OKC Thunder Blog – Page 49 – NBA Blog

Thabo Sefolosha, wife work to help children in South Africa

Thabo and Bertille Sefolosha have roots in five countries on three continents; today, they work to make life better for a group of 150 children in South Africa.

At home in Oklahoma City, they juggle schedules that involve young children, OKC Thunder basketball — Thabo is a key player — college classes and community work. And the artwork hanging on the walls reflects their interests near and far. It includes art from a South African market, pictures created by Thabo Sefolosha’s mother and photos of their children.

The Sefoloshas are in the middle of organizing a fundraiser for about 300 people, A Night for Africa, to raise money for an after-school program in the township of Mamelodi, South Africa, where Thabo Sefolosha’s father grew up.

They hope to raise $100,000 to benefit 150 children from six schools currently in the program and expand it to about 200. The first fundraiser in Oklahoma City netted about $50,000 nearly two years ago.

— Reported by Lillie-Beth Brinkman of the Oklahoman

Kevin Durant scores 34, Thunder pound Pacers 97-75

Kevin Durant overcame a bruised left calf to score 34 points and Russell Westbrook added 24 points, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 97-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday.

Oklahoma City (56-20) has won three straight to move into a tie with San Antonio for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The win capped an impressive back-to-back sweep for the Thunder, who beat the Spurs on Thursday night. They arrived at the team hotel in Indy on Friday at about 4 a.m., then went out and prevented the Pacers from clinching their first Central Division title in nine years.

But the Pacers (48-28) can clinch the title with a win Saturday at Washington.

Indiana, which had its five-game win streak ended, was led by Roy Hibbert with 22 points and David West with 17…

Indiana will not play another team from the West unless it reaches the NBA Finals. … The Pacers have won only four division titles since joining the NBA. … Durant also had nine rebounds, while Westbrook finished with seven rebounds and nine assists.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Timberwolves step up to beat Thunder 101-93

If the Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t able to catch the San Antonio Spurs in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, Kevin Durant and Co. may look back to a late March night in Minnesota as the moment they let it slip away.

Barreling down on the Spurs with 11 victories in their previous 14 games, the rolling Thunder slammed into a 6-foot-11, Montenegrin road block and a feisty Timberwolves team they never saw coming.

Nikola Pekovic had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Ricky Rubio added 17 points and seven assists to help the Timberwolves stun the Thunder 101-93 on Friday night.

”We’ll be fine,” Durant said. ”You know, just a little bump in the road.”

Chase Budinger scored 13 points and Andrei Kirilenko played superb defense on Durant in the second half to help the Wolves deal the Thunder an unexpected setback in their pursuit of the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Durant had 36 points and seven rebounds, but was just 4 for 9 in the final 22 minutes. Russell Westbrook added 18 points and nine assists for the Thunder, who fell to 2 1/2 games behind the Spurs in the West after San Antonio beat the Clippers.

”I’m pretty sure he’s tired right now,” Kirilenko said of Durant.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Tip-in from Marc Gasol lifts Grizzlies over Thunder in OT

Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies finally put away Oklahoma City with their final shot.

In a matchup of Western Conference contenders that had a playoff feel to it, Gasol tipped in Zach Randolph’s miss with less than a second left in overtime Wednesday night to give Memphis a 90-89 win over the Thunder.

Gasol was so excited about the winning basket that he dropped a not-suitable-for-television expletive in the live postgame interview.

”I saw Zach going baseline and just went for the rebound and got lucky with the tip,” Gasol said. ”It’s an emotional game. It’s a team that we like playing against, and a team that knows us very well. It was a gritty game.” …

”We win in a variety of ways. It’s never pretty,” said Mike Conley, who led the Grizzlies with a season-high 24 points. ”That’s that grit-and-grind motto right there. We just find a way to win however it is. (This) was one of those wins.”

Randolph added 15 points and 18 rebounds, giving him 7,001 career rebounds, while Gasol had 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 32 points, including 15 in the third quarter to help Oklahoma City take its first lead. Westbrook scored 20 on 7-of-25 shooting from the field. Kevin Martin added 17 points, but no other Thunder player had more than seven.

— Reported by Clay Bailey of the Associated Press

Thunder hire Jason Ranne as Director of Strategic Planning

The Oklahoma City Thunder hired Jason Ranne to the position of Director of Strategic Planning, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

In his new role, Ranne will work with Thunder basketball operations on various initiatives, including team payroll, player acquisitions and long-term operational planning.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to add Jason to our front office staff,” Presti said. “He adds a diverse skill-set as well as many years of experiences within the industry of sport. We are confident that he will make a positive contribution to our operations as we continue to build and grow as an organization.”

Ranne spent the last six years with the Wasserman Media Group, most recently as the organization’s Senior Vice President of Team Sports. In this position, Ranne oversaw the operational, legal and strategic aspects of Wasserman’s basketball, baseball and football groups as well as the athlete marketing and digital divisions related to those sports. Prior to his stint at Wasserman, Ranne spent four years as a guard on the Arizona Wildcats (2000-04), including a turn as the team captain during his senior season.

The Tulsa, Okla. native also owns a law degree from the University of Minnesota.

Thunder grind out 91-79 win over Celtics

In a reunion with his former Boston teammates, Kendrick Perkins and the Oklahoma City Thunder got just the kind of victory he enjoys most.

Kevin Durant had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Russell Westbrook scored 15 points and Thunder beat the Celtics 91-79 on Sunday to stretch their winning streak to five games.

