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Thunder, Warriors collide in Oakland

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Western Conference-leading Thunder will kick off a three-game road trip tonight when they visit Oakland to take on the Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder (15-3) won their third straight game and for the 11th time in 12 contests on Wednesday when Kevin Durant scored 25 points, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked three shots, lifting Oklahoma City over the skidding Hornets, 101-91.

James Harden added 18 points and six assists for OKC, which improved to 8-1 at home this season. Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook each tallied 14 points.

"Going into this game, we knew they were going to play scrappy basketball," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "That's how they've been playing. Unfortunately for them, they haven't been rewarded for it, but we knew we were going to be in for a tough game and they proved it tonight."

Oklahoma City, which will play eight of its next nine on the road, will finish its trek against the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas. The Thunder are 7-2 as the visitor on the season.

The Warriors, meanwhile, snapped a three-game skid and improved 1-2 on a six- game homestand Wednesday when Stephen Curry hit six of Golden State's 11 three-pointers and finished with 32 points and seven assists, as the Warriors took down the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-93.

David Lee posted 26 points and Brandon Rush added 14 off the bench to help the Warriors get back in the win column.

Monta Ellis scored just four points, 19 below his season average, but dished out 12 assists in the victory.

"Monta did a great job of getting in the seams understanding he didn't have it offensively, meaning scoring, and the great players figure out how to impact a game even though they are not able to do what they do best," Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said.

Oklahoma City took two of three games from the Warriors last season but Golden State has won three of the last four in the series played in Oakland.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.