Timberwolves-Thunder Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Mar 22 2012 3:29PM

The Oklahoma City Thunder are making a concerted effort to control the paint.

That could be a problem for a Minnesota Timberwolves team that's thin up front.

Trying to win two straight for the first time in more than two weeks, the Western Conference-leading Thunder go for their 11th consecutive victory against Minnesota on Friday night.

After getting outscored by 30 in the paint on Tuesday in a 97-90 loss at Utah, the Thunder (35-12) opened a three-game homestand on Wednesday by outrebounding the Los Angeles Clippers by 18 and outscoring them by 22 in the paint in a 114-91 victory.

"We always want to stop guys from getting into the paint," said coach Scott Brooks, whose team has alternated wins and losses over the last nine games. "We have bigs that really did a good job of cleaning-up and protecting the paint when we do get beat, but tonight was good."

The Thunder, looking for their first back-to-back wins since March 5 and 7, are hoping for a similar effort on Friday from Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins, who combined for 25 rebounds and five blocks against Los Angeles.

There's a good chance that could happen as the Timberwolves (23-25) will close out their season-high seven-game trip without starting center Nikola Pekovic, who returned to Minneapolis to get his sore left ankle checked out.

Without Pekovic, who is scoring 13.5 points per game with 7.4 boards, Minnesota was outrebounded by a 56-41 margin in Wednesday's 116-100 loss to San Antonio.

"Pek is huge for us," said All-Star forward Kevin Love, who recorded his league-best 40th double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. "He's the guy we can throw it into and know we can get easy buckets. He can keep the other team off the glass. It was tough for us."

Love should make a second consecutive start in the middle as coach Rick Adelman has made it clear backup center Darko Milicic is in no condition to help the team.

"He's gotten himself out of shape, and I don't think he's been as driven as you'd like," said Adelman, whose team is 11th in the West after dropping five of seven since Ricky Rubio's season-ending ACL injury.

Timberwolves rookie forward Derrick Williams could get a second straight start and see plenty of playing time with Michael Beasley getting limited action with a left big toe sprain.

While Minnesota could find it difficult to match up with the Thunder's starting frontcourt, the backcourt combination of Luke Ridnour and Martell Webster could have their hands full with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook. The All-Star point guard and Love's former UCLA teammate, Westbrook is averaging 17.4 points and 10.8 assists during the Thunder's winning streak in this series after totaling 28 and six, respectively, in a 104-100 victory in Minneapolis on Dec. 26.

Durant, the two-time defending scoring champ, had 33 points in that game and is averaging 31.4 since the Thunder's last loss to the Timberwolves, 129-87 at Minnesota on Jan. 7, 2009.

Durant's 23 points led seven Thunder players in double figures in a 111-103 win over the Wolves on March 25, their fourth straight at home in this series.

Love had 22 points, 12 boards and five assists in the Timberwolves' season-opening loss Dec. 26 after being sidelined with a groin injury in the team's last visit to Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Thunder survive Love's 51, outlast Wolves in 2OT

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Mar 24 2012 1:12AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) When Kevin Love drilled the most dramatic of his career-high seven 3-pointers during his first 50-point game over Russell Westbrook, he gave his former UCLA buddy a good ribbing.

At the end of the night, it was Westbrook who got the win.

Westbrook scored a career-best 45 points, Kevin Durant added 40 points and a season-high 17 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame Love's franchise-record 51 points to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 149-140 in double-overtime Friday night.

"There's a lot of great performances throughout this game but the good thing about it was our team victory," Westbrook said.

Westbrook set the tone in the second overtime, stealing the ball on Minnesota's opening possession and racing to the other end for a layup that resulted in a three-point play.

The West-leading Thunder never trailed in the period and put it away with nine straight points after Nick Collison blocked Love's shot that would have tied it at 140.

Westbrook and Durant became the first tandem in NBA history to have two games in the same season with 40 points apiece.

"That's going to be a game that's going to be played for a while now," Durant said. "It was fun to be a part of. ... We made some big plays. Guys trusted each other and that's what good teams do: make the right basketball play."

Love, who beat Durant in the 3-Point Contest on All-Star weekend, also pulled down 14 rebounds while becoming the third player to eclipse 50 points this season.

Durant (51) and New Jersey's Deron Williams (57) previously passed the half-century mark.

"It doesn't matter. We lost," Love said. "We needed this game, especially the last game of our road trip against a very good team. This could have definitely been a driving force for us in these last 17, 18 games."