Boston was able to slow the Thunder from their best-in-the-NBA scoring pace of 107 points per game, but Oklahoma City’s lowest output since Jan. 13 was still enough to come out ahead in this one.

”I told the guys coming into this game that it’s going to be one of those low-scoring games, one of those nights that we have to grind out, so that’s what we did,” said Perkins, who won the 2008 NBA title with Boston. ”Every night, we can’t go out and expect to put up 100 points and the score to be 120-100. Some nights, it’s going to be like this.”

The Thunder limited Boston to 25 percent shooting in the second half after the Celtics shot 51 percent in the first. Boston dropped off to 33 percent in the third quarter and all the way down to 18 percent in the fourth, when the game got away…

Paul Pierce had 20 points to lead Boston, which had its own run of five straight wins broken. Kevin Garnett chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Celtics finished at 38 percent shooting for the game with 19 turnovers, more than four above their average, while falling to 14-5 since All-Star Rajon Rondo’s season-ending knee injury…

Martin added 12 points off the bench for Oklahoma City, which moved to 28-4 at home.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Thunder hold off J.R. Smith, Knicks as Melo sits

Kevin Durant had 34 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:38 left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled out a 95-94 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Russell Westbrook struggled over the final three quarters but finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists in the Thunder’s first trip to New York since Dec. 22, 2010. Durant also had eight boards and six assists.

Oklahoma City posted its third straight win, fighting off a spirited effort by a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star forward missed his second straight game with what the Knicks said is a stiff and sore right knee.

J.R. Smith scored a season-high 36 points for New York, but missed a turnaround jumper that would have won it as time ran out.

Neither team led by more than two points over the final 10 1/2 minutes. Durant scored 12 in the final period while Westbrook was shut out, hitting a pair from the line with 1:38 to play that made it 95-94…

Anthony was hurt Monday in Cleveland, falling to the court without contact as he tried to catch a pass. Coach Mike Woodson said he is day to day and doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the Knicks said the same about Jeremy Lin last season and others in recent years, so their fans won’t relax until they see Anthony back on the floor…

Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire each had 16 points for the Knicks, who were playing their fourth game in five nights against the rested and much more athletic Thunder…

Oklahoma City G Ronnie Brewer didn’t play. Brewer was a starter for the Knicks to begin the season, but eventually lost his place in the rotation entirely after a lengthy slump and was dealt to the Thunder for a second-round pick at the trade deadline.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Anthony did not play for the second straight game because of fluid on his knee. “I’m not overly concerned,” Woodson said. “He’s day-to-day and eventually he’ll be back on the floor playing.” Woodson said he wanted to get Anthony back down to about 34-35 minutes per game instead of close to 40. Anthony sat out Wednesday’s 87-77 win in Detroit after falling to the floor during Monday’s win in Cleveland; he initially said he received treatment on the knee during halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat. The Knicks are now 4-5 this year without Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer (28.2)… Stoudemire remains on a 30-minute limit, but Woodson said that could change going forward. “Maybe his minutes will increase as we get closer to the playoffs or get in a playoff series,” said Woodson, adding that he wanted to protect Stoudemire until then.

— Reported by Adam Zagoria of NBA.com

Serge Ibaka fined $25,000 for hitting Blake Griffin where it hurts

Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder has been fined $25,000 for striking Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers in the groin area, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, which was called a Flagrant Foul 1 on the floor and upgraded to a Flagrant Foul 2 upon league office review, occurred with 1:52 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s 108-104 win over the Clippers on Sunday, March 3 at Staples Center.

Video: Incredible, amazing Kevin Durant layup

That’s right. I said “layup.” Not dunk. Not three-pointer. Not some other, more high-profile method of scoring.

But Kevin Durant’s layup was far from ordinary. It was the type of incredible shot you might pull off — on a less-awesome scale — in a park someday if you get really lucky. The game would stop. Your friends would shove you around in appreciation. The guys on the other team would shake their heads, knowing it was a fluke.

Only, when a player like Durant does stuff like this, it’s no fluke. No sir.

Here’s a video clip of Durant’s awesome layup, which took place in Friday’s Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets game:

Durant gets triple-double, Thunder beat banged-up Hornets by 45

Russell Westbrook warned Kevin Durant that he was going to come off a pick-and-roll and then make a backdoor cut to the basket.

Thabo Sefolosha dived on the floor to save a possession for the Oklahoma City Thunder and get Durant in position to make another play. In a matter of minutes, Durant went from being in the neighborhood of a triple-double to being right on the doorstep. He made sure to finish it off before another early exit in the Thunder’s latest blowout.

Durant had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists – the last five coming in a 4-minute flurry in the third quarter – and the Thunder finished a perfect three-game homestand by routing the short-handed New Orleans Hornets 119-74 on Wednesday night.

”When you get a triple-double, people think it’s just about the guy that gets it,” Durant said. ”Your teammates make so many great plays to put you in position to do that. So, it’s not just me. My teammates made me look good tonight.”

With Oklahoma City already up by 23, Durant went into assist mode to get his second triple-double since the All-Star break…

Ryan Anderson started in place of injured No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Davis (shoulder) and led New Orleans with 14 points. The Hornets trailed by at least 29 in three of the four meetings with Oklahoma City this season, getting swept in the season series…

New Orleans was also without second-leading scorer Eric Gordon, who has been sitting out the second game of back-to-back sets this season while working his way back from a knee injury…

Westbrook scored 29 points, making all 12 of his free throws, and Ibaka finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press