Warriors-Thunder Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Nov 17 2012 5:19PM

Kevin Durant continues to be one of the league's best scorers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are reaping the benefits. That figures to be no different at home Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors, as some of Durant's best work has come against them.

The Warriors, though, hope a newfound toughness can help them slow down Durant and match their longest winning streak from all of last season - three games.

Durant is averaging 30.9 points in 17 career games against Golden State, second to his 31.4 against Washington for his best average against any team. He's averaged 33.0 along with 10.0 rebounds during Oklahoma City's current four-game win streak in the series, including three last season.

The three-time reigning scoring champ failed to reach 25 points in any of the first five games of the season but has since done so in five straight, including 27 in a 110-95 win at New Orleans on Friday. The Thunder (7-3) shot 54.1 percent from the floor and led by as much as 34 as the starters sat out the entire fourth quarter in their sixth win in seven games.

Durant shot 9 of 12, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range after entering the game 8 for 22. He also tallied nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

"I wanted to ignite my team, not by scoring the ball or rebounding or getting assists," Durant said. "I was just trying to inspire them by my hard work and playing with a good intensity level."

Kevin Martin played one of his best games with his new team, scoring 27 and making 6 of 11 3-point tries.

Russell Westbrook's role seems to be in the midst of a mild transformation, possibly compensating for the departure of playmaker James Harden. Westbrook's scoring is down - his 19.6 scoring average is four points below last season's mark - but his assists are at a career-high 8.5 per game compared to 5.5 in 2011-12.

Westbrook recorded 12 assists against the Hornets, his fourth game with 10 or more. He had four such outings in 66 games last season.

"It's not about me scoring a certain amount of points. That's not the issue," Westbrook said. "Our problem is we need to win games and that's all I try to do. ... When I go to the basket, a lot of guys are collapsing on me and guys are open, and my job is to make sure they get the ball on time and on target."

Golden State (5-4) comes off a 106-98 win at Minnesota on Friday. It was another strong showing for the Warriors' frontcourt. They limited the Timberwolves to 22 points in the paint after surrendering 20 to Atlanta in a 92-88 win two nights earlier.

The Warriors have outrebounded their last two opponents by a combined 31 boards even without center Andrew Bogut, who is sidelined indefinitely with an ankle injury.

"We made the adjustments and fortunately the last two games we've been doing a good job of securing the basketball, closing out defensive possessions," coach Mark Jackson said.

The emergence of first-round pick Harrison Barnes has been a boost. Barnes has averaged 18.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in the last two games, compared to 8.3 and 2.4, respectively, through his first seven.

Golden State has dropped six straight in Oklahoma City, giving up an average of 110.3 points.

Durant's triple-double leads Thunder over Warriors

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Nov 18 2012 10:37PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant is determined to become known as more than a one-dimensional player.

He took a big step in that direction Sunday night.

Durant notched his first career triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Golden State Warriors 119-109.

"I really didn't care, to be honest. If it came, then that's cool. If it didn't, then just keep playing," Durant said. "It feels good to get one. Now, I guess I've got a little monkey off my back. I can just go out there and play."

Durant has endured some growing pains this season trying to improve his floor game, with a bump in his assist numbers coinciding with an increase in his turnovers, too. He came in averaging four turnovers per game, the fourth-worst in the league.

But after ending up with more turnovers than assists in each of his first five NBA seasons, Durant is starting to reverse that trend this season. He's also grabbing about two more rebounds per game than any other time in his career.

"There's going to be nights where I have to score 30. There's going to be nights where I have to have seven or eight assists," Durant said. "So, I'm just trying to be an all-around player and just continue to help my team win."

Durant turned it over just twice in this one and pumped his right fist after he set up Kevin Martin's 3-pointer with 4:57 to play for his 10th assist. The play also helped the Thunder hold on after Golden State cut a 21-point deficit to seven in the fourth quarter.

Russell Westbrook scored 30 points and Martin had 23 off the bench as Oklahoma City had a season-high 31 assists for the second straight game and a season high in points. Durant, Westbrook and Martin also combined for 22 assists.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 22 points, and David Lee chipped in 19 points and 10 rebounds.

"Durant's a pretty good passer to begin with and we decided we were going to load up a lot on him and Russell when they got the ball and make other guys beat us," Lee said. "The problem with loading up sometimes on him is that he's 6-11 and can see over it and make passes.

"I always considered him a pretty unselfish player, considering the amount of talent he has to score the basketball. I don't think that you would call him a selfish scorer by any means."

It looked for a while as though Durant might be stuck on nine assists - matching his previous career best from a double-overtime game against Denver during his rookie season in Seattle.

Durant and Westbrook teamed up to score eight straight points late in the third quarter, with Westbrook's 3-pointer from the top of the key extending Oklahoma City's lead to 86-67. Durant had a chance to pick up his 10th assist before the end of the third period, but instead kept the ball on a fast break and wound up with a three-point play that put the Thunder ahead 94-73.

He started the fourth quarter on the bench, but got a chance to come back in when Oklahoma City's reserves let the lead start slipping away.

Coach Scott Brooks put his All-Stars back in with 8:18 left, after Curry's 3-pointer drew Golden State to 101-88. Nick Collison used a nifty touch pass off an offensive rebound to set up Serge Ibaka's layup, and Durant assisted on Martin's 3 on the next trip as Oklahoma City stemmed the tide.

