Thornton keys late spurt as Hornets beat Clippers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/16/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Thornton hit a pair of three- pointers during a big New Orleans run in the fourth quarter, and David West led all scorers with 24 points, as the Hornets pulled away late to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 108-100, at Staples Center.

Darren Collison continued his solid play with 18 points and 14 assists for the Hornets, who have won 13 straight against the Clippers. Morris Peterson and Thornton each netted 17 to help New Orleans break its seven-game road losing streak.

Rasual Butler led six Clippers in double figures with 19 points. Both Drew Gooden and Baron Davis chipped in 18, while Davis racked up a game-high 17 assists for LA, which has dropped eight in a row.

As per the entire game, New Orleans and the Clippers each took multiple leads in the quarter. Thornton tied the game at 85 with just over eight minutes remaining to start a 19-4 New Orleans run, culminating in a West step-back jumper with four minutes left to give the Hornets the 102-89 edge with 4:02 left.

Included in that burst was 11 straight points, giving the Hornets a 98-87 lead. Thornton hit a pair of three-ball and Peterson added another in that short flurry.

The Clippers trimmed the lead to eight on a Travis Outlaw triple to end the game.

Both teams traded buckets until the Hornets took a seven-point lead at 22-15 with 3:57 to go in the opening quarter on a Peterson triple. New Orleans finished the frame up 26-23.

The Hornets held the edge for most of the second quarter, but the Clippers took the lead at 45-44 on a Davis slam with 1:27 left in the half. DeAndre Jordan then converted on a three-point play to give the Clippers the 50-46 halftime advantage.

New Orleans took the lead back in the third and maintained a 58-54 edge on a Collison triple with just over eight minutes to go. But the Clippers took the advantage back at 59-58 on a Butler three.

The lead went back-and-forth in the final minutes of the period, but a Davis running bank shot gave the Clippers the 78-77 edge after three.

Game Notes

New Orleans shot 56.5 percent for the game...Emeka Okafor scored 12 and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Hornets...The Clippers fell to 16-9 with a lead after three quarters...Collison has double-digit assists in six of his last eight games...Jordan added 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Clippers.

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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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