Warriors-Thunder Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Feb 06 2013 12:59AM

The Oklahoma City Thunder haven't lost more than two in a row this season, but they also haven't won two straight in nearly three weeks.

The Northwest Division-leading Thunder will try to change that Wednesday night when they go for an eighth consecutive victory with the Golden State Warriors in town.

After posting 10 wins during a stretch of 12 of 15 on the road, Oklahoma City (36-12) kicked off a three-game homestand on Monday with a 112-91 victory over Dallas. It was the Thunder's fifth straight home win and helped them improve to 21-3 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

"We responded well (to Saturday's 115-110 loss at Cleveland)," said Kevin Durant, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. "The toughest test is to see how we do the next game."

Oklahoma City has won 14 straight against visiting Western Conference opponents beginning with a 119-109 victory over Golden State (30-18) on Nov. 18, but it hasn't posted back-to-back victories since a six-game surge from Jan. 9-18.

If the Warriors are going to prevent that from happening, they'll have to improve from Tuesday when they gave up a league record-tying 23 3-pointers in a 140-109 loss at Houston.

It also tied for the most points allowed by any NBA team this season.

"Some nights, it's not your night and it wasn't ours and we didn't play particularly well," said coach Mark Jackson, whose team had given up 96.8 points per game and 23 total 3s while winning its previous four.

As poorly as they played to begin their four-game trip, the Warriors can't afford to dwell on that performance as they'll meet a Thunder team averaging 108.0 points and shooting a league-best 43.6 percent from beyond the arc at home.

Oklahoma City hit 13 of 20 3s on Nov. 18 when Durant posted his first career triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. Russell Westbrook added 30 points and Kevin Martin hit five 3s and scored 23.

The Thunder haven't lost at home in this series since the Warriors' first trip to Oklahoma City on Dec. 8, 2008.

Durant, the league's leading scorer with 29.4 points per game, has been a particularly difficult matchup for the Warriors. The three-time reigning scoring champ had 33 points in a 104-99 loss at Oakland on Jan. 23 that ended Oklahoma City's five-game winning streak in this series. Durant's scoring average (30.7) versus Golden State is his highest against any team he's faced more than nine times.

Westbrook is averaging 20.0 points in the two matchups this season, while Martin has totaled 39 points in those contests on 7-of-10 shooting from long range.

Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has the same number of 3s in those games, but it took him 12 more attempts. Curry leads Golden State with 53 points versus Oklahoma City this season, followed by David Lee (41), who also has a team-best 22 boards.

The Thunder might have to wait to get their first look at center Andrew Bogut in a Warriors jersey. The Australian had 10 points and nine boards on Tuesday in his fourth game since missing 38 with an ankle injury, but he's not expected to play in back-to-back games until after the All-Star break.

Thunder rout weary Golden State 119-98

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Feb 06 2013 11:41PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A fog-delayed arrival in Oklahoma City made Golden State's task tough enough.

Then the Warriors made the mistake of getting on Kevin Martin's bad side.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Martin roared to life with 10 points during a fourth-quarter run that put away the Thunder's 119-98 win on Wednesday night.

Martin hit a pair of 3-pointers, a runner and slammed home a two-handed dunk during a 16-4 fourth-quarter spurt that pushed the lead to 106-83 and coaxed coach Scott Brooks into emptying his bench instead of going back to All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Durant down the stretch. Warriors coach Mark Jackson soon followed suit.

"Coach Jackson should talk to a couple of his bench players and make sure they get wet behind the ears before they come barking at a couple of our players," said Martin, who went 4 for 5 in the final period and ended up with 21 points.

Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Warriors didn't get settled in Oklahoma City until almost daybreak and it showed as they fell behind by 20 early. Martin refused to say specifically who got him riled up to finally squash Golden State's chances for a comeback.

"You've got to take it personal, what they did," Martin said. "It wasn't only talking trash. They made a couple of dirty plays to inspire us as a team."

Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson had 19 points apiece for the Warriors. Golden State played without Andrew Bogut, who is still easing his way back from a left ankle injury, and Jarrett Jack was sidelined by a right shoulder contusion.

Fog kept the Warriors from arriving in Oklahoma City after their 140-109 loss at Houston on Tuesday night, and the team plane ended up landing about 100 miles away in Tulsa instead. The team buses were still in Oklahoma City, though.

Some players took taxis and others waited for the buses to come get them. It was around 4:30 a.m. by the time they got to the hotel.

"It definitely throws your routine off, especially on a back-to-back," Stephen Curry said. "On game day, you can't really think about it, about that being a crutch for you. Just try to overcome it as much as possible.

"I don't know if our energy was a problem. I think it was just a lack of focus at the beginning."

Oklahoma City opened a 42-22 lead after scoring the first eight points of the second quarter - with four each from Martin and Nick Collison. The Thunder shot a blazing 60 percent over the first quarter and a half, getting easy buckets against the ragged Warriors and building a 28-10 scoring advantage in the paint and a 53-31 lead.

Golden State clawed back to cut the deficit to 75-63 after David Lee's two-handed dunk with 7:19 left in the third quarter and was as close as 11 to start the final period before Oklahoma City put it away with a lineup featuring Serge Ibaka, Thabo Sefolosha and three reserves - most notably Martin.

Durant said he thought Martin got upset when he was fouled and shoved out of bounds.

"I wouldn't say they were too dirty but they were playing us physical, and you don't ever want to shy away from a physical game," Durant said. "I think K-Mart did a really good job of getting mad and getting into a zone.

"He can get hot pretty quickly, and that's what busted the game open for us in the fourth quarter."

