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03/19/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder aim to bounce back from a frustrating loss in their last outing when the up-and-coming club continues its current road trip with tonight's clash against the Toronto Raptors from the Air Canada Centre.
The Thunder appeared on their way to a sixth straight win in Wednesday's opener of this three-game trek after jumping out to a 19-point second-quarter lead against Charlotte. The Bobcats roared back, however, to claim a 100-92 victory.
Oklahoma City owned a seemingly-comfortable 51-32 advantage with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half, but an 11-0 run to close out the second quarter brought Charlotte within eight points at the break. The Bobcats then outscored the Thunder by a 30-19 margin in the third quarter and were able to stay in front the rest of the way.
"We had a chance to close out the half and it didn't happen, but we knew [the Bobcats] were going to make a run," said Thunder head coach Scott Brooks. "This is one of the better teams on their home floor."
Kevin Durant recorded 26 points and 10 boards in the loss, only the fourth in the last 21 games for Oklahoma City, while Jeff Green scored 17 points and Russell Westbrook finished with 15 points and 10 assists.
The Thunder, who are presently percentage points ahead of Phoenix for fifth place in a competitive Western Conference playoff race, will attempt to get back on track against a slumping Raptors club that was able to halt a five- game losing streak with Wednesday's 106-105 triumph over Atlanta at the Air Canada Centre.
Chris Bosh only had 14 points for Toronto -- 10 points under his season average -- but the All-Star forward came up with the game-winning basket with just 2.1 seconds left to cap a strong Raptors' rally in the final minute.
Toronto trailed 105-101 with a minute to go before Bosh scored on a hook shot, and Hedo Turkoglu made 1-of-2 foul shots after Atlanta failed to score on the ensuing possession to bring the Raptors within a point. Turkoglu missed the second attempt, but the Hawks' Marvin Williams was standing out of bounds while collecting the rebound to allow Toronto to retain possession.
Bosh then beat the Hawks' Al Horford along the right baseline to put the Raptors ahead, and a desperation shot by Atlanta as time expired landed well off the mark.
"We just didn't give up, we didn't give in," Bosh said. "It came down to the defensive end. We got huge stops and we didn't let them have the offensive rebounds."
Andrea Bargnani contributed 22 points and 11 boards for Toronto, which had lost nine times in a 10-game span coming in. The skid has dropped the Raptors into eighth place in the East, 2 1/2 games ahead of Chicago for the conference's final playoff spot.
The Raptors have been tough to beat at home this season, bringing a 23-10 mark as the host into tonight's tilt. In addition, the Thunder franchise has left with a loss in each of its last three stops in Toronto and hasn't won in the city since November 13, 2005.
The Thunder did record a 119-99 rout of the Raptors in Oklahoma City on February 28, although Bosh missed that contest with a sprained left ankle.
<< Blackhawks move into tie for West's top spot after blanking Kings
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Kopecky scored a pair of third period
goals to lift Chicago to a 3-0 win over Los Angeles at Staples Center.
Blackhawks rookie goaltender Antti Niemi needed to make just 17 saves to
record his f
<< Nadal a straight-set winner in Indian Wells QFs
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Nadal advanced through to the
semifinals at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open Thursday with a straight-set
win.
The third-seeded Spaniard and former world No. 1 outlasted the 19th seed Czech
<< Smith's jumper lifts Wake Forest over Texas in OT
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ishmael Smith capped a furious rally on his
game-winning jumper with 1.3 seconds left, and Wake Forest recovered from an
eight-point overtime deficit to edge Texas, 81-80, in an East Region matchup
at New
<< Canucks move closer to top spot in West with win over Sharks
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Kesler and Alexander Edler each had a
goal and an assist, as the Vancouver Canucks held off the San Jose Sharks,
3-2, at GM Place.
Ryan Johnson also scored for the Canucks, who improved to 3-1-0 o
'Noles and Zags do battle in NCAA Tournament >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long past being a Cinderella Story in the
postseason, the Gonzaga Bulldogs begin yet another turn in the NCAA Tournament
tonight as they clash with the Florida State Seminoles in the first round of
the 72nd annual
Minnesota battles Xavier in West Regional of 2010 NCAA Tournament >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth
straight year, the Xavier Musketeers try their luck against the Minnesota
Golden Gophers as part of the West Regional at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee
this afternoon.
Cardinals and Golden Bears collide in South Region's first round >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eight and nine seeds of the South
Region will tangle this evening in first-round action of the NCAA Tournament
at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, when the California Golden Bears
battle the Loui
Midwest Regional action pits Cowboys against Yellow Jackets >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
and the seventh-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys go head-to-head tonight in the
first round of the NCAA TOurnament at the Bradley Center. The winner of this
Midwest Regio
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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