The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 17 points before dislocating his left pinky and the Phoenix Suns, with their regulars together for the first time, beat the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder 102-93 on Thursday night … Steve Nash, returning after missing three games because of a sprained right ankle, scored 15 points for the Suns. Leandro Barbosa also had 15 points, Shaquille O’Neal added 13, and Matt Barnes had 12. Rookie Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 22 points. Kevin Durant, last season’s Rookie of the Year, added 19, Johan Petro had 17 and Jeff Green 12.
Category: OKC Thunder Blog
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Thunder waive two players
Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has waived center Chris Alexander and guard Derrick Byars.
Alexander averaged 1.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.0 minutes in four preseason games while Byars averaged 4.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 14.8 minutes in four preseason contests.
The Thunder roster now stands at 15.
Thunder exercise two options
Oklahoma City has exercised the third-year team options on both guard/forward Kevin Durant and forward Jeff Green for the 2009-10 season it was announced today by General Manager Sam Presti.
Durant and Green were both members of the 2007-08 T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie First Team and participated in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend.
Durant, 20, was named the 2007-08 NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists in 80 games. The Washington D.C. native was named NBA Rookie of the Month five times and became just the third teenager to average 20 or more points per game.
Green, 22, concluded his rookie campaign with averages of 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists in 80 games. The Georgetown product averaged 10.5 points per game, fourth among all rookies last season.
DJ White out 4-6 months after surgery
On Monday, October 13th physicians successfully removed the benign growth from D.J. White’s jaw, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced today.
Team physicians will perform the second phase of the surgery, where they will mend the jaw with a bone graft taken from White’s hip, in approximately six weeks.
White’s expected recovery time remains 4-6 months.
Oct 14: Clippers 90, Thunder 88
The AP reports: Mike Taylor set up the go-ahead basket with a steal and then sent home an emphatic right-handed jam in the final minute as the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled the Thunder’s only preseason home game Tuesday night with a 90-88 win. Taylor picked Russell Westbrook’s pocket and missed a fast-break layup, but Ricky Davis was there with the putback to give the Clippers (2-0) an 84-83 lead with 49.9 seconds remaining… Al Thornton led the Clippers with 23 points, Taylor finished with 14 and Ricky Davis had 13. Eric Gordon, the Clippers’ first-round draft pick, scored nine points on 2-for-8 shooting in 22 minutes in his preseason debut… Kevin Durant, the reigning rookie of the year, paced the Thunder (1-4) with 18 points but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 9 seconds left. Westbrook and Earl Watson scored 14, Johan Petro had 12 points and 15 rebounds and Desmond Mason and Nick Collison each added 10 points.
Oct 13: Thunder 110, Rockets 104
The AP reports: Kevin Durant shrugged off a late injury and scored 20 of his 26 points in an electrifying final 8 minutes to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the Houston Rockets 110-104 on Monday night for their first preseason win… Aaron Brooks scored 20 off the bench to lead the Rockets, D.J. Strawberry added 16 and Yao Ming had 15 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks in one half of action— playing the first and third quarters. Nick Collison had 21 points off the bench, Desmond Mason scored 16 and Chris Wilcox added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder.
Oct 11: Warriors 122, Thunder 102
The AP reports: Marco Belinelli had 22 points and six assists and Al Harrington added 16 points and nine rebounds to help the Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-102 in exhibition play Saturday night. DeMarcus Nelson, one of a handful of guards the Warriors (2-1) are looking at as a possible replacement for the injured and suspended Monta Ellis, added 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds. He had two thunderous dunks, both in the second half. Kevin Durant had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder (0-3), who shot just 38.6 percent from the floor to remain winless in the preseason. Damien Wilkins added 23 points, and Chris Wilcox had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Oct 10: Kings 94, Thunder 85
The AP reports: Rookie Bobby Brown scored 22 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 94-85 in a preseason game Friday night… Spencer Hawes had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Kings (1-1), while John Salmons had 16 points and Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia both had eight. Shelden Williams added seven points and 11 rebounds. Jeff Green led Oklahoma City, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, with 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Thunder pulled within one point. Damien Wilkins had 14 points, Desmond Mason scored 10 and Johan Petro added eight points and 10 rebounds.
Oct 8: Wolves 88, Thunder 82
The AP reports: Rashad McCants scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Rodney Carney and Ryan Gomes hit consecutive 3s to help Minnesota spoil the Oklahoma City Thunder’s preseason debut with an 88-82 victory Wednesday night… Al Jefferson added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Wolves (2-0) and Corey Brewer finished with 11 points. Kevin Love and Carney each finished with 10. Damien Wilkins led the Thunder with 19 points, including a layup to tie the score at 78 with 3:04 to play. McCants fouled out on the play, but Wilkins missed the free throw. Wilcox added 17 points for the Thunder, Russell Westbrook had 13 and Kevin Durant finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Desmond Mason now jersey no.34
The Oklahoman (Darnell Mayberry) reports: Desmond Mason has a new number. No. 34. He’s worn 24 throughout his career. He could have had it with the Thunder with no current players wearing 24. So why the change? No. 34 was his college number, which he said he wanted when Seattle originally drafted him but was taken by Jelani McCoy.