Thunder-Nuggets Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Mar 14 2012 4:18PM

The Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder's latest defeat could be their most discouraging of the season.

Their victory over the Denver Nuggets last month was perhaps their most satisfying.

The Thunder hope to put a disappointing loss that capped a frustrating homestand behind them Thursday night when they visit the Nuggets in a matchup of Northwest Division rivals.

Oklahoma City (32-10) and Denver are the top two teams in the Northwest, but the Thunder are running away with the division - they lead the Nuggets (24-19) by 8 1/2 games.

Protecting home court has been one of the biggest reasons Oklahoma City has pulled away as it owns an 18-3 record at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Two of those losses, however, came in the Thunder's last three games.

After suffering an embarrassing loss to Cleveland on Friday, they appeared ready to finish their five-game homestand Tuesday with a fourth victory as they led Houston 102-91 with 2:29 remaining. The Rockets, however, closed the game on a 13-1 run to send Oklahoma City to a stunning 104-103 loss.

"I think we had this one in our hands throughout the fourth," All-Star Russell Westbrook said. "We just let it go at the end."

Westbrook finished with 19 points but had two turnovers, a missed jumper and a technical foul in the final stretch. Kevin Durant had a team-high 28 points but missed a turnaround jumper from the top of the key in the closing seconds.

"It was working for us, we were passing the ball to each other and finishing plays," Durant said. "We have to continue to just keep playing together and we'll be OK."

Durant and company showed just how impressive they can be in a 124-118 overtime victory over the Nuggets on Feb. 19.

Durant had a career-best 51 points, Westbrook scored 40 and Serge Ibaka added 14 points, 15 rebounds and a career-best 11 blocks for his first triple-double. It was the first time in NBA history three teammates put together a 50-point night, a 40-point complementary effort and a triple-double.

If there was one positive the Nuggets took from that loss is they pushed the Thunder to overtime despite playing without Danilo Gallinari and Nene Hilario.

Those two should both be on the court for the rematch and could be big factors considering how well each played in Denver's 118-117 overtime victory over Atlanta on Tuesday.

Gallinari had 19 points, including a key 3-pointer as he fell out of bounds with 3.9 seconds left in regulation, while Nene scored 22 and had the game's final points on two free throws with 27 seconds remaining. Both were appearing in their fifth game after missing extended time because of injuries.

Tuesday's performance was especially encouraging for Gallinari, who missed 13 games with a chip fracture in his left foot. He made 6 of 13 shots after totaling 18 points on 5-of-25 shooting in his previous four contests.

"You sit out more than a month you're legs are not the same," he said. "It's going to take a while but I'm feeling better."

Denver, 6-2 since the All-Star break, is first in the league in scoring at 104.1 points, just ahead of Oklahoma City at 102.5 per game.

Durant is averaging 27.9 points, and in 12 games against Denver since 2008-09, he is averaging 32.2 points - his third-highest average against any team.

The Thunder have won three straight over the Nuggets after losing 12 of the previous 15 in the series. Oklahoma City's 101-94 victory in Denver on April 5 snapped a seven-game losing streak there.

Durant scores 24 as Thunder rout Nuggets, 103-90

Posted Mar 16 2012 1:05AM

DENVER (AP) The Oklahoma City Thunder played like the top team in the Western Conference.

The Denver Nuggets looked like a team still searching for the right parts.

Kevin Durant scored 24 points, Russell Westbrook had 23 and Oklahoma City beat the short-handed Nuggets 103-90 on Thursday night.

Andre Miller had 17 to lead the Nuggets, who sent the talented yet often-injured Nene to Washington for JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf.

The deal was widely known before the game started but wasn't finalized until the first half, leaving Denver without another big man to face the Thunder.

It also had an impact mentally.

"Anytime you trade a guy that's been with me since I've been here, and we have a personal connection because of our situations with cancer, it's very difficult," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "I hope to be friends with Nene for a long, long time after basketball."

Denver signed Nene to a new five-year, $67 million contract in December. He was averaging 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in an injury-plagued season. But the recent play of rookie forward Kenneth Faried made Nene expendable.

The Nuggets, who are in the thick of the playoff chase again this season, are a team without a superstar. Instead, Karl relies on his superior depth to wear teams down and McGee figures to help in that regard.

Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri said the team plans to waive Turiaf.

"We did (this trade) with the intention of the big picture. Make the team better," Ujiri said. "We felt that the direction of the organization at this time was we wanted to go a little bit younger."

Without Nene, the Nuggets didn't have enough to stay with the Thunder in the second half Thursday.

Trailing by one, Durant asserted himself to start the third quarter. He scored nine points to help the Thunder surge past the cold-shooting Nuggets. His fast-break dunk with 4:08 left in the third gave Oklahoma City a 68-57 lead.

"We came out and did what we wanted," Durant said. "We knew they were going to be playing with a heavy heart and we wanted to come out and take advantage."

James Harden followed with a dunk and Westbrook drained a 3-pointer to put the Thunder ahead 73-59 before Denver cut the deficit to eight late in the period. Harden finished with 18 points.

