Thunder-Hawks Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Mar 03 2012 1:40PM

A long winning streak is giving Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder a chance to pad their lead atop the Western Conference.

The Atlanta Hawks are looking to withstand another absence by Joe Johnson.

The red-hot Thunder have a big injury concern of their own, with Russell Westbrook's status uncertain for a matchup with the Hawks on Saturday night.

Westbrook sprained his ankle in a 105-102 win at Orlando on Friday but didn't leave the game, finishing with 29 points and 10 assists. However, he's officially listed as day-to-day, meaning it's possible the All-Star point guard could miss a game for the first time in his four-year career.

His potential absence could increase the burden on Durant, Sunday's All-Star game MVP with 36 points. He's among the NBA leaders with 28.0 points per game and a major reason Oklahoma City (29-7) has a four-game lead on Southwest Division-leading San Antonio in the West standings.

The Thunder are reinforcing their status as one of the league's top teams with their seven-game winning streak, matching their best of the season set two months ago.

They haven't put together a longer run since winning nine a row from Jan. 29-Feb. 21, 2010.

Durant overcame some sloppy play early Thursday, scoring 18 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma City erased a 14-point deficit. He had three turnovers while going 2 for 6 from the field in the opening period.

"I was so down on myself. I was really going down after the first quarter," Durant said. "But my coaches and my teammates continued to encourage me and told me they believed in me. It just clicked for me and I started to make a few shots and free throws.

"Once your teammates give you that confidence, no matter what you feel good, and I was able to make some shots."

Durant hasn't had much trouble with the Hawks (21-15), averaging 31.0 points to spur a four-game winning streak. He had 29 points and eight rebounds, while Westbrook added 28 points with nine assists in a 111-104 win at Atlanta on March 4 of last year.

Westbrook has averaged 28.7 points over the last six games.

While it's unclear if Westbrook will play, the Hawks are expected to be without Johnson, their leading scorer at 17.6 points per game.

Johnson would be sidelined for the fourth time in five games due to tendinitis in his left knee. The injury also prevented him from playing in the All-Star game.

Coach Larry Drew said he wants to make sure Johnson's knee is stronger before he returns, and that could mean holding him out until Tuesday's visit to Indiana that opens a six-game trip.

Atlanta overcame Johnson's absence Friday, getting 32 of its 34 fourth-quarter points from the bench, including the go-ahead 3-pointer from Vladimir Radmanovic with 11.9 seconds left, in order to beat Milwaukee 99-94.

"It was just beautiful to see that," said Josh Smith, who had 24 points and 19 rebounds but sat out most of the fourth quarter with the other starters.

Smith could play a key role again, as the Hawks are 10-0 when the forward scores at least 20 points. However, they lost 103-94 in their last visit to FedEx Forum on Dec. 31, 2010, despite 23 points and nine rebounds from Smith.

He missed the last meeting with Oklahoma City due to a sprained right MCL.

Smith scores 30 in Hawks' 97-90 win over Thunder

By GEORGE HENRY
Posted Mar 03 2012 10:52PM

ATLANTA (AP) Josh Smith came up big when the Atlanta Hawks needed him.

Playing to the crowd and energizing his teammates as leading scorer Joe Johnson watched the game with an injured knee, Smith knew his performance was the reason Atlanta held off hard-charging Oklahoma City.

"I'm an emotional guy," he said. "I'm the emotional leader of this basketball team and whenever we can make some defensive stops and put them together, that definitely has to get you fired up."

Smith scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Jeff Teague added 16 points and the Atlanta Hawks snapped the Thunder's seven-game winning streak with a 97-90 victory on Saturday night.

Kevin Durant finished with 35 points, going 14 of 17 on free throw attempts, and Russell Westbrook had 25 points for league-best Oklahoma City.

Smith, who matched a season-high in scoring and pulled down seven of his 12 rebounds in the fourth, had dunks on consecutive possessions to give the Hawks an 87-79 lead with 4:43 remaining.

