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Durant, Thunder play host to WarriorsBasketball Betting Lines01/31/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder will resume a four-game homestand Sunday versus the struggling Golden State Warriors at the Ford Center. Durant is third in the NBA with 29.3 points per game and has scored at least 25 points in 20 consecutive outings. He leads the NBA in scoring since mid- December, averaging 30.9 points in 22 contests, and posted 30 points in a 101-84 victory on Friday versus the Denver Nuggets. Durant shot 12-of-19 from the field for the Thunder, who had lost three straight and played this game despite a nasty ice storm that plagued the local area. "We knew (Denver) had great post presences. We just wanted to make it tough on them, make those guys see four or five guys in the lane and make them kick it out for a contested three," Durant said. "We still got to work on doing that, but I think we did a decent job tonight." Jeff Green added 15 points, while Russell Westbrook had 12 and eight assists in the win. James Harden also had 12 points, as Oklahoma City improved to 1-1 on the residency and 13-10 as the host this season. The Thunder will also play host to Atlanta. The Warriors have lost four in a row and will commence a three-game road trip Sunday at Oklahoma City, Houston and Dallas. They are 4-19 away from Oakland this season and suffered a 121-110 home loss versus the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday at ORACLE Arena. Bobcats star and former Warrior Stephen Jackson shined in his return to the Bay Area by pouring in 30 points. Corey Maggette had 25 points, while Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry each chipped in 22 points in a losing effort. "It was good seeing Jack (Stephen Jackson)," Maggette said of his ex-teammate. "Personally he's a great guy, I've been knowing him for a while. I was in his wedding so he's a good guy and I'm glad he had a good game tonight." Golden State has lost eight of its last 10 games. The Thunder defeated the Warriors, 104-88, at home on December 7 this season thanks to 28 points and nine rebounds from Durant. Oklahoma City has won three of the last four matchups with Golden State.
<< Magic hope to maintain division lead at Detroit
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic are back on top in the Southeast Division and hope to stay there when they pay a visit to the Detroit Pistons Sunday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Magic are a half-game ahead of Atlanta
<< 76ers visit Atlantic Division-rival Nets
<< Cavs kick off homestand vs. Clippers
<< Raptors open home-and-home set with Pacers
<< Lakers take on rival Celtics in Beantown
T-Wolves welcome Knicks to Target Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of also-rans get together this evening in the Twin Cities, as the Minnesota Timberwolves play host to the New York Knicks at the Target Center. The Timberwolves ended a five-game losing streak and won for the s
Road-weary Suns open trek in Houston >>
Flames deal Phaneuf to Leafs in seven-player swap >>
Rooney nets 20th in United's win at Arsenal >>
Maple Leafs acquire Giguere from Ducks for Toskala >>
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTINGNCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking. No. 1 always seems to fit USC. Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent. Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory. Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3. "We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team." Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time. "Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team." The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points. "I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won." Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State. "There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?" USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll. "It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter." While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls. As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule. But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference. Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com. The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road. The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second. The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia. No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday. Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina. Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson. The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996. South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20. The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24. Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
Football Betting LinesThe 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite. Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense. Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively. A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season. Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back. Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick. And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker. For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below. 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1 Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1 Donald Brown (IND) 5/1 Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1 Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1 Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1 Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1 Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1 Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1 Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1 Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1 Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1 Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1 Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1 Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1 Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1 Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1 LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1 Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2 Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1 Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1 Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1 Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1 Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1 Jason Smith (STL) 40/1 Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1 Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1 Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1 Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2 Pat White (MIA) 30/1 Field (Any Other Player) 9/1 To visit this sports betting site go to BettingExpress.com for all your football betting lines needs. For sports betting with credit cards site go to BettingExpress.com as well. |
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