Love, whose previous career-high was 43 points, was 16 of 27 from the field and went 7 for 11 on 3s, hitting his first five attempts.

J.J. Barea complemented him with his first career triple-double - and the first for Minnesota since Kevin Garnett did it in 2007. He had a season-high 25 points a career-best 14 assists and matched his best rebounding total with 10.

Anthony Tolliver chipped in a season-high 23 points for Minnesota, which was without second-leading scorer Nikola Pekovic (left ankle) and Michael Beasley (left big toe) and fell to 2-6 since point guard Ricky Rubio was lost to a season-ending knee injury.

"Everybody made plays when it counted," Love said. "There was just a concerted effort from their team in that second overtime. The ball bounced their way with a little bit of luck and they made stops."

Love answered Durant's tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in regulation by hitting his own over Westbrook with just 1 second left to force overtime.

"That's my man, my main guy. Definitely talking trash out there, especially after he hit the one right in my face," Westbrook said.

"He said, `In your face,' He just kept pointing, like, `In your face, in your face."'

Love then scored Minnesota's first eight points of the first overtime, but the Wolves couldn't close it out after taking a 129-124 lead on Tolliver's three-point play and fast-break dunk with 46.3 seconds left.

Westbrook hit a jumper in the lane and, after Love was called for traveling, Durant drilled a 3 over his outstretched arm with 10 seconds left. Barea missed a potential game-winning 3 and Durant's heave from the opposite free-throw line hit the backboard and rim.

Love couldn't keep it up in the second overtime, and the Thunder's tandem of All-Stars were finally able to put away their first consecutive wins in more than two weeks.

After Love's shot at the tie was swatted, Durant hit a step-back jumper from the left side and Westbrook followed with a two-handed slam to for a 144-138 lead with 1:15 remaining.

"The stars were stars tonight. There's no question about it," said Derek Fisher, who logged 36 minutes in his second game with Oklahoma City. "That's why those three guys were All-Stars in the Western Conference. I think they showed in every way why they're three of the best players in our game right now.

"Fortunately, we had two on our side and they only had one."

James Harden scored 25 off the bench and Kendrick Perkins contributed a season-high 12 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter or overtime for Oklahoma City.

Minnesota coach Rick Adelman expressed before the game that he was concerned how his team would respond at the end of a franchise record seven-game road trip that came right after losing Rubio.

The Timberwolves lost 15 straight to end last season and were 1-23 down the stretch the previous year.

"I worry about it a lot. I think the thing you worry about with this group is they've really struggled in the last couple years and you can't give into the situation. You can't give in to the tough schedule, you can't give in to the fact that you've lost players or lost games," Adelman said.

That was never an issue.

The Timberwolves didn't lead between the end of the first quarter and the start of overtime but stayed in striking distance before rallying in the final minute to tie it, first when Westbrook tried to save a ball from going out of bounds and instead threw it to Barea for a layup to tie it at 113 with 27.3 seconds left.

"There's still a lot of fight in us. We might be down but we're not out, if we can just continue to get better," Love said. "We need to have more games like this."

NOTES: After spending the past 12 days on their longest road trip in franchise history, the Timberwolves don't get much of a reprieve: a single game at home on Sunday afternoon before four of their next five on the road. "We get to go home for, what, 36 hours?" Adelman said. ... F Ryan Reid, who was waived Wednesday so Oklahoma City could sign Derek Fisher, rejoined the Thunder organization Thursday by signing with the franchise's NBA Development League affiliate in Tulsa. ... Love had never previously made more than five 3-pointers in a game.

Notebook: Thunder 149, Timberwolves 140

Posted Saturday March 24, 2012 12:17AM

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Another record setting night in Oklahoma City as the Thunder's Russell Westbrook (45) and Kevin Durant (40) combined for 85 points and the Thunder survived a monster game from Kevin Love (51 points) to beat the Timberwolves in a thrilling 149-140 double overtime game. It's the first time in NBA history two teammates have scored at least 40 points in two games in the same season. The duo also did it against Denver on February 19th. Westbrook also had six assists and two steals. Durant pulled down 17 rebounds, the second most of his career, and added five assists and three steals. OKC's sixth man James Harden dropped in 25 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out six assists. Love's 51 points are a career high; he also pulled down 14 rebounds. Love was a menace from long range all night going 7-for-11. Backup point guard J.J. Barea had 25 points and a career high 14 assists. Anthony Tolliver added 23 points. Big minutes for several players, Durant led the way with 52:24, Westbrook played 50:09 and Love was on the court for 49:19. Newly acquired Thunder point guard Derek Fisher played two seconds shy of 36 minutes but was just 2-for-11 and scored five points, he handed out three assists and grabbed two rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "I'm sure the fans and players enjoyed this one more than me. Both teams made incredible plays, just plays after plays after plays. Our team never gives up but we never could figure them out and Love had a big game against all our guys."
-- Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.

