Hornets-Thunder Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Dec 12 2012 1:01AM

The Oklahoma City Thunder can get up and down the floor with any team in the NBA. However, they understand they'll need to shut teams down if they're going to accomplish their goals.

Oklahoma City will try to extend its longest winning streak in three seasons to nine on Wednesday night when it goes for a seventh consecutive victory over the Western Conference-worst New Orleans Hornets.

The Thunder (17-4) are scoring 111.4 points per game since their last defeat to boost their league-leading average to 106.0.

Oklahoma City is also among the NBA's best on defense, yielding 96.5 points per contest on 42.6 percent shooting.

It was hard to tell in the opening 24 minutes against Indiana on Sunday, but after a stern halftime lecture from coach Scott Brooks, the Thunder limited the Pacers to 37 points en route to a 104-93 victory.

"You can score back and forth if you want to, but defending is what we do," said Russell Westbrook, who is averaging 22.0 points and 8.8 assists during the winning streak.

So is winning at home, where the Thunder are 11-2. They're outscoring opponents by an average of 16.0 points in reeling off seven straight there.

Oklahoma City goes for its sixth consecutive home win over the Hornets (5-15) after posting two victories in New Orleans already - 110-95 on Nov. 16 and 100-79 on Dec. 1.

"It definitely helps (facing them twice already)," Westbrook said following Tuesday's practice. "... we know what they run, we know how they like to play, but it's definitely going to be tough beating a team three times."

Maybe not. The Hornets are coming off their fourth consecutive loss, 77-70 at home to league-worst Washington on Tuesday. New Orleans scored 28 second-half points and finished a season-worst 32.5 percent (26 for 80) from the field.

"We did not play with the effort that is necessary to win an NBA game," said coach Monty Williams, whose team has dropped 13 of 15.

One positive for New Orleans moving forward is that rookie forward Anthony Davis is back after missing 11 games due to a stress reaction in his left ankle. The No. 1 overall pick returned Tuesday and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three block and three steals in 25 minutes off the bench.

Davis missed the Dec. 1 matchup but scored eight points with 11 boards in the first meeting with Oklahoma City.

The former Kentucky star should be able to help center Robin Lopez against Oklahoma City big men Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins, but the Hornets are still looking for a way to slow down Durant, whose career 52.4 shooting percentage versus New Orleans is his best against any Western foe.

The three-time reigning scoring champ has hit 16 of 25 shots against New Orleans this season while piling up a team-best 47 points.

Thunder reserve guard Kevin Martin has 46 points in those contests while playing 11 fewer minutes. The Oklahoma City newcomer is shooting 52.5 percent (32 for 61) from beyond the arc at home.

Hornets 3-point specialist Ryan Anderson is 15 for 33 from long range during the team's skid despite missing all seven second-half attempts on Tuesday.

Anderson is 6 for 14 from beyond the arc against Oklahoma City this season while pacing the team with 36 total points and 17 boards.

The Thunder, winners of 10 of 11 in this series, last won nine straight Jan. 29-Feb. 21, 2010.

Thunder extend win streak to 9 with 92-88 victory

By MURRAY EVANS
Posted Dec 13 2012 12:52AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Reggie Jackson gave an unexpected spark for the surging Oklahoma City Thunder.

But it was star Kevin Durant who scored 35 points as the Thunder extended their winning streak to nine games with a 92-88 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.

"Reggie has been here for a year now," Durant said. "He knows what it takes. He's not pouting that he's not playing. He's coming in and working hard every single day, just waiting on his chance, and coach gave him a chance tonight.

"That shows how much he believes in all of us. He would have done that with anybody, and Reggie was the guy that came in and he gave us a really, really big spark.

"I'm really proud of him, his defensive intensity, hitting shots, just playing with a lot of energy. I'm glad he got that opportunity.