Then, after forcing Durant to commit a turnover and pounding his first against his own chest with 3:04 left, Smith matched Durant's 3-pointer to put Atlanta up 92-88 at the 2-minute mark.

One minute later, Smith drove past Ibaka on the right side and rolled in a left-handed hook to make it 95-90. His efforts helped the Hawks win their second straight.

"I was just real focused," Smith said. "I wanted to be the guy to try to will us to win this game. I was able to find some cracks in their defense and put the ball in the hole."

The Thunder, looking to reach eight straight wins for the first time since February 2010, briefly rallied from their biggest deficit, 11 points on two free throws by Williams at the 2:15 mark of the second quarter, when Cole Aldrich's two free throws put Oklahoma City up 71-70 near the end of the third.

"When they grabbed that lead, we knew we still were in the ballgame," Smith said. "We didn't want to hang our heads and have bad body language. We were able to come out and play a good basketball game tonight."

Durant missed four of his first five shots from the field before faking out Marvin Williams at the top of the key and hitting a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 51-45 in the final seconds of the first half.

The Thunder dropped to 8-2 against the Eastern Conference. Not surprisingly, Oklahoma City, which leads the NBA with an average of 16.9 turnovers, couldn't overcome 21 miscues that led to 22 Atlanta points.

"We've got to fix it," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "We keep talking about it. We're working on it. But we've got to figure out that because it's going to be hard to win night in, night out the way we turn it over. We're an attack team. We're an aggressive team. I understand that, but we still have to be solid with our decisions. It's unacceptable having 20 turnovers in an NBA game."

Durant, the MVP of last Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, was just 3 of 10 from the field in the final period, launching missed 3s at the end to try and keep the score close.

"We've won so many games down the stretch, and to lose this one, it's tough, but it's the luck of the draw, man," Durant said. "We've got to move on."

As Johnson missed his second straight game and fifth of the last six with left knee tendinitis, Kirk Hinrich and Zaza Pachulia help fill the offensive void by each scoring 10 points. Pachulia also had 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

"The Hawks played hungry tonight even though they were down some guys," Brooks said. "They fought us for four quarters."

Nobody competed harder than Smith, who was coming off a 24-point, 19-rebound effort the night before against Milwaukee.

"We need him to be that impact player, particularly with his energy," Atlanta coach Larry Drew said. " We can feed off his energy. When's playing like that, you can see the rest of the guys step their level of play up."

NOTES: Westbrook played with a protective sleeve on his left ankle, which he slightly sprained in Thursday's three-point win over Orlando. ... Oklahoma City C Kendrick Perkins had two points and five rebounds in 16 minutes before fouling out with 4:09 remaining. ... A second Thunder starter, G Daequan Cook, did not take a shot and pulled down three rebounds in 14 minutes. ... The Thunder outscored Atlanta 20-4 in fastbreak points. ... The Hawks led points in the paint 42-26. ... Atlanta reserve G Tracy McGrady did not return after playing 1 minute of the first quarter and straining his left knee.

Notebook: Hawks 97, Thunder 90

Posted Saturday March 3, 2012 11:40PM

By Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Josh Smith dominated the fourth quarter in scoring 13 of Atlanta's final 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in that span to lead the Hawks to an unlikely 97-90 win over the visiting Thunder.

Oklahoma City (29-8) entered the game with the NBA's best record, and few would have predicted that OKC's seven-game winning streak would end in Atlanta. The Hawks were missing injured All-Stars Al Horford and Joe Johnson, a would-be starter in guard Willie Green and would-be fill-in Tracy McGrady wrenched a knee and was lost after less than two minutes.

The Hawks nonetheless limited the Thunder to 15 fourth-quarter points and out-rebounded Oklahoma City 17-9 in the final period even though OKC was off the night before while Atlanta was forced to rally furiously to beat the Bucks.

Smith finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

OKC's Kevin Durant scored a game-high 35 points, but was just 9-for-23 from the field, and Russell Westbrook scored 25.

