Hornets-Thunder Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Jan 24 2012 1:48PM

Since losing to the league's worst team last week, the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder have been taking out their frustration on other bottom feeders.

They'll look to add the West-worst New Orleans Hornets to the list Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder (14-3) have won nine of 10, but that lone loss was an embarrassing 105-102 setback to Washington last Wednesday. They bounced back with an 84-74 win over New Jersey three days later and cruised to a 99-79 victory over Detroit on Monday.

Oklahoma City, which led the Nets by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, built a 30-point lead over the Pistons midway through the second. That cushion allowed it to rest all but one of its starters - Serge Ibaka remained in after Nick Collison left with a sprained left ankle - for the final period.

Russell Westbrook and James Harden each had 24 points while Kevin Durant scored 20 in 29 minutes, but it was once again Oklahoma City's defense that set the tone.

The Thunder limited Detroit to 12 first-quarter points and 34.1 percent shooting overall after holding New Jersey to 31.0 percent. The last two games have been the first occasions in which Oklahoma City has held opponents to fewer than 85 points.

"Our thing is just us being competitive, helping one another and being focused," guard Thabo Sefolosha said. "So, I think we did a good job the last two games and we have to keep going."

Even if Collison - who's day to day - can't go, Oklahoma City shouldn't have trouble stopping the Hornets, who rank last in the West in scoring (87.4 points per game).

The Thunder are 12-0 when limiting opponents to double digits

New Orleans (3-14) did show some signs of life offensively against San Antonio on Monday, cracking triple digits for the first time this season, but still lost 104-102. Tim Duncan hit a 13-foot shot over Emeka Okafor with 1.4 seconds left to deal the Hornets an eighth straight defeat and third in a row by just two points.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Jarrett Jack, who scored 26 points to increase his team-leading average to 16.6. "The good part is that we gave ourselves a chance. That's all that you can really ask for in this league. It just comes down to making plays."

The Hornets, who haven't lost nine straight since April 6-20, 2005, gave the Thunder some trouble in the first meeting of the season in New Orleans on Jan. 11.

The Hornets scored the game's first eight points and trailed by just three after three quarters, but Westbrook scored eight of his 22 in the fourth as the Thunder pulled away to win 95-85.

Durant finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds as Oklahoma City beat New Orleans for the sixth time in seven meetings. Durant is averaging 30.3 points on 52.1 percent shooting in those wins.

The latest defeat in this series started the Hornets' current losing streak.

Although Oklahoma City struggled to put away New Orleans two weeks ago, fatigue could have been a factor as the Thunder were playing their fifth game in six days. They haven't played on back-to-back nights since.

Thunder top Hornets for 10th win in 11 games

Posted Jan 26 2012 12:00AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma City Thunder have finished a stretch of beating up on the NBA's weaker teams.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points to lead the Thunder to their 10th win in 11 games, 101-91 over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.

Now the Western Conference leaders will get to see what they can do on the road.

After wins this week at home over New Orleans and Detroit, and road wins against sub-.500 teams New Jersey and Boston, the Thunder embark on a three-game trip starting at Golden State on Friday.

"It's a challenge we can handle," said Oklahoma City reserve James Harden. "We live for situations like this. It will be tough."

The trip also takes them to Los Angeles to face the Clippers and to Dallas for a matchup with the defending champion Mavericks.

"It will be tough," Durant said. "We just need to stay focused and take it a game at a time."

The victory improved the Thunder to 15-3, the best record in the West, despite an off night from guard Russell Westbrook and 21 turnovers.

Oklahoma City led throughout, including by as many as 14 in the first half. The Hornets pulled to 83-81 with 9:07 left in the game, but Westbrook hit back-to-back shots and the Hornets never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Westbrook started 1 for 10 with four turnovers. He finished 4 of 14 for 14 points.

"Just too many turnovers," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "Don't know. It's not like we don't work on it. It's happening and we have to correct it. We controlled the boards and the turnovers were a big part of the game. We have to do a much better job with the ball."

Jarrett Jack scored 20 points to lead New Orleans, which lost its ninth straight - eight of those losses coming by 10 or less points. Gustavo Ayon, who came in averaging just 3.2 points, added 16 and Carl Landry 15.

"I was just proud of the fight we had," said Jack said. "Playing in this building isn't easy."

Reserve James Harden had 18 points and made 9 of 10 free throws for the Thunder, who shot 53 percent to win their third straight.

The Thunder led 60-51 at the break after shooting 60.6 percent in the opening half.

Durant didn't miss a shot in the first half, going 5 for 5 and scoring 16 points. He finished 9 of 13 and had a team-high seven rebounds.

"The second half they scored 41," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "We just had the tail of two halves. The turnovers just hurt us in the second half."

Durant finished 9 of 13 shooting and had a team-high seven rebounds.

The Thunder offset the 21 turnovers by getting timely shooting from Daequan Cook, who hit three 3-pointers, and with 21 assists.

