Suns-Thunder Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Dec 31 2012 12:17PM

The Oklahoma City Thunder are vying for the league's best record.

They could be even better if Russell Westbrook starts to consistently hit his shots.

Westbrook will try to help the Thunder extend the NBA's longest current home win streak to 12 games Monday night and hand the Phoenix Suns a sixth straight loss overall and ninth in a row on the road.

Oklahoma City (23-6) is enjoying its longest home win streak since a 14-game run Jan. 6-March 7. The Thunder, who trail only the surging Los Angeles Clippers for the league's best record, are the NBA's highest scoring team at 105.7 points per game with Kevin Durant third in scoring at 28.4 points per game and Westbrook sixth at 21.4.

Westbrook's average, however, is his worst over his last three seasons. His 40.3 shooting percentage is his worst since his rookie season.

He is hoping his 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting in Saturday's 124-94 rout at Houston will help kick-start him in the right direction.

"I felt comfortable," Westbrook said. "It's been the first night all year that I shot the ball well. Now I have to put two games together."

Westbrook also added eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals - reasons why Thunder coach Scott Brooks isn't too worried about his star guard's scoring output.

"He competes and I keep telling everybody he is one of the best players in this league because he lays it on the line every night," Brooks said. "He doesn't take possessions off and it's not always pretty but he just plays hard every night."

Durant was only needed to score 26 points Saturday after averaging 36.8 over his previous four games. The Thunder cruised after building an 18-point halftime lead.

Oklahoma City has won six straight over Phoenix (11-20), and these teams have not met this season. Durant is only averaging 22.5 points on 40.5 percent shooting in that run while Westbrook adds 21.8 points and 8.2 assists.

Westbrook used to go up against Steve Nash when he played the Suns. Now he will face Goran Dragic, who is not at 100 percent since he is playing with a sore hip.

Dragic battled through the pain for 16 points and 12 assists in Saturday's 111-107 loss at Minnesota. The Suns wasted Luis Scola's season-high 33 points.

"These moral victories, or whatever you want to call them, don't do anything because at the end of the day they either put it on the left side or the right side," coach Alvin Gentry said.

Phoenix is trying to avoid its longest road skid in a single season since a nine-game slide Feb. 17-March 13, 1988.

"It's in our head now," said Scola, who also grabbed 10 boards. "We've just got to find a way to win games somehow."

The Suns are the NBA's worst team in 3-point field-goal percentage defense at 40.4 while the Thunder are shooting 40.2 percent from long range for the league's second-best mark. Durant has made 15 of his last 33 attempts from beyond the arc and Kevin Martin 12 of his last 26.

Phoenix will have to face an Oklahoma City defense that is blocking a league-best 7.6 shots per game led by Serge Ibaka, who is averaging 3.0 blocks.

Durant and Westbrook lift Thunder over Suns

By MURRAY EVANS
Posted Dec 31 2012 11:47PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Receiving eight stitches above his right eye might have been painful, but it wasn't enough to keep Russell Westbrook from practicing his whirling dervish ways Monday night for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Westbrook returned from the wound to finish with 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, Kevin Durant scored 30 points and the Thunder pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 114-96 win over the Phoenix Suns.

"When you see blood, you don't know what to do," Durant said of Westbrook. "I was glad he came back here and got stitched up and was able to play again. He came out there with a lot of anger and it showed on both ends of the floor. He pushed us over the top."

Oklahoma City extended its home-court winning streak to 12 games -- longest in the NBA -- and won on New Year's Eve for the fifth straight year since the franchise moved from Seattle. The Thunder closed 2012 by winning 15 of its last 17 games.

Luis Scola scored 24 points to lead Phoenix, which dropped its sixth straight game and fell to the Thunder for the seventh straight time. The Suns haven't beaten Oklahoma City since December 19, 2010.

Westbrook left the game late in the first half with a cut over his right eye that required stitches. In his absence, the Thunder started the second half with Reggie Jackson at point guard and went on a 12-0 run to seize control. Oklahoma City never trailed again, although Phoenix pulled within two points twice in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

"It was just energy," Durant said. "We just upped our energy level. We were moving the basketball so well. Everybody was touching it. We got good shots."

After missing about seven minutes of game time, Westbrook came straight from the locker room with tape above his eye, checked in with 6:24 left in the third quarter and went to work. He drew a foul and made both free throws, and after a two-handed dunk by Durant, Westbrook drilled a 17-foot jumper, then hit three free throws after being fouled behind the arc.

Westbrook then assisted on a basket by Serge Ibaka and followed with a 3-pointer to put Oklahoma City ahead 82-68, its biggest lead of the game, at the 3:44 mark.

"Russ is tough," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "He competes. He does a lot of good things. Russell plays with a lot of emotion, a lot of toughness. He just plays hard. I'm so proud of the way he plays every night. He doesn't miss games. He doesn't miss practice. He just competes every time down the court.

"Like a lot of our guys, he's not always perfect, but his effort most nights is always good. Russell came back and gave us good effort and energy and toughness."

Scola had seven points in a 9-2 run by the Suns that pulled them within 84-78 by quarter's end, and Phoenix closed within 87-85 with 9:05 left on a basket by Jermaine O'Neal. But Nick Collison answered with a 16-foot jumper for the Thunder, and after a couple of empty possessions by both teams, Thabo Sefolosha's 3-pointer with 7:32 left put Oklahoma City up 92-85.

The Thunder put the game away with a 12-2 run, capped by a eight-foot floating jumper by Westbrook in the lane with 3:08 left to make it 104-89.

"I thought we played well up until the last five or six minutes of the game," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "I thought P.J. (Tucker) did about as good of a job as you can on Kevin (Durant). It's really difficult to think you're going to be able to stop the Thunder every single time with (Westbrook and Durant) on the court."

