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02/15/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers will be without All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge tonight when they square off with the surging Golden State Warriors in Oakland.
Aldridge sprained his left ankle early in Portland's 124-109 home loss to Washington last night. X-rays were negative but Aldridge, the Blazers' leading scorer (22.6 points per game) and rebounder (8.3), did not travel with the team to California.
"I'm going to get back as soon as I can!" Aldridge Tweeted after the game.
Nicolas Batum led the Blazers against the Wizards with 33 points and Gerald Wallace had 25 in Portland's fourth loss in five games. Marcus Camby recorded 13 points and 12 rebounds in Portland's first three-game losing streak at home since March 29- April 6, 2008.
"They just outworked us," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said. "Somewhere along the line, pride has to show up. We just looked like we were waiting for someone to rescue us, and we have to do that ourselves."
The Warriors come in having won three straight after Monday's 102-96 triumph over Phoenix. David Lee finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds in that one as Golden State snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Suns.
Monta Ellis chipped in 18 points and Klay Thompson netted 10 for Golden State, which has won three straight for the first time this season. Nate Robinson was a spark off the bench, scoring nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
"I told them at halftime, the old Warrior team would be down 15-20 points because their defense wouldn't have kept them in the game," Golden State head coach Mark Jackson said. "In spite of us missing shots, our defense allowed us to still be in the ballgame."
The Warriors have won four straight over the Blazers, including a 101-93 win in Oakland on Jan, 25. Portland, meanwhile, is just 4-10 as the visitor on the year and has lost five of its last six road games overall.
<< New Yale football coach Reno finalizes staff
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-year Yale head football coach Tony Reno
announced on Wednesday his nine-man assistant coaching staff, which has a
combined 128 years of experience.
Only defensive coordinator Rick Flanders returns from
<< Back to basics: Bruins seek a return to form versus Habs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After watching his team get shut out for the second time in
three games, Claude Julien would like the Boston Bruins to get back to basics
tonight when they visit the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Boston has lost t
<< Canucks host Avs hoping to extend series dominance
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to continue their recent
dominance of Colorado when they welcome the Avalanche for tonight's Northwest
Division clash at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks have taken all three meetings against the Av
<< Panthers hope to solve visiting Sens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers are in position to win four in a row
for the first time this season, but to do so they'll need to beat the Ottawa
Senators for the first time in nine meetings.
That's the task for the Panthers tonight
Mavs host Nuggets in Big D >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki has finally started to heat up and the Dallas
Mavericks will try to ride their superstar to a fifth straight victory when
they host the Denver Nuggets tonight in Big D.
Nowitzki had an uncharacteristicall
Thunder make a stop in Houston >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City makes a quick trip down to south Texas on
Wednesday to take on the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
The Thunder improved to an NBA-best 22-6 on Tuesday in OKC, topping Utah for
the second time in four
Magic welcome 76ers to Amway Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic eye a third straight win this evening
when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to Amway Center.
Orlando has started to play its best basketball of the season, yet the last
two games it hasn't had
Panthers give D Strachan one-year extension >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers signed defenseman Tyson
Strachan to a one-year contract extension on Wednesday.
Strachan has one goal and two assists in eight games this season for the
Panthers.
The 27-year-o
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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NEW 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.
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