With the Thunder trailing by 11 points late in the third quarter, Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks went with a small lineup, inserting Jackson alongside backup point guard Eric Maynor, Kevin Martin and Durant, and the Thunder closed the quarter on a 7-0 run. A 9-2 run, capped by a dunk by Durant, put the Thunder ahead 67-64.

Jackson played most of the fourth quarter, finishing with five points. It was his first action since Dec. 1 against New Orleans and only his 11th appearance for the Thunder in 22 games this season. He played for the D-League's Tulsa 66ers on Saturday.

"You've just got to stay ready," Jackson said. "Of course it's tough, but once you get out there, especially in this atmosphere, it's easy to get going."

With the win, the Thunder matched the second-best start in franchise history at 18-4. The Seattle SuperSonics started 20-2 in the 1993-94 season and the Thunder started 18-4 last season.

It was the Thunder's third win over the Hornets in the past four weeks and seventh straight in the series. Brian Roberts scored 16 points to lead New Orleans, which lost its fifth straight game.

Still, coach Monty Williams wasn't entirely displeased.

"I thought we competed tonight," Williams said. "I thought we brought an edge. Obviously we lost the game, but when we compete that way and keep our turnovers down, you give yourselves a chance."

Greivis Vasquez missed a 3-point attempt in the closing seconds that would have given New Orleans the lead. Thabo Sefolosha corralled the rebound and made the clinching free throws for the Thunder.

Oklahoma City, the league's highest-scoring team, entered the game with a 106-point average, but had its run of 12 straight triple-digit games end as it had to fight back simply to win against the worst team in the Western Conference.

The Hornets, who fell 77-70 on Tuesday night against Washington, figured their best chance to stay with the Thunder was to keep the game low-scoring and that strategy worked for most of three quarters.

The Hornets led 62-51 after a basket by Austin Rivers with 2:01 left in the third quarter before the 16-2 spurt by Oklahoma City spanning the third and fourth quarters.

The Hornets regained the lead twice after that, but a 3-pointer by Martin put the Thunder ahead for good at 73-72 with 6:20 left. Still, Oklahoma City struggled to pull away.

A three-point play by Durant with 1:12 left pushed the Thunder's lead to 89-84, but Anthony Davis made 1 of 2 free throws with 18.5 seconds left and New Orleans grabbed the rebound on the miss.

Roberts made a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to pull the Hornets within 89-88.

Durant made 1 of 2 free throws with 8.1 seconds left. The Thunder scored 34 points in the fourth quarter, two fewer than they did in the first half.

"For whatever reason, we started the game off out of sync offensively," Brooks said. "Like I talk to the guys all the time and what we talk about every day, is that the defense needs to be there."

In the fourth quarter, Brooks said, "We got aggressive and I thought we passed the ball much better, but we were making shots. It was just a combination of a few things. Our defensive intensity picked up."

With help from 12 points by Ryan Anderson, New Orleans led most of the way in the first half and was up 44-36 at halftime. Oklahoma City, which entered the game second in the NBA in field-goal shooting at 49.1 percent, shot 30.6 percent from the field, including 0 of 3 from 3-point range.

Oklahoma City led briefly by one point on two occasions in the second quarter before a 13-3 run by the Hornets gave them a 36-26 lead.

Anderson finished with 14 points for the Hornets. Martin scored 17 for Oklahoma City while Russell Westbrook added 14.

NOTES: The Thunder's first-quarter (17) and first-half (36) point totals were season lows. ... The Hornets' only lead over the Thunder in the first two meetings of the season came in the second game, when they were up 2-0. New Orleans coach Monty Williams said before the game he's still not sure how long Eric Gordon, who has a sore left knee, will be out of the lineup.

