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03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Toronto Raptors haven't been playing like a team headed toward the postseason and will try and salvage the finale of a four-game road trip Sunday night against the surging Portland Trail Blazers.
The Raptors fell to 0-3 on their trek last night in Oakland when rookie Stephen Curry finished with 35 points and Monta Ellis had 31, as the guards helped the Golden State Warriors end a six-game slide with a 124-112 win over Toronto.
Chris Bosh had 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Jose Calderon ended with 24 points and 12 assists for the Raptors, who have lost four in a row and eight of nine.
Toronto still hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, however, but is just 1 1/2 games in front of Chicago.
The Blazers, meanwhile, won their third straight against Sacramento on Friday. Brandon Roy poured in 28 points and finished 10-of-13 from the field in that one, leading Portland to a 110-94 rout of the Kings.
"I feel like I'm in a really good rhythm, especially in my in-between game," Roy said. "My pull-up jumper feels good. I feel I'm getting more explosive off the bounce where it's tougher for guys to stay in front of me."
LaMarcus Aldridge tacked on 18 points as the Trail Blazers remained in the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, one game behind both San Antonio and Phoenix and a comfortable 4 1/2 games in front of Memphis.
Andre Miller recorded 15 points in the win, Portland's sixth in seven games. Nicolas Batum had 11 points, while Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless each scored 10.
Portland, which has won six of seven at the Rose Garden against the Raptors, will be trying to sweep the home-and-home season series against Toronto for a second straight season tonight.
<< Suns resume homestand vs. fading Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns hope to get back on the winning track
Sunday when they resume a season-long seven-game homestand against the
fading New Orleans Hornets at US Airways Center.
The Suns fell to 1-2 on their residency Friday
<< Surging Flames visit Canucks, GM Place
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flames are getting hot at just the right time. Calgary
will try to match its longest winning streak of the season tonight when it
visits GM Place to take on the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flames have won four straight as t
<< Jazz visit Thunder in key Western Conference matchup
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the Western Conference's top teams jockey for
playoff position in Oklahoma City Sunday as Kevin Durant and the Thunder
welcome the Utah Jazz to town.
The Jazz are currently the fourth seed in the jumbled West, 1 1/2
<< Magic shoot for 9th straight win; host Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats continue their push for the
franchise's first postseason berth tonight against a streaking Orlando team in
search of its ninth straight win.
The Magic, who are currently the second seed in the Eastern
Franchitti takes pole for season-opener in Brazil >>
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion
Dario Franchitti will start on the pole for the Sao Paulo Indy 300 after
posting the fastest time in Sunday's qualifying on the streets of Sao Paulo.
One d
Indians closer Kerry Wood not worried >>
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) -Kerry Wood says he's not worried about missing any more time with the Cleveland Indians because of a sore back.The veteran closer says missing an outing Saturday was just precautionary. He said the soreness would not have kept
Ford out of Pacers' lineup 7 to 10 days >>
MILWAUKEE (AP) -Pacers point guard T.J. Ford is expected to miss seven to 10 days with a sore left groin.Coach Jim O'Brien made the announcement before Indiana played the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.Ford was injured early in the first quarter of a los
Capitals star Ovechkin gets game misconduct >>
CHICAGO (AP) -NHL scoring leader Alex Ovechkin is out of the Capitals' game against the Blackhawks after receiving a five-minute major and a game misconduct in the first period for driving Chicago's Brian Campbell into the boards from behind.Ovechki
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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