Durant leads Thunder into Golden State

Basketball Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are only two teams Kevin Durant is averaging 30-plus points against in his career and the Golden State Warriors are one of them. Durant and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder will resume a five-game road trip tonight against those Warriors at ORACLE Arena.

Durant is averaging 31.3 points per game in 15 career meetings with the Warriors and helped Oklahoma City to a 120-109 victory in this series on Jan. 27 in Oakland with 37 points and 14 rebounds. The Thunder have won eight of the last 11 matchups against Golden State.

The Thunder improved to an NBA-best 19-5 with last night's 111-107 overtime win at Portland, as Durant led the way with 33 points and Russell Westbrook added 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Serge Ibaka had 12 points and 13 boards for Oklahoma City, which is 10-4 on the road and won for the seventh time in its last nine tries.

"It was a tough game," Thunder coach Scott Brooks told the team's site. "It could have gone either way. I don't think one call is a difference-maker."

Oklahoma City, which rebounded from Saturday's loss at San Antonio, still has Sacramento and Utah left on the road trip. Durant is also averaging 31.4 points in eight career contests against Washington.

Golden State had won two straight and three of four games until dropping a 114-106 overtime decision at Sacramento on Saturday.

Dorell Wright had a season-high 24 points and Nate Robinson netted 20 for the Warriors, who got 18 points from Monta Ellis and 11 and nine assists out of Stephen Curry. Klay Thompson had 16 points and David Lee posted 10 and five rebounds in a losing effort.

No player had more than five rebounds for Golden State.

"We didn't step up to the challenge," Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. "It's awfully frustrating when a guy like Dominic McGuire can tie for our rebound lead in a little under than 15 minutes in the game. It's just a mentality, a mindset. We didn't put forth an effort to win on the road."

The Warriors hope to even their 6-7 home mark tonight versus the Thunder and are in the midst of playing 15 straight games against the West (3-3). The next time Golden State plays a team from the East is Feb. 28 at Indiana.

Ellis is listed as questionable for tonight with a balky wrist.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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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