Notebook: Thunder 92, Hornets 88

Randy Renner, For NBA.com
Posted Thu Dec 13, 2012 12:14 AM - Updated Thu Dec 13, 2012 12:14 AM

THE FACTS: The Oklahoma City Thunder (18-4) rallied back from 11 points down and then held off the New Orleans Hornets (5-16) in the last seconds for a thrilling 92-88 win Wednesday night inside a sold out and roaring Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Kevin Durant scored 25 of his game-high 35 points in the second half to lead his team to the win, but it was seldom-used third team point guard Reggie Jackson who came off the Thunder bench late in the third quarter to really spark the team. Jackson had just five points, but he hit a big 3-pointer to change momentum and then played outstanding defense the entire time he was on the floor. Kevin Martin finished with 17 for the Thunder (12 in the second half) and Russell Westbrook added 14 points and nine assists.

The Hornets had four players (three rookies) in double figures and were led by rookie Brian Roberts who came off the bench and nailed four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Ryan Anderson had 14 but was just 2-for-7 on long balls, Austin Rivers added 12 and Anthony Davis pitched in with 11.

The Thunder have now won nine straight games while the Hornets have lost five in a row but, for most of the night, the visitors outplayed the home team. A big fourth quarter where the Thunder scored 34 points, almost as many as in the entire first half (36), was the difference in the game.

QUOTABLE: "We finally started making some shots and, you know, sometimes it just comes down to making a shot. But I thought the defense won the game for us tonight."

--Thunder coach Scott Brooks

QUOTABLE II: "I thought we competed tonight. I thought we brought an edge. Obviously, we lost the game but when we compete that way and keep our turnovers down, you give yourself a chance."

-- Hornets coach Monty Williams

THE STAT: In the first half, OKC shot just 30.6 percent. But in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, the Thunder hit a sizzling 70.6 percent of their shots (12-for-17).

TURNING POINT: With the Thunder down by 11 (62-51) late in the third quarter, Brooks decided to go with a super-small lineup and brought Jackson off the bench to join Eric Maynor, Martin, Durant and Nick Collison. OKC went on an immediate 11-0 run with a Jackson 3-pointer to tie the game and bring the crowd back into it.

QUOTABLE III: "We just needed a change of scenery, something. I just thought we needed something different at that point. Reggie [Jackson] hit a big 3, but his defense was really outstanding. When we brought him in we moved Kevin [Durant] to the four and that was big because we got more offensive punch with that group."

-- Scott Brooks on putting Jackson in the game and going small

HOT: Anderson started the game 4-for-6 (10 points) in the first quarter and finished the first half with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting. ... Durant was 5-for-8 (13 points) in the fourth quarter. ... Martin was 2-for-2 on 3-pointers in the fourth after going 0-for-3 in the first three quarters.

NOT: The Thunder missed their first six shots and finished the first quarter with 17 points (their fewest in a first quarter this season) on 7-for-22 shooting (31.8 percent). ... The Hornets weren't much better, scoring 19 points on 33.3 percent shooting (8-for-24). ... OKC finishes the first half with 36 points (fewest in a half this season) on 11-for-36 shooting (30.6 percent). ... Westbrook was 2-for-11 in the first half and Martin was 1-for-6. ... Davis was 1-for-5 for the Hornets in the first 24 minutes. ... New Orleans shot 39.8 percent for the game.

GOOD MOVE: In the last several games these teams have played, Westbrook has pretty much had his way going up against Vasquez. In the first quarter tonight, Westbrook did it again. He faked to his right, drove left, past Vasquez, into the lane and hammered home a tomahawk dunk.

BAD MOVE: Durant took as many shots in the first half as center Kendrick Perkins (four) and they each hit two. Never a good thing when those two take the same number of shots. Westbrook took almost three times as many (11) and he also hit two.

NOTABLE: Oklahoma City's nine game winning streak is the longest current streak in the NBA, and the ties the longest ever winning streak for the Thunder franchise in the Oklahoma City era.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Friday vs. Minnesota, Sunday @ Portland, Tuesday @ Golden State. For the Thunder, Friday vs. Sacramento, Monday vs. San Antonio, Wednesday @ Atlanta.

• Hornets: Gordon
• Thunder: Jones

• Hornets: --
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:08