Brooks also said Westbrook improved as the game went on. He was 3 for 4 in the fourth quarter.

"Some shots fell for him," Brooks said. "You just keep playing. You're not going to always play good basketball. You have to keep your focus and in the fourth quarter the game turned around for him."

Notes: The Thunder's 15-3 start ties for the second-best in franchise history through 18 games. The 1982-83 and 2004-2005 team in Seattle was also 15-3. The 1993-94 Seattle team started 16-2 ... The Thunder forced five turnovers in the fourth quarter ... Hornets F Trevor Ariza was just 1 for 8 and had two points. He had scored in double figures his previous four games before Wednesday night, including 18 Monday against San Antonio ... Jack missed all three of his field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. .. New Orleans F Xavier Henry played for the first time this season and had three points on 1-for-5 shooting ... Harden had six assists for Oklahoma City.

Notebook: Thunder 101, Hornets 91

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 25, 2012 11:36PM

THE FACTS: The Oklahoma City Thunder got critical stops down the stretch to hold off the New Orleans Hornets 101-91 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Hornets have now lost nine games in a row and the Thunder pick up their 15th win in 18 games tying the second best start in franchise history. The Seattle SuperSonics also started 15-3 in 2004 and 1982. Thunder forward Kevin Durant led all scorers with 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting. The two-time All-Star also pulled down seven rebounds, handed out four assists and blocked three shots. Sixth man James Harden added 18 and Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka put in 14 apiece. After missing nine of his first 10 shots, Westbrook hit three of the four he took in the fourth quarter and scored 10 points in the last nine minutes of the game. Point guard Jarrett Jack led the Hornets with 20 points, Gustavo Ayon added 16 and Carl Landry had 15. The Hornets had lost each of their last three games by just two points and that was the margin with just eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Turnovers down the stretch kept the Hornets on the low side of the score. The Thunder had led by as many as 14 and never trailed. The Thunder will now play eight of their next nine games on the road.

QUOTABLE: "We knew they'd be scrappy because that's how they've played all year. We knew we'd be in for a tough game. We turned it over too many times (21) but our guys hung in there."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT: In the fourth quarter the Hornets turned the ball over five times and Thunder forward Durant blocked three shots.

QUOTABLE II: "We made mistakes in transition, we'd run and then throw the ball away. Our turnovers really hurt us in the second half (12). We just have to learn from our mistakes."
-- Hornets coach Monty Williams

TURNING POINT: The Hornets cut a 14-point OKC lead down to two twice in the fourth quarter and then Westbrook got it going after a 1-for-10 start he hit a driving layup and a 15-foot bank shot on consecutive possessions to right the ship. That started Oklahoma City on an 8-2 run over the next three minutes pushing the lead to 93-85.

QUOTABLE III: "Their aggression at the rim is something you don't see often, especially with their guards, Westbrook and Harden."
-- Monty Williams

HOT: Durant was 4-for-4 in the first quarter...Ibaka was 5-for-8...Jack was 3-for-4...OKC shot 60.6 percent (20-for-33) in the first half...Westbrook was 3-for-4 in the fourth quarter...Ayon was 4-for-5 in the fourth.

NOT: New Orleans started the game 0-for-6, OKC wasn't much better just 1-for-6 in the first 2:30...Hornets forward Trevor Ariza was 0-for-4 in the first quarter...Westbrook was 1-for-10 in the first 30 minutes of the game.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Hollywood comes to Oklahoma City. A film crew working on Kevin Durant's movie "Thunderstruck" is in town. The crew filmed crowd shots during the game and spent most of yesterday shooting in the arena. Durant plays himself in the movie. The plot involves the Thunder star losing his basketball skills when his abilities are magically transferred to a teenager. Later in the movie the teen played by Taylor Gray transfers Durant's skills back to him.

GOOD MOVE: Late in the second quarter, Harden pulled down a rebound, raced to the other end of the court, drove around Marco Belinelli and laid it in.

BAD MOVE: Late in the third quarter Hornets forward Jason Smith tried to pass the ball back to Jack but he didn't get the ball high enough to avoid the leaping ability of Westbrook. Westbrook snagged the pass and raced to the other end of the court and was fouled attempting to slam. Westbrook converted both free shots.

NOTABLE: Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon will miss at least another three weeks, "the doctors just think he needs more rest," Monty Williams told reporters before the game. Gordon has been dealing with a bruised knee and some swelling. He has played in only two games since being traded to New Orleans from the Clippers in the Chris Paul trade.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Friday vs. Orlando, Sunday vs. Atlanta, Monday @ Miami. For the Thunder, Friday @ Golden State, Monday @ L.A. Clippers, Wednesday @ Dallas.

• Hornets: Gordon, Kaman
• Thunder: Maynor, Reid

• Hornets: Ariza
• Thunder: Westbrook

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #65 Sean Wright, #75 Eric Dalen
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:12