Ellis' 48 not enough, Durant lifts Thunder over Warriors

Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant scored 33 points and made the go- ahead jumper with 14.2 seconds remaining, as the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder snuck past Monta Ellis and the Golden State Warriors, 119-116.

Durant also pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists for the Thunder, who improved to 11-4 on the road this season. Russell Westbrook added 31 points and made two key free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining.

James Harden and Daequan Cook donated 19 and 17 points, respectively, for Oklahoma City, which holds a 20-5 record.

Ellis had a career-high 48 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors, who have dropped two straight. David Lee had a triple-double with 25 points 11 boards and 10 assists.

Cook's three-pointer cut Oklahoma City's deficit to one, 112-11, with 3:40 to play. The next points didn't come until there was 1:48 left, when Westbrook made a jumper to put the Thunder in front.

After Stephen Curry was called for traveling, Durant put home a slam to make it 115-112 with 1:23 left.

Dorell Wright made 1-of-2 from the foul line at the other end to make it a two-point game. The score was the same following a Westbrook turnover and a missed three-pointer by Durant.

Ellis drove to the hoop and made a layup while being fouled by Serge Ibaka. Ellis made the free throw to give Golden State a 116-115 lead with 22.3 seconds to go.

Durant missed a floater at the other end, but the Warriors knocked the ball out of bounds. This time around, Durant used the glass on an 18-foot jumper to give Oklahoma City a 117-116 edge with 14.2 seconds to play.

Westbrook made two free throws after Ellis missed a three-pointer. Down by three with 1.1 ticks left on the clock, Brandon Rush got the ball and missed a shot from beyond the arc.

Golden State scored the first eight points of the game and led throughout the entire first quarter. The home team held a 35-29 margin after 12 minutes.

The Thunder started the second period on a 13-2 run to take the lead. The visitors led by as many as 10 in the frame and took a 59-57 edge into the locker room.

Golden State responded in the third quarter and built an 80-68 lead with 5:07 remaining. But the Thunder scored seven of the final nine points in the stanza to cut their deficit to 93-91.

Neither team led by more than seven in the final period.

Game Notes

Oklahoma City beat Golden State by a 120-109 margin on January 27 in Oakland...Durant came into Tuesday's game averaging 31.3 points per game in 15 career meetings against the Warriors...Lee's second career triple-double was the first by a Warriors power forward since Chris Webber in 1993...Curry had 16 points and 10 assists...Each team shot over 52 percent from the field.

Sportsbooj Basketball Betting News

<< Rangers lock up SS Andrus with 3-year deal
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers agreed to a three-year, $14.5 million contract with shortstop Elvis Andrus on Tuesday night, according to MLB.com. The deal, which is pending a physical, would make him a free agent af

<< Avs beat slumping Blackhawks
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Jones scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche took down the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, at Pepsi Center. Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal for the Avalanch

<< Aves beat slumping Blackhawks
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Jones scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche took down the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, at Pepsi Center. Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal for the Avalanch

<< No. 3 Ohio State holds on, beats Purdue
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - William Buford netted a game-high 29 points and added seven rebounds as No. 3 Ohio State fought off a resilient Purdue team, 87-84, on Tuesday. The teams exchanged the lead 16 times, but a jumper by

<< Canadiens top Penguins in shootout
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Plekanec scored in the eighth round of the shootout to help the Montreal Canadiens take a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Bell Centre. In the eighth round, Plekanec beat Marc-Andre Fleury to t

Zvonareva, Kirilenko advance at Pattaya Open >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Vera Zvonareva and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko were second-round winners Wednesday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open tennis tournament. The top-seeded Zvonareva moved on with

Western Illinois offensive coordinator resigns >>
Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Western Illinois is seeking an offensive coordinator following the resignation of Doug Ruse on Tuesday. He held the position over the the last two years, including the Leathernecks' 2010 FCS playoff season. "

Sabres open homestand against Bruins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Buffalo Sabres will try to open a four-game homestand on a positive note when they host the Boston Bruins this evening at First Niagara Center. The Bruins, meanwhile, will try to record consecutive wins for the

Nebraska entertains No. 22 Michigan >>
Lincoln, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Meeting for the first time in nearly 20 years, the 22nd-ranked Michigan Wolverines and Nebraska Cornhuskers square off in Lincoln tonight for a Big Ten Conference tussle at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Michi

ACC heavyweights square off in Chapel Hill >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the greatest rivalries in all of sports adds another chapter to its storied history this evening, as the 10th- ranked Duke Blue Devils and fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels square off in ACC action

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.