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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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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