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Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers

- The Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers will both be gunning for a victory on Monday when they meet at STAPLES Center.

Denver's Allen Iverson poured in 35 points in Saturday's 111-108 win over Minnesota, failing to cover the 14.5-point home spread. The 219 points scored were OVER the posted total of 210.5.

Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and ten rebounds, and Marcus Camby added 12 points and 13 boards for the Nuggets.

The Lakers lost 106-98 to the Suns last time out, as 1.5-point underdogs at home. The 204 points fell UNDER the posted total of 226.

Kobe Bryant netted a game-high 30 points with seven rebounds in the loss for the Lakers.

Current streak:
Denver has won 2 straight games.

Team records:
Denver: 24-15 SU, 19-20 ATS
Los Angeles: 26-12 SU, 22-16 ATS

Denver most recently:
When playing on Monday are 4-6
Before playing Atlanta are 4-6
After playing Minnesota are 4-6
After a win are 5-5

Los Angeles most recently:
When playing on Monday are 7-3
Before playing San Antonio are 7-3
After playing Phoenix are 5-5
After a loss are 7-3

A few trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Denver's last 5 games on the road
Denver is 9-4 SU in its last 13 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Denver's last 6 games
Denver is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games on the road
LA Lakers are 19-2 SU in their last 21 games when playing at home against Denver
LA Lakers are 7-1 SU in their last 8 games
LA Lakers are 9-2 SU in their last 11 games at home
LA Lakers are 17-8 SU in their last 25 games when playing Denver

Next up:
Denver home to Atlanta, Wednesday, January 23
LA Lakers at San Antonio, Wednesday, January 23

Oregon State fires Jay John
January 21, 2008

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) -Oregon State fired basketball coach Jay John, whose team is 6-12 this season and winless in the Pac-10. Attendance is reaching record lows at Gill Coliseum and the school has had only one winning season since 1989-90.
   
Assistant Kevin Mouton will temporarily run the team after the rare midseason coaching change, which was announced Sunday night by athletic director Bob De Carolis. De Carolis did not rule out Mouton as a permanent replacement.

John, in his sixth season, received a five-year contract extension in 2005. Oregon State owes him about $1.1 million.

``Sometimes things just don't work out and that's the case here,'' De Carolis said. ``We needed to move on. I think the weight of some of the speculation of whether it was going to happen, when it was going to happen, started weighing heavily on John and his family.''

John did not have a chance to meet with the team Sunday night. He had a record of 72-97 and a conference mark of 26-68, including 0-6 this season. The Beavers, however, showed some grit in nearly upsetting Washington on Saturday.

De Carolis said he discussed the team's performance with John after last season when the Beavers finished 11-21 and 3-15 in the Pac-10.

``I always like to look at the total body of work,'' the athletic director said. ``And I really just didn't see where it was going.''

John came to Oregon State in 2002 after four seasons as assistant coach under Lute Olson at Arizona. John, in a statement, thanked De Carolis, Oregon State president Ed Ray and others for their support over his six years. He led the 2004-05 team to a winning season and an NIT berth.