Hawks remain unbeaten by edging Thunder
Basketball Betting Lines
11/09/2008 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson scored 25 points to help the Atlanta Hawks remain unbeaten with an 89-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Marvin Williams added 16 points for the Hawks, who at 5-0 are off to their best start since winning their first 11 games of the 1997-98 campaign. Ronald Murray had 14 points in the win and Mike Bibby 13. Al Horford hauled in 12 rebounds and Solomon Jones had 10 boards.
Kevin Durant had 20 points for the Thunder, who have lost three straight and five of six to open the season. Russell Westbrook scored 15 points and Joe Smith tallied 14 points and nine rebounds in defeat.
A 12-2 run by Atlanta opened an 80-77 lead with 3:47 left. Murray sparked the run with a pair from the line and Williams closed it with a three-pointer from the right wing.
Three free throws from Smith tied it at 80 with 2 1/2 minutes left in regulation.
Johnson added a couple of baskets to give the Hawks an 84-80 lead with 90 ticks left.
Following a timeout, Durant fed Smith down low, but his layup was off the mark and Murray grabbed the rebound. Atlanta worked the ball upcourt, but missed on a couple of threes.
However, the club dwindled the clock down to 34.3 seconds, and after a timeout, Bibby was fouled and hit both shots to increase the lead to 86-80.
Two free throws from Smith made it a four-point game with 16.9 seconds left. Oklahoma City was forced to foul, and Bibby hit just 1-of-2.
The Thunder rushed downcourt and Desmond Mason tallied a layup to make it 88-85. Jeff Green then missed a potential tying three-pointer in the waning seconds, and Williams made one free throw to seal Atlanta's win.
The Hawks jumped out to a 22-14 lead after the first quarter, but the Thunder stormed back for a 41-38 lead at the half.
The teams traded baskets and the lead see-sawed before Earl Watson's jumper gave the Thunder a 56-53 lead with just under five minutes left in the third quarter.
After three minutes of scoreless ball, Durant connected on a bucket to make it a five-point game.
The Hawks trimmed their deficit a shade, 62-58, heading into the final 12 minutes of play.
Two free throws from Jones, a jumper from Williams and two more from the stripe by Maurice Evans gave the Hawks a 66-64 lead with 9:18 showing on the clock.
The Thunder answered back and the teams found themselves knotted at 68 a minute later. Oklahoma City, though, opened a 75-68 advantage as Mason dropped a layup, Smith hit a free throw and Durant had a three-point play.
Game Notes
Atlanta forward Josh Smith (ankle) is out for the next two to four weeks after spraining his ankle against the Raptors...The Thunder are 1-3 at home this season...The Hawks had lost eight of the past nine matchups in this series...Atlanta won despite shooting 37.2 percent from the field...The Thunder ended at 39.1 percent...Oklahoma City forward Chris Wilcox left in the first quarter after spraining his right knee.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Kane and Martin Havlat both collected a goal and two assists, as the surging Chicago Blackhawks trumped the Calgary Flames, 6-1, at the United Center. Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg each had a
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Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Allen had 23 points off the bench,
and Ray Allen added 17 points and eight rebounds, as the Boston Celtics
defeated the Detroit Pistons, 88-76, in the teams' first meeting since last
season'
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with a dominating victory in Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at
Phoenix
<< Oklahoma City F Wilcox leaves game
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City forward Chris Wilcox left
the Thunder's game Sunday against the Hawks after spraining his right knee in
the first quarter.
Wilcox, who was averaging 7.2 points and 6 rebounds, remai
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers stopped 37-of-38 shots, and the Edmonton Oilers edged the New Jersey Devils, 2-1. Ales Hemsky had a goal and an assist, and Sheldon Souray scored the other goal for the Oilers, who ha
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Stephen Weiss and Jassen
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Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olli Jokinen scored two goals and added an
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Peter Mueller registered a goal and an assist
Anthony, Nuggets top Grizzlies >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points and grabbed
eight rebounds to lead the Denver Nuggets in a 100-90 victory over the Memphis
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Nene chipped in 18 points and 12 boards for the Nuggets, who have w
Martin leads Kings past Warriors >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Martin scored 27 points, and the
Sacramento Kings rolled to a 115-98 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Spencer Hawes scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Brad Miller had 14
points and
2007 online football betting Preview
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.
2007 College Football Betting Preview
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.
Las Vegas Sports Lines
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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