11/20/2008 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy scored 20 points and Greg Oden had a successful regular season home debut, as the Portland Trail Blazers dominated the Chicago Bulls to the tune of 116-74 at the Rose Garden.
The game marked the first meeting between the top pick in the 2008 and 2007 drafts. Oden, who was playing his first regular season home game one year and 144 days after he was picked in 2007, scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 17 1/2 minutes of action. Chicago's Derrick Rose was picked first in the most recent draft and shot just 1-of-8 for six points on the night.
"We're becoming dominant at home," said Blazers forward Channing Frye said of the team's 4-0 home record while being interviewed by teammates Roy and Martell Webster. "We've got to continue to establish our game, like running the ball and playing unselfish. Tonight everyone was scoring. Chicago tried to play good d. We took them out of their stuff early and kept putting pressure on them."
Oden, who sat out his first season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee, received a standing ovation as he entered the game off the bench in the first quarter. He came into the game averaging 15.3 points in his last three games after totaling three points in his first two contests. The seven- footer poured in a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday night's win over Golden State.
"I think it started with our defense and shadowing Rose," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said. "That seemed to disrupt their offense. With the kind schedule we've had, and the close games we've had, we like to have a game like that."
Joel Przybilla added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Blazers, who have won six of eight. LaMarcus Aldridge posted 11 points in the victory.
"Overall I thought we just came out and were all about business," McMillan said. "From start to finish, this was our best game of the season. We got aggressive from the start, got our rhythm and hit our shots."
Andres Nocioni came off the bench to score 13 for the Bulls, who have lost four of six. Drew Gooden and Ben Gordon each scored 11 points, while Larry Hughes posted eight points for Chicago.
"They jumped on us early," said Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro. "They put a little pressure on us and got us out of it a little bit. Their big guys just controlled the paint on us. We got in foul trouble early. From the tip, they controlled the tempo of the game. We had too many turnovers and we got back on our heels. The list can go on and on. It was just one of those games where we could never get anything going. Give Portland a lot of credit."
Steve Blake scored five early points for the Blazers, who took a 12-1 lead to open the game. Portland extended its lead to 25-7 with just over four minutes left on Oden's emphatic dunk -- his first points at the Rose Garden in the regular season.
"We just came out from the jump and they applied a lot of pressure defensively," Gordon said. "We couldnt get anything going. We could just never get over that hump. It seemed like the game was over before it even started the way we came out tonight."
The Blazers finished the first quarter up 34-13, as the Bulls missed 10 of their last 12 field goal attempts while shooting a paltry 25 percent overall (5-for-20) for the quarter.
The Portland lead eventually grew to 30, and the hosts carried a 62-37 into halftime. Roy led all scorers in the half with 12, while Oden had nine points and seven rebounds.
The Blazers led by as many as 36 in the third quarter thanks to a 14-0 run and were in front 88-57 going into the fourth. Portland started out the fourth on a 14-2 spurt, leading by 47 at one point in the rout.
Game Notes
Portland has beaten Chicago three straight times...The Blazers dominated the paint, outrebounding the Bulls, 49-33...Blake had 10 points and five assists before leaving with a gash on his head after hitting a camera in the third quarter...Chicago moved to 0-2 on a seven-game road trip that started with a 116-109 loss to the Lakers Tuesday night...Every Portland player scored at least one point...The Blazers' largest margin of victory was 50, when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 129-79, on November 21, 1982.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.
(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977. Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.
Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer. In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season.
MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season. Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite. After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.
Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions. They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown.
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