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02/09/2012 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry poured in 36 points, including six treys, as Golden State downed slumping Denver, 109-101, at Pepsi Center.
Klay Thompson added 19 points off the bench, Dorell Wright had 15 points and Monta Ellis, one game after scoring a career-best 48 points, donated 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. David Lee also reached double figures with 12 points and eight rebounds for Golden State, which snapped a two-game skid.
Aaron Afflalo led the way for the home team with 26 points, while Nene added 15 points and Ty Lawson chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Al Harrington also scored 11 and Kenneth Faried posted eight points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have dropped five in a row with four of those coming at home.
The Nuggets have Afflalo and Nene back in the fold from injuries, but are still missing leading scorer Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and Corey Brewer.
The two teams traded blows in the first quarter with Curry's three pulling the visitors within 28-27 after one period. Golden State started the second quarter strong, taking a lead as large as 39-31 on the heels on a Rush three and Thompson jumper.
The Nuggets responded with the next eight points capped by Harrington's trey for a one-point advantage, and the score stayed close for the remainder of the half. Nene's slam in the closing seconds gave the home team a 51-47 margin at halftime.
Denver lost control of the game in the third as Golden State scored at will and held Denver in check. Curry and Wright drained back-to-back threes and Ellis connected on a tough fadeaway to cap eight straight points for a 61-53 game. After an Afflalo trey, Golden State scored the next 10 points, putting a stamp on an 18-3 scoring stretch with Curry's three-pointer for a 71-56 lead.
Afflalo was the only Nugget to score for nearly six minutes, but Denver hung around with Lawson's layup drawing the Nuggets within 71-63. The Denver defense, however, had no answer for the Warriors, who pushed out to an 80-65 lead on Nate Robinson's fadeaway jumper nearing the one-minute mark. Golden State took an 84-71 lead into the fourth period.
It didn't get better from there for the Nuggets. Lee rattled off a pair of buckets at one point for a 98-80 game, and Denver never seriously threatened throughout the final stanza.
Game Notes
Golden State had lost 10 of the last 12 matchups with Denver prior to Thursday's win...The Warriors also snapped a six-game skid in Denver....Denver made 43.5 percent of its shots, while Golden State made 51.9 percent of its attempts and 13 three-pointers....Afflalo was 5-of-8 from long distance, while the rest of the Nuggets were 4-of-16.
<< Rockets use strong bench effort to down Suns
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Scola scored 16 points and the Rockets,
aided by a strong bench effort, downed the Suns, 96-89, on Thursday.
All five Houston bench players who entered the game reached double figures,
led by Patric
<< Canucks keep Wild reeling
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henrik Sedin played two days after taking a
puck off his ankle and scored a goal, and the Vancouver Canucks rolled to a
5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
Daniel Sedin had a goal and an a
<< Indiana pulls away from Illinois
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller dropped a game-high 22 points
to lead four Hoosiers in double figures as Indiana rolled past Illinois,
84-71, at Assembly Hall on Thursday.
Christian Watford, Victor Oladipo, and Jorda
<< Spezza lifts Ottawa over Nashville
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Spezza netted two goals and added an
assist, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators
at Scotiabank Place.
Chris Phillips -- playing in his 1,000th NHL game -- contribu
No. 4 Stanford handles USC >>
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike netted a game-high 22 points
and pulled down eight rebounds as No. 4 Stanford took care of business with a
69-52 win over USC on Thursday.
Chiney Ogwumike finished with 21 points, 12 reb
Coyotes edge Flames on Doan's OT winner >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shane Doan scored the game-winner in overtime
to give the Phoenix Coyotes a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Taylor Pyatt scored in regulation for the Coyotes, who extended their season-
high
Illinois tops Ohio State on Moore's basket >>
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amber Moore's bucket with two seconds
remaining gave Illinois a 66-65 victory over No. 10 Ohio State.
The Buckeyes went ahead by one on Tayler Hill's driving layup with 19 seconds
to play, but Moore
Evans, Cousins lead Kings past Thunder >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyreke Evans scored 22 points, DeMarcus
Cousins added 19 and the Kings made enough free throws down the stretch to
take down the Thunder, 106-101.
Marcus Thornton finished with 15 points, includi
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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