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Live Olympiacos vs Fenerbahce Ulker AT 19:45 ET

at 1/20/2011 11:25:00 AM

Olympiacos hosts Fenerbahce Ulker in a pivotal Group H showdown to get that group started with a bang

The two teams were among the highest scoring in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague regular season and both produced 7-3 records. For Olympiacos that was enough to win Group B, while the Turkish champs placed second in Group C. These two teams both seemingly have it all and in theory match up well with one another. Both feature veteran coaches with years at Europe’s top levels, talented backcourts with All-Euroleague candidates leading the way, versatile wings and deep, bruising frontcourts.

FB Ulker’s top performer this season has been point guard Roko Ukic, who gets a chance to match skills with reigning Euroleague MVP Milos Teodosic. Tough Omer Onan pits himself against the Reds’ leading scorer, Vassilis Spanoulis, while there is tremendous experience for both teams coming off the bench with two-time Euroleague champ Theo Papaloukas quarterbacking the hosts second unit and four-time champ Sarunas Jasikevicius doing the same for Fener.

The athletic Jamon Lucas and sweet-shooting Yotam Halperin give head coach Dusan Ivkovic options at shooting guard, while Panos Vasilopoulos is recovered from injury and eager to join promising talents Marko Keselj and Kostas Papanikolaou at small forward. Fener also has mismatch options with point forward Emir Preldzic, while scorer Marko Thomas and defensive ace Tarence Kinsey give head coach Neven Spahija plenty to work with.

In the paint, the Olympiacos tandem of rebounding stud Ioannis Bourousis and classic center Rasho Nesterovic have been strong and Matt Nielsen and Loukas Mavrokefalides compliment them well. Rebounding king Mirsad Turkcan leads a Fenerbahce frontline that has Oguz Savas, Kaya Peker and Sean May aiming to wreak havoc.

The overall depth and versatility on these rosters allows for the coaches to be creative with strategy and their in-game moves could have a major impact on the outcome. Olympiacos boasts an incredible home-court advantage – 20 straight Euroleague wins at the Peace and Friendship Stadium – but Fenerbahce showed it was impervious to difficult road venues with a win at defending champion Regal FC Barcelona in the regular season.

Regardless, the makeup of the two teams promises an intense, high-scoring and fun-to-watch game that could turn out to be a turning point for each squad’s Final Four hopes.

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Live Portland Trailblazers vs Los Angeles Clippers AT 03:30 ET

at 1/20/2011 11:25:00 AM

BasketBall

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers will both be gunning for a victory on Thursday when they meet at Rose Garden.

Oddsmakers currently have the Trail Blazers listed as 3-point favorites versus the Clippers, while the game's total is sitting at 194½.

Los Angeles won its last outing, a 126-111 result against the Timberwolves on January 19. The Clippers covered in that game as a 6.5-point favorite, while the 237 combined points took the game OVER the total.

In their last action, Portland was a 94-90 winner on the road against the Kings. They covered the 1.5–point spread as favorites, while the combined score (184) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.

Los Angeles:
Team record: 16-25 SU, 23-17-1 ATS
Current streak: won 3 straight games.

The total has gone OVER in 5 of the LA Clippers last 5 games on the road
LA Clippers are 6-1 SU in their last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of the LA Clippers last 8 games when playing on the road against Portland
LA Clippers are 2-3-1 ATS in their last 6 games on the road

When playing on Thursday are 6-4
Before playing Golden State are 6-4
After playing Minnesota are 2-8
After a win are 7-3

Portland:
Team record: 23-20 SU, 21-20-2 ATS
Current streak: won 3 straight games.

is 8-1 SU in their last 9 games when playing LA Clippers
is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games at home
is 5-1 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against LA Clippers
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 8 games when playing at home against LA Clippers

When playing on Thursday are 7-3
Before playing Indiana are 3-7
After playing Sacramento are 9-1
After a win are 6-4

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