Pistons-Thunder Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Nov 09 2012 1:06AM

Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder opened a four-game stretch against Central Division opponents with a comeback victory.

There may not be a need for heroics in the next one.

Durant and the Thunder have won six straight against the visiting Detroit Pistons, who will likely be hard-pressed to avoid their worst start in 33 years Friday night.

Oklahoma City (3-2) trailed by six heading into the fourth quarter Thursday before rallying for a 97-91 victory at Chicago. Durant scored eight of his season-high 24 points in the fourth.

"It was one of those games you have to grind out," Durant said. "We've been through so many. We know what it takes."

There is some concern since Durant is averaging a league-worst 5.2 turnovers, committing six of Oklahoma City's season-high 22 against the Bulls. He's a big reason why the Thunder are averaging 18.4 turnovers for one of the NBA's poorest marks.

"Obviously we don't want to have high turnovers," coach Scott Brooks said. "It's something that has plagued us throughout this early part of our season. But it's something we're going to keep working on."

Detroit (0-5), meanwhile, has much more to work on as one of two remaining winless teams. The Pistons haven't dropped their first six games since the 1979-80 team began 0-7.

Opponents are shooting 47.4 percent against Detroit for the sixth-worst mark in the NBA. The Pistons allowed Sacramento to shoot 48.8 percent in Wednesday's 105-103 road defeat.

"Until we have a defensive mindset, it's going to be very hard for us to win," coach Lawrence Frank said. "We have to commit. Every guy that steps on the floor has to defend. It's a simple formula, but hard to do."

The loss overshadowed a terrific effort from Greg Monroe, who had 21 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists. It was Monroe's first triple-double and the first by a Piston since Chauncey Billups did it against Minnesota on Feb. 20, 2004.

The Pistons are looking for answers from their starting backcourt. Brandon Knight is averaging 10.8 points and shooting 35.3 percent but that's better than Rodney Stuckey's career-low figures of 6.4 points per game and 17.4 shooting.

Detroit is also the worst rebounding team in the league at 35.2 per game.

This will be Knight's second matchup with Russell Westbrook, who outscored him 24-13 in a 99-79 rout last season. Westbrook had his first double-double of the season Thursday with 16 points and 12 assists.

"Russell's 12 assists, I think he only had two turnovers, I think he had just an all-around great game," Brooks said.

Serge Ibaka has increased his scoring output in every game this season with 21 points and nine boards in Chicago.

"Serge is a good player, he's not only a defensive guy, but he can score," Brooks said. "He can score around the basket and he can score around the perimeter."

The Pistons had won eight straight in this series before this slide. They have dropped their four visits to Oklahoma City by an average of 12.8 points.

The Thunder close this stretch versus the Central with Monday's rematch in Detroit.

Ibaka scores 25, Thunder beat Pistons 105-94

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Nov 10 2012 3:18AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Even as the Oklahoma City Thunder start to string together some wins, Kevin Durant doesn't see his team playing at its highest level early in the season.

Serge Ibaka scored a career-high 25 points, Durant chipped in a season-high 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Thunder broke in their new alternate jerseys by beating the winless Detroit Pistons 105-94 on Friday night.

The victory still felt a bit hollow for Durant, who led Oklahoma City to the NBA Finals just five months ago.

"We've won the last three games but we've just got to find a way to do it for 48 minutes, as far as the energy is concerned," Durant said. "Of course, you won't be perfect playing all game. You're going to miss coverages on defense, you're going to miss shots, but our energy has to be there every second we're on the floor and that starts with me.

"I've got to be better and it goes down the line. If I come in every single day with a great mindset, then hopefully the team follows."

Durant and fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook were scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the game and it wasn't until late that Oklahoma City really took control.

The Thunder scored nine straight points soon after Durant checked back into the game midway through the fourth quarter, stretching their lead to 93-77 after he hit two free throws with 5:47 to play.

Detroit never got closer than nine after that, falling to 0-6 on the season - one loss shy of matching the worst starts in franchise history in 1962 and 1980.

"Sometimes the scoreboard can be deceiving, the stat sheet can be deceiving, but we have high standards here. That's what we've got to live up to - what we think of ourselves," Durant said. "That's most important to us, and we've got to do a better job."

First-round draft pick Andre Drummond led the Pistons with a career-high 22 points - 15 more than he scored in any of his first five games. Tayshaun Prince contributed 16 points and Rodney Stuckey scored 15.

The Pistons fell behind by 14 early in the second half but rallied back late in the third quarter by going to a lineup pairing Greg Monroe with Drummond, the ninth overall pick in this year's draft.

Coach Lawrence Frank said before the game that Detroit had been hesitant to use the two big men together because "you don't take away one of your main cogs and put him in a position of weakness there" but that the Pistons would probably try out the lineup eventually.

The debut was an immediate success, with Monroe setting up Drummond for easy baskets on back-to-back possessions to start a 9-0 run. After Prince's 3-pointer, Monroe finished it off with a two-handed slam to get Detroit within 72-69 with 30 seconds left in the third.

"He's real athletic. Me, partially," a humble Monroe said. "I can find him. When you have two guys like that, you have two big men guarding us and you know how they get mixed up sometimes with picks and stuff like that. I was able to find him a couple of times with them mixed up and got a couple easy buckets."

The Pistons couldn't sustain it, though, as Oklahoma City inched away with Durant on the bench. He returned just before Drummond hit a free throw, and the Thunder scored the next nine points after that to take control for good.

Kevin Martin added 16 points off the bench and Eric Maynor had 13, even getting a late call at the end of the game to replace the struggling Westbrook.

