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02/02/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers seem to grow more imposing by the day and will aim get the best of Denver for the second time in less than a week when the two teams square off at Staples Center.
The Pacific Division-leading Clips invaded the Rockies last Sunday and escaped with a 109-105 win behind ex-Nugget Chauncey Billups' 32 points. Since then LA has disposed of the Western Conference's top team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and earned a very rare win in Utah on Wednesday night.
It wasn't easy, but the Clips picked up their first triumph in Salt Lake City since 2003 and only their second in the last 44 trips to the Beehive State. Los Angeles had lost 15 straight against the Jazz overall in Utah, but got a season- high 34 points and 11 assists from All-Star point guard Chris Paul in a game which featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes
Blake Griffin added 31 points and 14 rebounds and executed a key three-point play in the final minute for the Clippers, who have won a season-high four straight overall.
"We really wanted this game," Paul said. "I think we did a great job of showing a lot of patience and fighting through."
On the injury front for LA, veteran forward Caron Butler was a late scratch on Wednesday with a sore lower back and remains questionable for tonight.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, followed up their setback to the Clips over the weekend with another heartbreaker in Memphis on Tuesday.
After a pair of missed shots and two offensive rebounds, O.J. Mayo rose up from the top of the arc and nailed the go-ahead three-pointer with 35.1 seconds remaining in overtime, helping the Grizzlies snap a four-game losing streak with a thrilling 100-97 win over Denver.
Al Harrington netted 23 points to go with 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost the two in a row since winning six straight. Andre Miller, who is set to play his 1,000th regular season NBA game tonight, had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists for Denver but Danilo Gallinari was just 1-of-10 from the field and finished with eight points.
After Mayo first missed a jumper, Mike Conley came down with the offensive rebound and found himself open for a three-pointer. But he missed and Tony Allen then corralled the second offensive rebound. Conley hit a wide-open Mayo and his three-pointer from the top of the arc went down for a 98-97 Memphis advantage -- the first lead change since the opening quarter.
"In overtime, they outhustled us on many misses with the lead and made a big 3," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We made them take two or three shots before they got it, but we ran out of gas."
Aaron Afflalo turned the ball over on Denver's ensuing possession and Conley nailed a pair of free throws to seal it.
Despite the loss Karl was happy with the bigger picture.
"We've had a great month of January," the coach told NBA.com. "It might have been the best month I've ever had in Denver in my mind."
Denver, which will be kicking of its second three games in three nights stretch this season, has dropped three straight to the Clips. LA, meanwhile, is a more than solid 10-2 as the home team this season.
<< Sharks, Stars renew hostilities in San Jose
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks turned in an impressive performance in
their first game following the All-Star break and the Pacific Division leaders
will aim for a third straight win tonight when they host the rival Dallas
Stars at HP P
<< Blackhawks try to stop slide in Edmonton
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The return of two of Chicago's top forwards wasn't enough
to halt the club's losing streak last time out and the Blackhawks will try to
avoid matching their longest skid of the season tonight when they visit the
Edmonton Oile
<< Avs host Wild in Northwest Division battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key battle in the Western Conference playoff race is on
tap tonight in Denver, as the sliding Colorado Avalanche host the Minnesota
Wild at the Pepsi Center.
Despite posting just four wins in their last 20 games (4-12-4)
<< Hot Hawks kick off homestand vs. Grizzlies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks are back home after an impressive road
trip and will kick off a four-game residency this evening versus the Memphis
Grizzlies.
Hidden in all the hype by the likes of Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia in the
Furman to visit Clemson, host five games in 2012 >>
Greenville, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A visit to Clemson and a Homecoming game
against Georgia Southern highlight the 2012 Furman football schedule announced
on Thursday.
Furman will play at Clemson on Sept. 15. The Paladins are Clemson's oldest
Jazz and Warriors meet in the Bay Area >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golden State hopes to wrap up a six-game homestand in
winning fashion tonight when it plays host to a Utah Jazz team aiming to
bounce back from a tough loss.
After losing the first two games of their current residency, the
Bulls resume long trek in MSG against Knicks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have been struggling with consistency
lately and look to gain a measure of balance tonight in a showdown with the
New York Knicks from Madison Square Garden.
The Bulls, who are in the midst of a nine-game
Devils take on Habs in Jersey >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Devils opened up their second half by picking up a big
two points over one of the top teams in the conference. The Canadiens,
meanwhile, failed to build off their win against the top team in the NHL right
before the All-S
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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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
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