December 18, 2012 – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Serge Ibaka steps up in Thunder win over Spurs

Serge Ibaka ripped away an offensive rebound, got hacked in the process and found his way toward midcourt to flex his muscles in celebration.

Ibaka is a force to be reckoned with, and what better way to show it than by delivering his best game of the season against a rival who had a player take a jab at him on Twitter?

Ibaka tied his career best with 25 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-93 Monday night for their 11th straight win…

It was the first meeting for the teams since San Antonio’s Stephen Jackson made a threatening post about Ibaka on Twitter, drawing a $25,000 fine from the NBA…

Jackson just happened to make his return after missing the previous 14 games with a broken right pinkie finger…

The Spurs never found an answer for Ibaka, who had just four points while fighting foul trouble in Oklahoma City’s season-opening loss at San Antonio. He finished 10 for 16 from the field, led the Thunder to a 49-37 rebounding advantage and also blocked three shots…

”It was just another game on the list for us,” said Kevin Durant, who scored 19…

Parker and Nando De Colo had 14 points apiece to lead the Spurs. Manu Ginobili did not play because he bruised his left quadriceps in Saturday’s win at Boston.

Russell Westbrook chipped in 22 points and nine assists and Kevin Martin scored 20 for the Thunder, who had no interest in fanning the flames on the Ibaka-Jackson feud.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Jeremy Lin, Rockets beat Knicks in New York

His old fans booed him. His old friend clobbered him.

Otherwise, it was Linsanity all over again at Madison Square Garden.

Jeremy Lin had 22 points and eight assists in his return to New York, leading the Houston Rockets to a 109-96 victory Monday night that ended the Knicks’ 10-game home winning streak to open the season.

Cheered then jeered, and later floored by Tyson Chandler’s flagrant foul, Lin added another masterpiece to the ones he put together last season during the height of his memorable run. No longer the fan favorite he was when wearing the home uniform, Lin got a mixed reception when he left the game with 2:25 remaining and the Rockets leading by 16.

”It was a lot of fun playing out there and I think our team, we took a step in the right direction,” Lin said. ”And for me, it was great to be back and it was a lot of fun to play on that court again.”

James Harden had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who blew out the Knicks for the second time this season. They have won the last seven meetings, including a 131-103 rout in Houston on Nov. 23.

Rookie Chris Copeland scored a career-high 29 points for the Knicks, who played without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony and had their four-game winning streak snapped. They fell to 18-6, matching the record they finished last season with under Mike Woodson…

Felton scored 14 points but shot 7 of 18. Kidd was 2 for 9, and both committed three turnovers.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Clippers beat Pistons for 10th straight win

The Los Angeles Clippers are learning to adapt.

Playing their fourth road game in seven nights, they could have easily been overrun by the often overlooked Detroit Pistons.

Not this club.

Jamal Crawford scored 15 points and Chris Paul added 14 to lead the weary Clippers to their 10th straight win, 88-76 over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night…

No Clippers player scored more than 15 points, but they had five players score in double figures…

Blake Griffin also had 15 points for Los Angeles and Paul had seven assists. Griffin had two breakaway dunks in the last 30 seconds, one on a pass banked off the backboard by Matt Barnes…

Brandon Knight led the Pistons with 16 and Tayshaun Prince added 15. Detroit, which committed 17 turnovers, lost its fifth straight…

Both teams struggled in the first half, with the Clippers taking a 42-40 lead into the intermission despite shooting just 39 percent. Detroit hit 42.5 percent of its shots, but managed only one free throw and two offensive rebounds. The Clippers tried for the last shot of the half, but Prince stole the ball and two quick passes gave Greg Monroe a wide-open layup at the buzzer.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Glen Davis scores 28 points vs Timberwolves

The Orlando Magic had to figure out how to defend down low before they could make their move.

Using a second-half rally, Glen Davis and the Magic won their third straight with a 102-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

”It boiled down to who was going to be the aggressor, that team was going to win,” Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. ”That was my message at halftime. It was good to see our bigs respond to that kind of physicality.”

Orlando got manhandled inside by Minnesota’s front line in the first half, but Magic big men Davis and Nikola Vucevic pushed back in the second half to help their team to its third straight victory.

Davis scored a game-high 28 points and Vucevic had his third straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. J.J. Redick contributed 18 points and seven assists as Orlando rallied from 15 points down in the third quarter to snap Minnesota’s four-game win streak.

Kevin Love led Minnesota with 23 points and 15 rebounds and Nikola Pekovic added 19 points and 12 rebounds, but they did most of their damage in the first half when Minnesota shot 49 percent from the field while building a 61-49 lead at the break.

— Reported by the Associated Press