Westbrook ended up with 10 points and six assists but continued to struggle with his shot, dropping to 20 for 62 (32 percent) in his last four games. He left the locker room without speaking to reporters.

Monroe followed his first career triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

A year after trailing by 32 in the first half of a blowout in their only visit to Oklahoma City, the Pistons were able to keep it close by limiting Durant and Westbrook to slow starts.

Westbrook missed his first six shots and didn't score until converting a putback with 4:38 left before halftime during an 8-0 run that finally gave the Thunder a little bit of a cushion at 44-35.

Frank called his team's defense and rebounding "disturbing" prior to the game, and he was pleased the Pistons finished with more rebounds than an opponent for the first time this season. They also had 48-38 advantage in points in the paint, a 19-11 edge on second-chance points and even outscored the athletic Thunder on the fast break.

"We've just got to kind of put it all together and keep building," Frank said.

NOTES: Thunder reserve Hasheem Thabeet sat out with a sprained left ankle. ... Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler, still in town after playing at the arena the night before, was presented with a personalized Oklahoma City alternate jersey during a first-quarter timeout. ... Martin, who started the season 14 for 22 (64 percent) on 3-pointers, was 2 for 9 from behind the arc. ... The Pistons finish a six-game road trip Saturday at Houston before a rematch against the Thunder on Monday in Detroit.

Notbook: Thunder 105, Pistons 94

Randy Renner, For NBA.com
Posted Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:22 AM - Updated Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:22 AM

THE FACTS: Thunder forward Serge Ibaka set a career high with 25 points and Kevin Durant scored a season-high 27 to go along with 13 rebounds as Oklahoma City grinded out a 105-94 win over the winless Detroit Pistons.

Ibaka also pulled down seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Oklahoma City had three other players in double figures: Kevin Martin had 16 but he wasn't nearly as efficient as usual, taking 14 shots to get there; backup point guard Eric Maynor added 13; Russell Westbrook had 10 points and six assists.

The Pistons stayed close all night and had five players in double figures led by 22 from rookie big man Andre Drummond, by far the most points he's scored this season. His previous high was seven. Drummond also pulled down eight rebounds, tying his career high. Point guard Rodney Stuckey added 15 and center Greg Monroe dropped in 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out six assists.

The Thunder seemed to lack energy at times, especially in the first quarter and just flat out struggled at other times. But they managed to play well enough to send the Pistons to their sixth straight loss to start the season.

QUOTABLE: "I thought we played good defense through the game. Serge just played inspired basketball at both ends. He's as good a mid-range shooter as we have. He's worked hard on that a lot."

--Thunder coach Scott Brooks

QUOTABLE II: "Our energy could have been better. We've just gotta fight through it. We have to find a way to do it for 48 minutes and that starts with me. We have high standards here and we've got to do a better job."

-- Kevin Durant

THE STAT: In the first quarter, OKC shot 27.3 percent overall (6-for-22) and 16.7 percent (1-for-6) on 3-pointers and scored just 18 points. In the fourth quarter, the Thunder shot 66.7 percent (10-for-15) overall, 50.0 percent (2-for-4) on 3-pointers and scored 31 points.

TURNING POINT: The fourth quarter iced the game. Detroit rallied from being down 14 points in the third quarter to trail by only five (74-69) going into the fourth quarter. The Thunder built the lead up to eight points then pulled away on a 3-ball from Maynor, a driving bank shot from Martin and a 15-foot step back jumper from Durant. OKC led by 16 with just less than six minutes left and Detroit didn't threaten again.

QUOTABLE III: "Bottom line, they were ready to play and we weren't. I didn't recognize our team tonight. We didn't come out with the approach that we normally do. We've got to have that fire and come out and compete."

--Pistons coach Lawrence Frank

HOT: In the second half, Ibaka was 7-for-8 (19 points). In the fourth quarter, Ibaka and Durant were a combined 5-for-5 (15 points). Drummond and Kyle Singler were a combined 4-for-5 (14 points) in the fourth quarter.

NOT: The Thunder started the game just 2-for-10 (20 percent) and finished the first quarter at just 26.1 percent (6-for-23). The 18 points OKC scored was the worst first quarter of the season so far for the Thunder. Durant (2-for-7) and Westbrook (0-for-5) were a combined 2-for-12 (five points) in the first quarter. Detroit wasn't much better, as the Pistons shot 38.1 percent (8-for-21) in the first 12 minutes. Martin finished 2-for-9 on 3-pointers.

INSIDE THE ARENA: It was a star-studded night in the court side seats at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith, sat courtside. He and his legendary band rocked the house at The Peake last night. American Idol's Ryan Seacrest also sat on the floor along with Randy Jackson.

GOOD MOVE: Brooks put in the Thunder's entire second unit to start the second quarter and they responded, leading the Thunder on a nice run that put them in front. The starters had struggled in the first quarter on offense. The backups were a combined 7-for-10 (70.0 percent) and scored 18 points.

NOTABLE: With the loss, Detroit begins the season 0-6. That's the Pistons' worst start to a season since the 1979-80 team started 0-7. Ibaka's 25 points tonight, combined with the 21 he had Thursday, marks the first time he's had consecutive 20 point games. Ibaka has also increased his point production every game this season (4, 7, 14, 17, 21 & 25).

UP NEXT: For the Pistons, Saturday @ Houston, Monday vs. Oklahoma City, Wednesday @ Philadelphia. For the Thunder, Sunday vs. Cleveland, Monday @ Detroit, Wednesday vs. Memphis.

• Pistons: Kravtsov, Maggette
• Thunder: Thabeet

• Pistons: --
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:16