Thunderstruck: Durant, Oklahoma City roll into Minnesota

Basketball Betting Lines

02/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant has been nearly unstoppable this season and the NBA's second-leading scorer will lead the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder into the Twin Cities tonight to take on the Northwest rival Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center.

Durant scored seven of his game-high 36 points in overtime in a 121-118 victory over the New York Knicks last night at Madison Square Garden to spoil the debut of Tracy McGrady. Durant, who hit the tying three-pointer in the waning seconds of regulation, became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 25 points in 27 straight games. Allen Iverson reached the magic number in 27 consecutive contests during his MVP 2000-2001 season. Michael Jordan scored 25-plus points in 40 straight games during the 1986-87 season.

"We knew there was going to be a lot of energy in the building with Tracy McGrady coming in," Durant said. "He played phenomenal. He's back. He played well, but I'll take the win."

Russell Westbrook's 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds were overshadowed for the Thunder, who have won eight in a row for the first time since a nine- game run early in the 2004-05 campaign. Jeff Green tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds for the victors.

The Thunder have also won four in a row on the road and sport a 16-11 ledger as the guest this season. They are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings thanks to Durant, who is averaging 29.8 points per game. LeBron James is barely ahead with an NBA-leading 29.9 ppg.

Minnesota continued its losing ways with Friday's 100-94 setback versus the Chicago Bulls, its fifth consecutive loss. Corey Brewer had 19 points and Jonny Flynn added 14 points, seven boards and six assists for the Timberwolves, whose recent skid comes on the heels of a four-game winning streak.

"We couldn't make no shots down the stretch, we couldn't even make free throws," said Minnesota forward Ryan Gomes, who along with Al Jefferson finished with 10 points. "They made some baskets and got some good plays and that did it from them. We had opportunities to score, but we didn't take advantage of them."

The T'Wolves are just 9-19 as the host this season.

Oklahoma City defeated Minnesota, 94-92, back on January 20 at the Target Center and has won nine of the last 12 matchups between the clubs.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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