of the Nets for this Sunday's game. Kidd will skip the contest because of a back injury.

The 25-year-old guard is the Hawks' first All-Star since Shareef Abdur-Rahim in 2002.

Johnson, in his sixth season, is netting a team-best 25.2 points per game in 48 contests, good for 10th in the league. He is also tied for sixth in the NBA in field goals made per game at 9.4 per tilt.

Atlanta now heads into the break with a 21-31 mark, but as winners in two of its last three before the All-Star Game. Johnson averaged 20.7 points per game in that span, including 27 points in a 96-93 win over the LA Clippers on Wednesday.

The Hawks have lived and died by Johnson's offense this season. He has scored 25-plus points in 30 of his 48 games this year, and has led the team in scoring 36 times. In addition, the Hawks are 11-5 when Johnson scores 30 or more points.

The Hawks will resume their season on Tuesday against Chicago on the road, where it is 12-16. The club will then open a three-game homestand Wednesday against San Antonio.

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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.