Thunder top Celtics for 11th straight home win

Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, dished out six assists and pulled down five rebounds, as the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Boston Celtics, 119-104.

Kevin Durant added 28 points, nine boards, six assists and four steals for the Thunder, who have recorded 11 straight wins at home for the first time since a 12-game streak from February 22-April 2, 1998, when the team was known as the Seattle SuperSonics.

James Harden and Daequan Cook tallied 17 points apiece for Oklahoma City, which has won four in a row overall.

The Thunder became the first team to score 100 points against Boston in 30 games.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce ended with 23 points apiece for the Celtics, who head into the All-Star break on a five-game losing streak. Garnett also had 13 rebounds in his return to the lineup after missing two games due to personal reasons.

Ray Allen donated 21 points and seven assists for Boston, which also went 30 straight games without allowing a 30-point scorer.

Trailing by nine, 23-14, with 4:54 left in the first quarter, the Thunder ended the frame with an impressive 21-2 run. Cook tallied six points during the burst, which Harden capped with a three-pointer for a 35-25 lead.

Oklahoma City then scored the first seven points of the second period. Cook's three-pointer, Royal Ivey's layup and Harden's layup made it 42-25.

The Thunder, whose margin reached 23 in the stanza, had four players in double figures at the break en route to a 72-49 lead.

The Celtics started to make things interesting in the third quarter by outscoring the home team, 31-22, to make it a 94-80 contest heading to the fourth.

Trailing 106-91 with 6:11 to play, Boston went on an 11-2 run to make it a six-point contest. Allen tallied seven points during the burst, which Pierce capped with a free throw to make it 108-102 with 3:31 left.

But the Thunder ended the game on an 11-2 spurt to claim victory.

Game Notes

The Thunder took both games from Boston this season and beat the Celtics in Oklahoma City for the first time (1-3)...Boston turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 24 Oklahoma City points...The Thunder were without forward Nick Collison (bruised left quadriceps)...Boston guard Rajon Rondo served the second of a two-game suspension. He was added to the 2012 East All-Star team for this weekend's game in Orlando...The Celtics were without Jermaine O'Neal (sprained wrist), Chris Wilcox (strained abductor) and Brandon Bass (sore knee)...Durant has been added to the 3-point contest for this weekend's All- Star Game festivities in Orlando. Durant will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who will miss All-Star weekend because of tendinitis in his left knee.

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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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