"Some guys can just pass, some guys can just shoot, some guys can just rebound. Obviously, with Kevin, he can do many things on the floor and we always have to challenge him because we don't know how good he will end up being," Brooks said.

Brooks said he doesn't want Durant to become a passer, but rather a play-maker.

"Every year for the next 100 years, he's going to be an MVP-type caliber player, and this is what MVP players do," Brooks said. "They make your team better, you win games and you do everything. You fill the stat sheet.

"You don't want to be a guy that just scores 35 and the team doesn't have success."

Carl Landry had 14 points and Jarrett Jack scored 12 for Golden State, which lost despite shooting 52 percent from the field. Warriors reserve Richard Jefferson pulled himself out of the game late in the first quarter after straining his right calf, and he did not return.

The Warriors wiped away an early seven-point deficit to go up 32-31 in the second quarter but Eric Maynor answered with a 3-pointer to start a 19-6 response that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay.

"They're the reigning Western Conference champions playing at home, playing well. You want to compete and find a way to beat them and in the end they shoot the ball 13-for-20 from 3. You give up 119 points," Curry said. "That's not going to cut it."

Notes: Asked before the game how he would have defended Westbrook during his playing days, Warriors coach Mark Jackson responded: "Chapel first, and then stay late when all the guys leave to get some extra prayer in." ... Oklahoma City had held its opponents below 44 percent shooting in each of its first seven wins this season. ... Golden State had also held seven opponents below 44 percent this season, tying Chicago and Oklahoma City for the NBA lead.

Notebook: Thunder 119, Warriors 109

Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:02 PM - Updated Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:02 PM

THE FACTS: Thunder forward Kevin Durant had a double-double by halftime and finished with his first career triple-double as he and point guard Russell Westbrook combined for 55 points to lead Oklahoma City past Golden State 119-109.

Durant scored 25 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out 10 assists. Westbrook led all scorers with 30 points. Stephen Curry led five Warriors in double figures with 22 points. David Lee had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Carl Landry came off the Golden State bench to score 14.

Thunder sixth man Kevin Martin had another big night with 23 points on 5-for-7 shooting on 3-pointers. Serge Ibaka added 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

For the first time this season the Thunder allowed a team to shoot better than 50 percent (52.4 percent for the Warriors) but OKC countered that by draining 65 percent of its long balls (13-for-20). Golden State also dominated in the paint, outscoring Oklahoma City 58-32 but the Thunder had a big edge in fast-break points (26-12) and in second-chance points (14-7).

QUOTABLE: "It feels good to finally get one. Serge and Russ kinda welcomed me to the club. I really wasn't thinking about it, if I got it great and if I didn't I was cool with that. But my teammates did a great job of setting me up and then they hit shots off a couple of my bad passes."

-- Durant on his first career triple-double

QUOTABLE II: "Some guys can just pass, some guys can just score, some guys can just rebound. Kevin can do it all, he can make plays. He's an MVP caliber player and that's what MVP players do."

-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on Durant's big night

THE STAT: Durant's line for his first career triple-double: 8-for-16 overall (3-for-5 on 3-pointers), 13 rebounds (all defensive), 10 assists, two steals and two turnovers.

TURNING POINT: OKC led by 22 after a 3-pointer from Martin early in the fourth quarter but the Warriors rallied to cut the lead all the way down to just seven (105-98) with a Curry three-ball with 5:59 to play. The Thunder then went on a 10-4 run with 3-pointers from Durant and Martin and jumpers from Ibaka and Westbrook to seal the deal.

QUOTABLE III: "The Thunder have a couple of very special players and in their building you cannot make mistakes. I pointed out to our players that this is a process and they went through the same kind of experience and learned from it. It's important for us to do the same thing."

-- Warriors coach Mark Jackson

HOT: After missing seven of their first eight shots, the Warriors went 11-for-15 (73.3 percent) to finish out the first quarter. ... OKC was 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) on 3-pointers in the first half and finished at 65 percent (13-for-20). Westbrook was 12-for-22 (2-for-2 on 3-pointers). Jarrett Jack was 6-for-8.

NOT: The Warriors started the game just 1-for-8 (12.5 percent). ... Curry was 2-for-8 in the first half. ... Klay Thompson finished 2-for-8.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The 74th straight sellout inside OKC's Chesapeake Energy Arena.

GOOD MOVE: Late in the first quarter Westbrook passed into the middle of the lane to Thabo Sefolosha who goes up but instead of taking a shot fired a bounce pass to a wide open Hasheem Thabeet who hit a layup.

BAD MOVE: Both Warriors guard Klay Thompson and his coach thought he was ready to come back after a bout with the flu but Thompson didn't seem to have his "A" game and finished the first half just 1-for-4 (two points) and did the same in the second half to finish with just four points.

NOTABLE: Golden State forward Richard Jefferson left the game late in the first quarter with a right calf strain and did not return. He's listed as day-to-day. ... Westbrook left the arena with an ice pack on his left wrist but said he was fine. ... Durant had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) at halftime. That's already the second time he's done that this season. Previously KD had just one halftime double-double in his career. ... The Warriors have now lost seven in a row in Oklahoma City.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Monday @ Dallas, Wednesday vs. Brooklyn, Friday @ Denver. For the Thunder, Wednesday vs. L.A. Clippers, Friday @ Boston, Saturday @ Philadelphia.

• Warriors: Bogut, Rush
• Thunder: Orton

• Warriors: --
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #20 Leroy Richardson, #79 Kevin Scott
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:03