Thunder-Nets Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Dec 04 2012 11:10AM

The Oklahoma City Thunder are tied for the most wins in the NBA, and not surprisingly Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have led the charge - especially during their current winning streak.

They'll look to help lead Oklahoma City to a season-best sixth consecutive win Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets, who begin a four-game homestand.

The Thunder (14-4) began their streak with a 116-109 overtime win at Philadelphia on Nov. 24 and have won their last four by an average of 25.0 points.

Durant scored 20 points while Westbrook added 18 and 10 assists before both sat out the fourth quarter of a 100-79 rout of New Orleans on Saturday.

"As a team we're doing a better job of not focusing on who we're playing, but focusing on ourselves and trying to find a way where we can get better," Westbrook said.

Durant has a pair of 37-point performances while shooting 56.4 percent during the winning streak, with Westbrook averaging 19.4 points and 9.4 assists.

"Russell was Russell. He was able to get me open shots and I just tried to do my part," Durant said Saturday. "He sets the tone for us by pressuring the point and disrupted them early on."

Westbrook also added three steals, one night after having a season-high seven in a 106-94 win over Utah.

"I thought he had one of his better games," coach Scott Brooks said. "He's had a bunch of them lately on both ends of the floor. There's not a lot of guys in this league that can impact a game defensively and offensively like he has."

Westbrook scored 21 points and Durant added 20 in an 84-74 victory over the Nets on Jan. 21, Oklahoma City's sixth straight in the series.

Brooklyn (11-5) will look to halt that skid in the first of four straight home games against solid competition. It will face Golden State on Friday and Milwaukee on Sunday before another showdown with New York on Dec. 11.

The Nets had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 102-89 loss at Miami on Saturday despite seven players scoring in double figures. Andray Blatche started in place of Brook Lopez (foot) and scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Lopez will miss his third straight game Tuesday giving Blatche another start, and coach Avery Johnson hopes he can add a better defensive presence down low.

"One thing from Blatche, and he'll probably tell you the same thing, we need more blocked shots," Johnson said. "We need better defense in the paint. When you move into a starting role, you're playing against a different caliber (of opponent) and things are a lot more magnified. He's capable of it."

The Nets also will be without reserve forward Reggie Evans, averaging a team-high 8.4 rebounds, due to the flu.

Deron Williams, averaging 24.0 points in his last six versus the Thunder, went 3 for 11 from the field and scored 10 against the Heat. He shot 5 of 18 in last season's meeting with Oklahoma City.

Williams has totaled only 29 points over his last three games and is shooting 32.8 percent over his past 10, but the Nets are 7-3 in that span.

"In Deron's case, he'll be fine," Johnson said. "He's the last guy I'm worried about."

Durant has averaged 29.8 points in his last four games against the Nets.

Thunder hold off Nets 117-111 for 6th straight win

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Dec 04 2012 11:28PM

NEW YORK (AP) Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder looked spectacular most of the night even when the ball didn't go in.

The blowout didn't last, but their winning streak did.

Durant had 32 points and just missed what could have been the dunk of his career, Russell Westbrook added 25 points and nine assists, and the Thunder held off the Brooklyn Nets 117-111 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight victory.

Serge Ibaka scored 18 points and Thabo Sefolosha 14 for the Thunder, who revved up the NBA's No. 1 offense to surpass 100 points in a 10th straight game for the first time in 15 years. They beat the Nets for the seventh consecutive time, but had to work much harder for this win than they have lately.

"It's a good win, good test for us. We were up, we should have did a better job of playing with the lead, but they're a good team," Westbrook said.

Oklahoma City, which had won its last four by an average of 25 points, leads the NBA in victory margin, beating teams by 9.6 points per game. But their 16-point lead was sliced to two down the stretch, even as they shot 60.6 percent for the game.

Deron Williams scored a season-high 33 points for the Nets, who had their six-game home winning streak snapped. They played without starting center Brook Lopez (sprained right foot) and reserve forward Reggie Evans (flu), leaving them without their leading scorer and top rebounder.

They still almost pulled it out after the Thunder threatened to run them off the floor in the first half, but lost their second straight following a five-game winning streak. After falling in Miami on Saturday, they have dropped consecutive contests against last season's NBA finalists.

"I thought we played them tough today," Williams said. "We played tough at the beginning of the first half of the Miami game. So those are two teams that have been together for a couple of years. They've won at the highest level and they know how to play together. We're still trying to figure things out."

The Thunder hit 21 of their first 30 shots in an offensive clinic by a team that came in averaging an NBA-best 105.1 points - and were feeling so confident that Durant even tried a dunk that left the Barclays Center crowd gasping.

"We made shots," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Some nights you're going to make shots. You don't anticipate shooting 60 percent in this league, there's too many good defensive teams and they are a good defensive team. We both are and we both had trouble guarding each other tonight."

Andray Blatche had 19 points and 11 rebounds in Lopez's place, Joe Johnson scored 17 points, and Kris Humphries had 12 points and 12 boards for the Nets.

The Nets were on their longest home winning streak since late in 2005-06, but weren't quite sharp in their $1 billion arena, where even the overhead video board had some technical difficulties, resulting in some garbled names in the first half.

