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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.
<< Bluejays set sights on Purple Aces in MVC action
Evansville, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Knocked down a few of pegs in the latest
top-25 poll, the Creighton Bluejays now head to Evansville ranked as the 17th-
best team in the nation as they clash with the Purple Aces in Missouri Valley
Conference a
<< Buckeyes meet Boilermakers in Big Ten battle
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will try
to keep sole possession of first place in the Big Ten Conference as they
welcome the Purdue Boilermakers to Value City Arena for a league battle.
This will be the
<< Wildcats and Gators collide in matchup of SEC's best
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked Florida Gators have a tough
task ahead of them, as they invade Rupp Arena this evening, to take on the
top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in a battle between the Southeastern Conference's
top two squ
<< Clippers' Billups helped off the court
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chauncey Billups, a veteran playmaker on the
upstart Clippers, was helped off the court in the fourth quarter after
suffering an injury to his lower left leg.
The Los Angeles Times reported Billups
Redd, Suns invade Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns look to continue their dominance over the
Milwaukee Bucks when the two clubs collide tonight at the Bradley Center.
The Suns won the first matchup of the season by a 109-93 score on Jan. 8 in
the deser
Pierce eyes a legend in Celtics-Bobcats matchup >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce is on the verge of
passing a legend on the team's all-time scoring list and will lead the surging
squad into tonight's showdown versus the lowly Charlotte Bobcats at TD Garden.
Pier
Heat battle Cavs down south >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When LeBron James and Cleveland get together, it's always a
little extra special.
James and the Miami Heat will finish a brief two-game homestand tonight by
welcoming the Cavaliers and the new face of their franchise,
Devils aim to keep rolling against East-leading Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils have matched their longest winning
streak of the season and will try to keep rolling tonight, when they face the
Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The Devils have u
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
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