QUOTABLE II: "It was a tough loss, a really tough loss. Our guys did everything you could to win the game. They played their tails off."
-- Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman.

THE STAT: In the second overtime OKC's Westbrook scored nine points on 4-for-4 shooting and the Thunder was 7-for-8 (87.5 percent) in the final frame and hit all five free throws.

TURNING POINT: The game twisted and turned back and forth most of the night. OKC led by as many as 13 and the Wolves by as many as seven. The Thunder blew a five point lead with 1:41 left in regulation. But Durant hit a long three with 3.6 left and then Love nailed a 3-pointer over Westbrook to send the game into the first overtime. Westbrook's nine points in the second OT proved decisive as the Thunder outscored Minnesota 20-11 in the second overtime.

QUOTABLE III: "We talk trash to each other all the time, he's my guy, he's my main man. He really talked trash to me after he hit that one right in my face. He kept saying, 'in your face, in your face."
-- Westbrook on his friend Love, a former teammate at UCLA.

QUOTABLE IV: "Doesn't matter now with the loss. We needed this game. It's a tough loss but now we go back home and try to get a win."
-- Love on his career night.

HOT: In the first five minutes of the game, T-Wolves forward Love was 4-for-6 (3-for-3 on 3-pointers) and scored 11 points. At halftime he had 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting (5-for-6 on 3-pointers)...OKC's Harden was 7-for-9 (17 points) in the first half...Nick Collison was 5-for-6 (10 points) in the first half...Minnesota was 23-for-39 (59 percent in the first half and 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) on 3-pointers at the break...Barea was 4-for-4 (10 points) in the second overtime.

NOT: Timberwolves guard Barea was 1-for-4 in the first half...To start the second half Minnesota was just 1-for-8 (12.5 percent) on 3-pointers...Love was 0-for-2 (1 point) in the second overtime.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The Thunder honored a cancer patient from nearby Sulphur, Oklahoma, who kicked in the door of a burning home to save the family inside. Emily Clark saw the fire on her way to work early one morning. She called 9-1-1 then fearing there were people trapped inside she broke down a door. The family, including several young children, got out alive. Emily previously worked as a firefighter for the National Parks Service.

GOOD MOVE: Toward the end of the third quarter, Thunder forward Durant fakes to his right, then drives to his left around Tolliver. Tolliver fouls Durant and as he is falling down puts up a shot and drains it.

BAD MOVE: With Minnesota playing forward Love at center, Thunder head coach Brooks opted to have his center, Kendrick Perkins, guard Love. It didn't work out well in the beginning. Love was 5-for-5 on 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes of the game and had 19 points.

BAD MOVE TOO: Perkins wasn't the only Thunder player having trouble guarding the T-Wolves. Oklahoma City played some of its worst defense of the season in the first half, allowing Minnesota to shoot 59.0 percent, (64.3 percent on 3-pointers) and score 61 points.

GOOD MOVE TOO: In the second half the Thunder switched up some defensive assignments and Love, after going 5-for-6 on 3-pointers in the first half was 0-for-2 in the second half until nailing a game-tying three ball with one second left.

NOTABLE: Oklahoma City has now won 11 straight against Minnesota...The last time two teammates scored 40+ points in a game before this season was February, 18, 1996 when Michael Jordan (44) and Scottie Pippen (40) did it...The last time the OKC franchise scored 149 points in a game was April 6, 2008 in a 151-147 double OT win against Denver...The 140 points is a season high for Minnesota.

UP NEXT: For the Timberwolves, Sunday vs. Denver, Tuesday @ Memphis, Wednesday @ Charlotte. For the Thunder, Sunday vs. Miami, Tuesday @ Portland, Thursday @ LA Lakers.

• Timberwolves: Pekovic, Rubio
• Thunder: Cook, Maynor

• Timberwolves: --
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #61 Courtney Kirkland, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:44