The Thunder hit 12 of 18 shots in the first quarter, getting 10 points apiece from Westbrook and Sefolosha, but the Nets stayed right with them behind 12 from Williams and trailed only 31-28 after one.

But the Thunder were just too sharp in the second quarter, even looking good when they missed. Durant launched himself for a dunk from at least 6 feet away, his feet way up near the 6-foot-11 Blatche's head for an attempt that would have rivaled anything Blake Griffin or Vince Carter has ever thrown down. He missed, throwing the ball hard off the rim, but Blatche was called for a foul and Durant made the free throws.

"I wanted to finish it so bad. I know Dray from him playing in D.C. and that's where I'm from, so I'll talk a little trash to him after that one," Durant said.

Durant said it probably would have been his best dunk in the NBA had it gone down, laughing that he didn't jump higher because he "didn't have no more left in the tank."

"I think that ignited my team just a tiny bit and I wish I could have made that one, but hopefully I get the next one," Durant added.

Durant hit all five shots in the period, and the Thunder pulled away with a 16-4 run before taking a 61-48 lead to the half.

They were running away with it when they scored six straight points to make it 73-57 with 8:26 remaining in the third, but then completely forgot to guard the 3-point line. The Nets made five in the final 3:49 of a 38-point period, getting within two before Durant's basket made it 90-86 heading to the fourth.

"I challenged them a little bit at halftime," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "I was disappointed with our effort in the first half. We were playing them like we were giving them a little too much respect and I didn't see the Brooklyn Nets, all right. So they came out and we got it going in the third quarter."

The Thunder quickly got it back to double digits but the Nets rallied again as Joe Johnson finally got untracked so Williams didn't have to carry the entire scoring load. His short jumper cut it to two with 2:14 left, but Durant was credited with a basket on a goaltend call against Humphries that stood up after video review. After Williams missed, Sefolosha swooped in to put back a miss to make it 112-106, and Oklahoma City was safe again.

Notes: Oklahoma City wore its alternate third uniforms, which are navy blue with "Thunder" written vertically along the right side of the chest. ... Avery Johnson was the Eastern Conference coach of the month for November. ... If the Thunder ended the season with their current scoring margin, it would be the NBA's largest since Boston won by 10.3 points per game during its 2007-08 championship season.

Notebook: Thunder 117, Nets 111

Jake Appleman, for NBA.com
Posted Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:37 PM - Updated Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:19 AM

THE FACTS: Without the low-post presence of Brook Lopez, the Nets were not able to play their pace against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It almost did not matter. Driven by a season-high 33 points from Deron Williams, the Nets clawed their way back from a 16-point deficit against the Thunder, eventually falling, 117-111. A ruthlessly efficient Kevin Durant (32 points, 12-for-12 from the free-throw line) and an active Russell Westbrook (25 points, 9 assists) led the Thunder charge. Serge Ibaka (18 points, 6 rebounds) knocked down clutch jumpers with the crowd at full throat.

QUOTABLE: "I think we are meshing great. We are doing a great job of passing the basketball, playing off each other, and making each other better."
-- Westbrook, on the Thunder, owners of the NBA's second best record (15-4).

THE STAT: The Thunder shot a season-high 60.6 percent, negating the Nets' 16-2 offensive rebounding edge and 21-point advantage on made 3-pointers.

TURNING POINT: With 1:52 remaining, Kris Humphries (12 points, 12 rebounds) pinned a Durant floater against the backboard and was called for goal-tending. The Nets and the crowd were shocked at the call, but after an official review, the play was upheld, giving the Thunder a 110-106 lead. The Nets did not score again until the outcome had all but been decided.

QUOTABLE II: "If not, it was as close as it could possibly be."
-- Humphries, asked whether his goal-tend was a clean block.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Due to a scoreboard malfunction, Thabo Sefolosha's surname was written as "Sedohosha" during the first quarter. Other surname malfunctions continued throughout the game. At one point, the Nets purportedly had a player whose last name was Pooks.

ROOKIE WATCH: Mirza Teletovic scored a career-high 8 points.

NOTABLE: Williams busted out of his lengthy shooting slump by hitting his first four shots en route to 12 of the Nets' first 21 points. One of the shots was a very deep three. ... The Thunder hit 12-of-17 field goals to start the game. ... Durant tried to crown Andray Blatche (19 points, 11 rebounds) with a one-handed tomahawk dunk late in the second quarter. He missed but earned two free throws in the process ... Blatche recorded his second double-double of the season and is averaging 17.7 ppg. and 9.3 rpg as a starter. ... Gerald Wallace had a third quarter eeirly similar to his third quarter against the Orlando Magic on Friday, when he sank four threes to get the Nets back into the game. Wallace did much of his third-quarter damage against Oklahoma City as an undersized power forward. ... The Nets' 38 third-quarter points were a season high.

UP NEXT: For the Thunder, Friday vs. L.A. Lakers, Sunday vs. Indiana, Wednesday vs. New Orleans. For the Nets, Friday vs. Golden State, Sunday vs. Milwaukee, Tuesday vs. New York.

• Thunder: Jones, Lamb, Orton
• Nets: Evans, Lopez

• Thunder: Perkins
• Nets: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #30 John Goble, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 17732
• Duration: 2:25