A 3-pointer by Daequan Cook, his third of the game, made it 78-65 heading into the fourth.

"Early in the quarter, we took too many jumpers and didn't make any of them," Karl said. "Our offense was very inefficient and ineffective and they're such a solid offense team I don't think you can give them a bad quarter."

Nick Collison scored all six of his points early in the final period and Harden hit a long 3-pointer to push the lead to 90-72 with 7:04 left.

"We moved the ball and moved it quickly and got the good hockey assist and we made the shots," Durant said. "And once we make shots and once we defend with all your heart, it is a fun game."

The Thunder took a 14-point lead early in the second quarter on the strength of hot shooting. Oklahoma City hit 57 percent of its shots in the first quarter.

Down 44-32 midway through the period, Denver rallied. Danilo Gallinari hit two 3-pointers to spur a 19-3 run that gave Denver a 51-47 lead late in the first half. Westbrook hit three free throws in the final 46 seconds to pull the Thunder to within 51-50 at the break.

Notes: Ujiri said the team hopes to sign restricted free agent Wilson Chandler to a contract in the next few days. Chandler, who was in the Nuggets' postgame locker room, said he hopes to sign by Monday or Tuesday. ... Thunder G Thabo Sefolosha returned to the lineup after missing 23 games with right foot injury. ... Nuggets forward Al Harrington went to the locker room midway through the fourth quarter with a left knee contusion. The team said he is day-to-day.

Notebook: Thunder 103, Nuggets 90

Posted Friday March 16, 2012 1:00AM

By Michael Kelly, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Kevin Durant scored 24 points, Russell Westbrook had 23 and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a strong second half to beat the Denver Nuggets 103-90 on Thursday night.

James Harden had 18 points off the bench for the Thunder, who outscored Denver 28-14 in the third quarter.

Andre Miller had 17 points and Danilo Gallinari added 15 points for the Nuggets, who fell to 3-3 on their current nine-game homestand.

QUOTABLE: "We wanted to establish ourselves in the post to start the second half. We got a few defensive three-second calls and Serge (Ibaka) did a great job for us establishing himself in that third quarter and the defense was very good."
-- Durant, on the Thunder's third quarter.

THE STAT: The Thunder blocked nine shots and now are averaging 10.5 blocks in two games against the Nuggets this season.

TURNING POINT: The Thunder came out aggressive the third quarter and the Nuggets didn't. Durant led the way with nine points, all in an early surge that turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 68-57 lead with 4:08 left in the period. Denver got no closer than eight the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "Early in the quarter we took too many jumpers and didn't make any of them. Our offense was very inefficient and ineffective and they're such a solid offense team I don't think you can give them a bad quarter."
-- Nuggets coach George Karl.

HOT: Durant and Westbrook didn't hang a combined 91 on the Nuggets like they did in Oklahoma City on Feb. 19, but they did have stretches where they inflicted damage. When they weren't hitting, Harden came through by going 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

QUOTABLE III: "We had a stretch of that game in the first half where we turned it over and took bad shots. It gave them a chance to come back and take the lead at half. The second half we did a much better job -- five turnovers and not a lot of points off those five. We had a lot of good shots."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks.

NOT: The Nuggets offense in the third quarter. They didn't score for the first 2:22 of the period and managed just 14 points. They settled for jumpers instead of attacking the paint, and when they missed the Thunder turned that into points.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The Nuggets traded center Nene to the Washington Wizards for center JaVale McGee and forward Ronny Turiaf. The trade was completed during the game.

GOOD MOVE: The Thunder challenged everything the Nuggets threw up in the lane. While Denver did manage 52 points in the paint Oklahoma City's ability to block shots and interior defense pushed the Nuggets' shooters to the outside.

BAD MOVE: The players said the trade didn't have an impact on the game but the lateness of the deal that sent Nene packing seemed to put the team in a funk.

QUOTABLE IV: "We are paid a lot of money to focus on our job and play game by game without thinking about nothing else. Losing Nene is tough. Everybody knows how important Nene was for us, but this is the NBA. It's a business."
-- Gallinari.

ROOKIE WATCH: Kenneth Faried's play over the last month is one reason the Nuggets traded Nene. He didn't have a great shooting night, scoring just eight points, but he had nine rebounds and was high energy while on the court.

NOTABLE: Nuggets forward Al Harrington went to the locker room midway through the fourth with a left knee contusion. He is considered day-to-day. ... Up by 16 in the fourth, Westbrook drew some derisive boos when he was called for stepping out of bounds and still went downcourt and dunked long after the whistle had blown.

UP NEXT: For the Thunder, Friday vs. San Antonio, Sunday vs. Portland, Tuesday @ Utah. For the Nuggets, Saturday vs. Boston, Monday vs. Dallas, Wednesday vs. Detroit.

• Thunder: Maynor, Reid
• Nuggets: Nene

• Thunder: Brooks
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #47 Bennie Adams, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 18458
• Duration: 2:12