Bay Area Buzz 12/7: Warriors Win, Sharks Win, 49ers vs. Raiders
Bay Area Topics
Warriors Win
"The last time the Warriors were this good, Watergate hadn’t even happened yet.With an impressive 112-102 road win over the Bulls Saturday night at the United Center, the Warriors won their 12th straight game, breaking a franchise record that was set back during the 1971-1972 season.It’s uncanny how the Warriors have found different ways to win during this streak, but one constant is that certain players have stepped up at certain times and carried them to victory.Tonight, that player was Draymond Green, who finished with a career-high 31 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, four steals, and three blocks. He provided the energy, the defense, and the offense, making 7-of-13 threes."
Sharks Win
"The Calgary Flames entered Saturday’s game with the San Jose Sharks as the best NHL team in the third period.The Sharks turned the tables on them in a 3-2 win at the Saddledome.Patrick Marleau finished off a great shift by his line, including Logan Couture and Tommy Wingels, to break a 2-2 tie in helping the Sharks win their fourth straight game for the first time this season. Marleau bunted a puck out of midair at 9:18 on a pass from Couture and after some hard work by Wingels along the boards for what was the deciding marker.The Sharks were forced to kill off a Justin Braun tripping minor at 18:41, which became a six-on-four with goaltender Karri Ramo pulled for an extra attacker. Antti Niemi stopped Jiri Hudler, though, and the penalty killers did the rest in finishing off the victory.The Sharks (14-10-4, 32 points) are now four points behind the Flames — who had been outscoring the opposition 39-15 in the third period — in the Pacific Division."
49ers vs. Raiders
"There are a few things working in the Raiders favor as far as covering the spread is concerned. First off is their record this season. The Raiders are 6-2 this season covering the spread in games where they are at least 6.5-point underdogs.The second thing is the game is in Oakland. The Raiders have a rookie quarterback in Derek Carr who plays much better at home than he does on the road. His two best games this season were in Oakland where he threw four touchdowns against the Chargers and led the Raiders to a win over the Chiefs.Third, Latavius Murray will be back in the lineup. The Raiders rode Murray to their first win of the season. The added run threat brought up the play of Derek Carr as well and it wore down the Chiefs defense to allow for the game-winning drive with some power running by Marcel Reece and good completions by Carr. The Chiefs were favored by 7 points in Oakland and lost 24-20.…The 49ers have struggled on offense this season, which makes it easy to pick against them covering the spread. The Raiders may be 1-11, but I would agree with Levi that prior to the implosion against the Rams, they were actually playing some fairly good football. As much as I would like to see the 49ers blow out Oakland, I would not be remotely shocked by a close game.However, the 49ers are in a position to cover this spread, even if the Raiders hang close for much of the game. Under Jim Harbaugh, the 49ers are 18-10-1 ATS in 29 regular season road games. They are 11-3-2 ATS in their last 16 total road games. That does not mean this particular 49ers road team will cover, but at least some history is on their side.A 49ers cover would likely happen more because of the defense than the offense. The Raiders will potentially see a boost with the return of Latavius Murray, and I have to imagine the Raiders will do whatever they can to establish the run. However, when the Raiders do have to pass, this game has the potential to turn into a significant sack and turnover opportunity for the 49ers. The 49ers pass rush is considerably improved with the return of Aldon Smith, as they are getting QB pressures 52.3 percent of QB dropbacks, compared to 32.5 percent of QB dropbacks during Smith’s suspension. If the 49ers are going to cover, it will come because they have flipped the field position battle with turnovers, and punts deep in the Raiders own territory."