Durant recorded his 13th outing this season of 30 points or more, but had a poor shooting night, finishing 11-of-24 from the field. Westbrook, who has struggled with his shot in recent games, finished 7 of 16. Ibaka scored 16 points, Sefolosha added 14 points and Collison had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder.

Goran Dragic added 16 points for Phoenix, while Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 10 rebounds and O'Neal had 12 points.

"We have a problem of closing out the games," Gortat said. "We just don't know how to execute in the last few minutes and we have to work on it. That's it."

The Thunder led 54-53 at halftime, but lost Westbrook temporarily after he was inadvertently elbowed while attempting a layup with 1:32 left in the half. Westbrook went down, bleeding from around his right eye, as no foul was called and play continued.

"It's just part of the game," Westbrook said of the injury. "Stuff like that happens and you've just got to be prepared for it."

The Suns stayed in the game in the half by shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent (6 of 14) from 3-point range. Sebastian Telfair hit three 3-pointers in four attempts in the first half but didn't score again.

Notes: The Thunder recalled first-round draft choice Perry Jones III and a pair of former Kentucky players, center Daniel Orton and guard DeAndre Liggins, from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League. ... The Suns have recorded 1,998 wins in franchise history and are all but assured of being the fourth-fastest franchise to reach the 2,000-win mark, trailing Boston, the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia. Phoenix's next two games are Jan. 2 against Philadelphia and Jan. 4 against Utah, both at home ... Longtime Oklahoma Christian University professor, coach and administrator Max Dobson received the Devon Community Hero Award from the Thunder for his 37 years of teaching a class in which students work with special-needs children from Edmond Public Schools. Among those celebrating Dobson in a video shown during the ceremony was Oklahoma women's basketball coach Sherri Coale, whom Dobson recruited to OC in the early 1980s ... The Thunder recorded their 32nd straight sellout at Chesapeake Energy Arena, including 15 this season.

Notebook: Thunder 114, Suns 96

Randy Renner, For NBA.com
Posted Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:30 PM - Updated Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:30 PM

THE FACTS: Another happy new year in Oklahoma City as the Thunder (24-6) improved to 5-0 in New Year's Eve games by beating the Phoenix Suns 114-96 Monday night. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 30 points, his Thunder running mate Russell Westbrook added 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

The Suns (11-21) were led by Luis Scola who was a constant thorn for the Thunder. He finished with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and kept the Suns in the game for most of the night. Goran Dragic added 16 points and eight assists and Marcin Gortat dropped in 12, while pulling down 10 rebounds.

The Thunder had five players in double figures and are now 13-0 when that happens. Serge Ibaka had 16 points, seven rebounds and a couple of blocks, Thabo Sefolosha added 14 points and Nick Collison just missed his second straight double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Oklahoma City turned the ball over just five times and that's the fewest in the OKC era of the franchise, and ties for the fewest turnovers in franchise history.

QUOTABLE: "That's a good team win, just five turnovers, a lot of guys did a lot of good things tonight and the defense really turned it up in the fourth quarter. We locked in and did what we needed to do."

--Thunder coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT: After allowing Phoenix to shoot 50 percent through the first three quarters, the Thunder held the Suns to just 18 points on 38.9 percent shooting overall and 16.7 percent (1-for-6) on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

QUOTABLE II: "I thought we played well up until the last five minutes of the game. I thought we played hard and competed like crazy, but we came out in the second half a little bit flat."

--Suns coach Alvin Gentry

TURNING POINT: The Thunder kept the Suns pretty much at arm's length all night but a steal by Westbrook with just under five minutes left in the game sealed the Suns fate. Westbrook streaked down court and dished to Ibaka for a slam that put the Thunder ahead by double digits and the Suns couldn't recover. Phoenix could score only two points from 5:41 left in the fourth quarter to 1:42. By then a seven point game had become a 17 point contest.

QUOTABLE III: "I thought [Westbrook's] steal was one of the best of the night. I don't know how he got there to get it, then he had an open layup opportunity but gave it up to Serge for the slam."

-- Scott Brooks

HOT: The Suns opened the game shooting 57.9 percent (11-for-19) in the first quarter...Phoenix was 4-for-4 (nine points) on 2nd chance points in the first half...Durant was 3-for-5 (10 points) in the fourth quarter.

NOT: Durant was 4-for-11 in the first half...Westbrook was 2-for-7 in the first 24 minutes...Kevin Martin finished 2-for-12 (1-for-6 on 3-pointers).

INSIDE THE ARENA: The 85th-straight sellout inside Chesapeake Energy Arena featured many fans in fancy New Year's Eve attire. Despite damp, chilly weather a crowd of about 75-thousand was expected to ring in the New Year during downtown Oklahoma City's "Opening Night" party about a block from the arena.

GOOD MOVE: Gentry started P.J. Tucker instead of Shannon Brown for the Suns mainly for defense again Durant. In the first quarter Tucker played the Thunder star aggressively limiting him to just four points on 2-for-8 shooting.

NOTABLE: Westbrook left the game late in the first half after taking an accidental elbow to the face from Scola. Both players were going for a rebound and Westbrook crashed to the floor, his face bleeding. Westbrook did not start the second half but he returned later in the third quarter after getting stitches...The Suns have now lost nine straight road games tying the club's longest losing streak since the 1987-88 season...Oklahoma City has now won 12 straight home games.

UP NEXT: For the Suns, Wednesday vs. Philadelphia, Friday vs. Utah, Sunday vs. Memphis. For the Thunder, Wednesday vs. Brooklyn, Friday vs. Philadelphia, Sunday @ Toronto.

• Suns: Frye, Garrett
• Thunder: Orton

• Suns: --
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #38 Michael Smith, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:11