11/19/2008 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Morrow scored 25 points, including the three game-clinching free throws in the final seconds, to give the Golden State Warriors a 111-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Stephen Jackson had 20 points and eight assists for the Warriors, who won two straight for the first time this season. Corey Maggette also had 20 points in the win.
Greg Oden poured in a career-high 22 points and 10 grabbed boards for the Blazers, who have dropped two of three. Brandon Roy totaled 22 points and nine helpers, while Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez had 13 points and seven rebounds apiece.
The Warriors were still up three, 104-101, with under 30 seconds left as Maggette took a three-pointer. The bid caromed off the rim and right to C.J. Watson, who was fouled. He hit both shots for a five-point lead with 19.9 ticks left.
Roy stole an inbounds pass and went in for a layup to make it a three-point game again. Then on the next Golden State inbounds, Morrow threw the ball away and possession went back to Portland.
Outlaw was fouled and went to the line. He hit both shots, but was whistled for a lane violation on the second and the shot didn't count. That made it 108-106 with 5.6 ticks left.
Fernandez fouled Morrow and was also called for a technical foul on the next Warriors inbounds, and Morrow went to the line and hit all three to make it a five-point game.
The Blazers were up 27-24 after the first quarter, but the Warriors were sitting on a slight 51-49 cushion at the intermission.
Nicolas Batum nailed a three-pointer to give Portland a 52-51 lead, but Golden State came right back.
Jackson hit a pair of free throws, Morrow drained a three and Maggette dropped in a jumper for a 58-52 Blazers lead with 7:44 showing on the clock in the third quarter.
Two free throws from Oden in the closing seconds brought the visitors within 80-73 heading into the final 12 minutes.
A Roy three-pointer pulled the Blazers within six, Jackson then made two free throws, but Outlaw dropped in a three-ball to cut it to 90-85 with 7:51 to play in regulation.
Two from the charity stripe by Andris Biedrins made it a seven-point game, but Roy answered with a layup and Oden slammed home the ball following a Fernandez missed jumper. The emphatic slam brought the score to 94-91 with six minutes left in regulation.
Game Notes
Portland has dropped seven straight in Oakland...Both teams had 40 rebounds...The Warriors were 33-of-35 from the foul line, while the Blazers were 20-of-29 from the stripe.
<< Flames down Avs
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Aucoin and Rene Bourque scored while
Miikka Kiprusoff made 22 saves, as the Calgary Flames defeated the Colorado
Avalanche, 4-1, in the opener of a home-and-home set at Saddledome.
Jarome Iginla
<< Toews nets shootout winner as Blackhawks edge Coyotes
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp both lit the
lamp in the shootout, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Phoenix Coyotes,
3-2.
Toews was able to beat Ilya Bryzgalov through the legs in the shootout, and
<< Oklahoma fends off Curry, Davidson
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin scored 25 points and raked in a
career-high 21 rebounds, as 12th-ranked Oklahoma held off No. 21 Davidson,
82-78, in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off, despite a career-
high 44
<< Leuer, Badgers handle Cougars
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Leuer scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting,
and 25th-ranked Wisconsin rolled to an easy 88-58 win over SIU-Edwardsville.
Marcus Landry had 15 points, five rebounds, and five blocked shots for the
Badger
Officials named for 2008 Grey Cup >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Canadian Football League named the
officiating crew for the 96th Grey Cup on Wednesday.
John Ireland will be the referee when the Calgary Stampeders take on the
Montreal Alouettes on Sunday f
Blue Jackets place Klesla on IR >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed
defenseman Rostislav Klesla on injured reserve because of an ankle injury.
Klesla was hurt during a November 14 game against Buffalo and is expected to
be sidel
Ball State visits Central Michigan in pivotal MAC clash >>
Mount Pleasant, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First place in the Mid-American
Conference's West Division is on the line Wednesday night as the Central
Michigan Chippewas play host to the undefeated and 14th-ranked Ball State
Cardinals. Both teams are 6
Beehive State rivals square off with Mountain West crown at stake >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The regular-season title in the Mountain
West Conference and a chance to compete in a BCS bowl game all come down to
this, the meeting between 16th-ranked BYU and the eighth-ranked Utah Utes at
Rice-Eccles
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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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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