That was just about the end of good news for the Thunder as James Harden added 10 points off the bench and all Thunder players other than the big three combined for just 20 points on 7-for-21 shooting. Four OKC players went scoreless and centers Nazr Mohammed and Kendrick Perkins combined for four points.

QUOTABLE: "It's all mental. When you're exhausted and tired you have to try to push through it. That's what I'm doing. I don't believe in making excuses ... I wanted to be the guy to try to will us to win this game. I was able to find some cracks in their defense, and put the ball in the hole."
-- Smith

QUOTABLE II: "[Smith] was absolutely phenomenal on both ends, not just the offensive end ... he is one of the few players in this league that can impact the game at both ends of the floor. When it all comes together, when it really clicks, he can be All-Pro. He hasn't tapped into his talent level completely."
-- Hawks coach Larry Drew

THE STAT: This came down to which team was better able to grind in the fourth quarter. In that period, the Hawks out-scored the Thunder 10-2 in points in the paint, where OKC missed 8-of-9 shots and Atlanta went 5-for-12. Not coincidentally, Atlanta out-scored the Thunder 9-1 in second-chance points in the period.

TURNING POINT: Atlanta reserve guard Jannero Pargo, who was huge Friday night when the Hawks out-scored Milwaukee 34-18 in the fourth quarter on the way to a 99-94 win, finished the third quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Atlanta a 76-75 lead, and he started the fourth quarter with another trey. The Hawks never trailed after the first 3-pointer.

QUOTABLE III: "He made two shots and some free throws. I don't consider that getting really hot. He made a 3 we can live with, and a nice hook shot. It's not like he made five or six shots in a row."
-- Durant on Smith, whom he was often checking in the fourth quarter, and vice-versa. Durant missed 7-of-10 shots in the fourth quarter, and scored 14 of his points from the free-throw line overall.

HOT: Josh Smith made 4-of-6 shots in the fourth period, including his only 3-point try, and 4-of-7 free throws. Six of his seven rebounds in the quarter were defensive. ... Atlanta reserve forward Vladimir Radmanovic made 2-of-3 3 pointers and has made 5-of-7 in the past two games. ... Kirk Hinrich, who started at shooting guard in place of Johnson, made all three of his shots in the first quarter, including both his 3-point tries. ... Westbrook scored 10 points in the first quarter, on 4-for-5 shooting. He had two 3-pointers.

NOT: OKC's Nick Collison has two points total over his past three games. He had four turnovers Saturday. ... After missing both his shots, Thunder rookie reserve Reggie Jackson has made just 3-of-14 shots in the past three games. ... Hawks reserve guard Jerry Stackhouse, whose minutes have shot up in the past two games because of Atlanta's injuries, missed all four of his shots. The 16-year veteran did, however, have five assists, two rebounds and two steals against the Thunder.

NOTABLE: Joe Johnson missed his second straight game, and fourth in Atlanta's past five, with tendinitis in his left knee. His availability for Tuesday's game at Indiana is considered day-to-day. ... Green, who might have started for Johnson if he were available, missed his second straight game with back spasms. ... Drew said before the game that he considered starting McGrady, who played quite well in Friday night's come-from-behind win over Milwaukee. He never returned Saturday after spraining a knee in the first quarter. His status is unclear. ... The Thunder fell to 8-2 against teams from the East after winning in Philadelphia and Orlando earlier in a three-game road trip that ended in Atlanta. ... Atlanta is just 5-7 against teams from the West, including 2-2 at home. ... The Hawks were on the wrong end of a similar game earlier this season when they lost to Miami when the Heat were missing All-Stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

UP NEXT: For the Thunder, Monday vs. Mavericks, Wednesday vs. Suns, Friday vs. Cavaliers. For the Hawks, Tuesday @ Pacers, Wednesday @ Heat, Friday @ Pistons.

• Thunder: Hayward, Maynor
• Hawks: Horford, Johnson

• Thunder: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #71 Rodney Mott, #6 Tony Brown, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 18087
• Duration: 2:19