The big lead allowed Brooks to go without Durant or Westbrook in the fourth quarter for the second straight game.

"Any time you're sitting over there to start the fourth for the rest of the game, it's a good game," Durant said.

Westbrook finished with 22 points and Ibaka had 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-high four assists for Oklahoma City, which won consecutive games for the first time in nearly three weeks after alternating wins and losses for the previous nine games.

Curry had 14 points and 11 assists, and Lee had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but the duo also combined for 10 of the Warriors' 19 turnovers.

"I thought we played well in spurts but you give up 64 points in the paint and 29 points off turnovers, that's a recipe for disaster coming into this building against this team," Jackson said.

Notes: Reggie Jackson had a career-high 12 points off the bench for Oklahoma City. ... Golden State dropped to 8-5 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. ... A night after Houston tied the NBA record with 23 3-pointers against the Warriors, Oklahoma City went 8 for 23 from behind the arc. Golden State was 10 for 20. ... DeAndre Liggins sprained his left ankle late in the game and is considered day-to-day.

Notebook: Thunder 119, Warriors 98

Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Thu Feb 07, 2013 12:15 AM - Updated Thu Feb 07, 2013 12:15 AM

THE FACTS: The Oklahoma City Thunder had been playing ping pong basketball lately -- win one, lose one, win one, lose one, win one. Kevin Durant wanted to change that pattern Wednesday and he and his teammates did, leading the Thunder to a 119-98 win over Golden State. It's the first time OKC has won back-to-back games since mid-January.

Durant led a trio of Thunder scorers past the 20-point mark. He finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-for-18 shooting. Durant also grabbed seven rebounds, and had four assists, two steals and two blocks. Russell Westbrook added 22 and Kevin Martin dropped in 21 on an 8-for-16 night from the floor and 3-for-6 from long range. Martin is now 10-for-16 on 3-balls against the Warriors this season.

Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes led Golden State with 19 points. Barnes was 7-for-9 on the night. Stephen Curry added 14 but was just 5-for-20 shooting. He also dished out 11 assists. David Lee struggled shooting the ball also (5-for-13) and scored 12 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.

The Thunder had two other players in double figures. Serge Ibaka had a dominating night with 15 points, nine rebounds, six blocks and four assists. Reggie Jackson came off the bench to score 12 points and hand out six assists.

The Thunder led by as many as 26 points, blocked 16 shots and scored a whopping 29 points off of 19 Golden State turnovers.

QUOTABLE: "We did a good job of getting our hands on loose balls on defense, forcing a lot of turnovers and we were looking for the open man on offense. It was a good win for us."

-- Westbrook

THE STAT: After scoring 32 and 42 points in the paint against the Warriors in the first two games this season the Thunder dominated inside scoring 64 points in the painted area tonight and allowing Golden State to score just 40 down low. The Thunder bench scored 44 points against the Warriors tonight after managing just 27 in the loss last month in Oakland.

TURNING POINT: Golden State used a 30 point third quarter to cut a 22 point OKC lead in half by the time the horn sounded. The Thunder started the fourth quarter with a 16-4 run to push the margin to a much more comfortable 23. Both coaches began emptying their benches at that point.

QUOTABLE II: "We were not sharp defensively. I thought we played well in spurts, but you give up 64 points in the paint and 29 points off turnovers, that's a recipe for disaster coming into this building against this team. We talked about it before hand and we just didn't get it done."

-- Warriors head coach Mark Jackson

HOT: The Thunder started the game shooting 61.9 percent (13-for-21) ... OKC finished the first half at 56.5 percent ... Ibaka was 6-for-7 (13 points) in the first 24 minutes ... Martin was 4-for-5 (10 points) in the fourth quarter ... Thompson was 4-for-4 (eight points) in the fourth.

NOT: Golden State struggled from the floor in the first quarter going just 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) ... The Warriors finished the first half only marginally better (37.0 percent) ... The Thunder got into transition 12 times in the first half but managed to convert only five of 12 shots ... Curry was 4-for-13 in the first half ... The Thunder shot 37.9 percent in the third quarter.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The 91st consecutive sellout crowd inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.

GOOD MOVE: In the first quarter Westbrook drove into the lane on Andris Biedrins and cocked back for a tomahawk dunk but while he was in mid-air Westbrook was afraid Biedrins was in position to block his dunk so he changed the shot to a finger roll instead that went up and over Biedrins and into the basket.

BAD MOVE: The Thunder have had problems off and on this season playing a little too relaxed with a big lead and it happened again in the third quarter tonight. OKC led by as many as 22 in the first half and by 18 at halftime but allowed the Warriors back in when Golden State put up 30 in the third quarter.

QUOTABLE III: "We gave up a little of our lead in the third quarter when we forgot to play defense there for a few minutes."

-- Thunder head coach Scott Brooks

NOTABLE: Warriors head coach Mark Jackson told reporters before the game, "we're a no excuses basketball team," but after being blown out in Houston the night before, the Warriors team charter couldn't land in Oklahoma City because of dense fog. The flight was diverted 90 miles away to Tulsa and the team bussed in from there. Players didn't arrive at their hotel until almost 5 a.m. Early in the game it looked like the Warriors were trying to catch up on lost sleep. They were shooting 37 percent and had 11 turnovers at halftime.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Friday @ Memphis, Saturday @ Dallas, Tuesday vs. Houston. For the Thunder, Friday vs. Phoenix, Sunday @ Phoenix, Tuesday @ Utah.

• Warriors: Bogut, Rush
• Thunder: Lamb

• Warriors: --
• Thunder: Westbrook

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #44 Eli Roe, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:03