OKC Thunder Blog – Page 50 – NBA Blog

Derek Fisher hopes for championship with Thunder

Five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher isn’t planning on his latest stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder being his last chance to play in the league. He has just one goal in mind and he’ll wear a reminder of it on his jersey in every game.

Fisher chose No. 6 to wear on his uniform, to represent his quest for a sixth NBA title. He won five alongside Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers and for the second straight season will join the Thunder for the stretch run to try and help Kevin Durant win his first.

“It symbolizes something for me in terms of No. 6 but it also symbolizes for me the reason why I’m here to be a part of this team and that’s to help get No. 1,” Fisher said Tuesday after his first practice.

Fisher wore No. 37 last season to reflect his age and deliver a message that he could still play after getting traded away by the Lakers. He wasn’t offered the chance to return to Oklahoma City during the offseason, but he was signed Monday as a free agent after the Thunder traded away third-string point guard Eric Maynor.

Reported by the Associated Press

Thunder sign Derek Fisher, again

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed guard Derek Fisher, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

“We are excited to welcome Derek back to the Thunder organization,” said Presti. “He contributed to our team in various ways last season, and we are looking forward to him joining us again.”

Fisher appeared in 20 regular season games with Oklahoma City last season after signing with the Thunder on March 21. The guard averaged 4.9 points, 1.4 assists and 1.4 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game. In 20 playoff games with the Thunder, he averaged 6.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 22.3 minutes per game.

A five-time NBA champion, Fisher has appeared in 229 career playoff games (158 starts) averaging 8.6 points, 2.5 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 27.5 minutes per contest.

Thunder reach agreement to add Derek Fisher

The Oklahoma City Thunder have reached agreement to sign veteran guard Derek Fisher for the remainder of the season, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Fisher arrived in Oklahoma City Sunday night and will sign his contract on Monday.

Fisher, 38, signed with the Thunder late last season and helped Oklahoma City make its push to the NBA Finals. He joined the Dallas Mavericks early this season and played nine games in December before suffering a knee injury. He asked the Mavericks to release him, so he could spend more time with his family.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports

Westbrook scores 37, Thunder beat Wolves 127-111

With All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant leading the way, the Oklahoma City Thunder can outscore any team in the NBA on any given night.

That still isn’t good enough for a team with the highest of aspirations.

Westbrook scored a season-high 37 points, Durant added 27 and Oklahoma City snapped a three-game losing streak Friday night with a 127-111 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves that did little to fix what was wrong during the skid.

”A baby, minor step” was how Westbrook described it…

The Thunder avoided losing four in a row for the first time since April 2009, near the end of their first season in Oklahoma City, but were hardly better on defense after allowing 113.7 points per game during their longest losing streak of the season…

Alexey Shved led Minnesota with 17 points, and Andrei Kirilenko and Dante Cunningham had 15 points apiece. The Timberwolves shot 53 percent in the first half but couldn’t keep up that pace and wound up hitting on 43 percent after halftime.

Seven Timberwolves reached double figures in points, and leading scorer Nikola Pekovic wasn’t one of them…

Kevin Martin had 19 points off the bench for the Thunder, who went 9 for 14 from 3-point range and hit all 22 of their free throws. Oklahoma City came in first in the league in foul shooting and second in 3-point accuracy…

Greg Stiemsma and Ricky Rubio had 13 points apiece, and Ridnour chipped in 10. Rubio also had nine assists and five steals.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Thunder trade Eric Maynor to Trail Blazers, who waive Ronnie Price

The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired guard Eric Maynor from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the draft rights to Georgios Printezis, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey.

Portland waived guard Ronnie Price to make room on the roster. In his only season with the Trail Blazers, Price averaged 2.7 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 13.1 minutes in 39 appearances.

“Ronnie has been a consummate professional and we thank him for his contributions to the team,” said Olshey.

Maynor, 25, has appeared in 37 games this season with the Thunder, averaging 2.8 points, 0.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 10.6 minutes per game.

“Eric is a player we have valued and pursued for some time,” said Olshey. “His skill level and character will be excellent additions to our culture on and off the floor.”

Maynor (6-3, 175) holds career averages of 4.2 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 14.3 minutes in 209 career games with Oklahoma City and Utah. He was originally selected out of Virginia Commonwealth by the Jazz with the 20th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

The Trail Blazers acquired the draft rights to Printezis on July 16, 2012, in the deal with New York that included Jared Jeffries coming to Portland in exchange for Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas. Portland acquired Maynor by using a trade exception created in the Jeffries deal.

James Harden scores 46, Rockets rally past Thunder

James Harden scored a career-high 46 points and Jeremy Lin added 29 as the Houston Rockets mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback for a 122-119 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

Houston was down by 14 points with about seven minutes left. The Rockets used a 21-4 run to erase the deficit and take a 114-111 lead with 1:46 remaining. Harden stepped back under heavy pressure from Serge Ibaka to sink a 3 to tie it, before Lin connected on one seconds later to give the Rockets their first lead of the second half.

Harden, traded from Oklahoma City to Houston before the season, made a bucket before Ibaka made two free throws. Then came another 3 by Lin to extend the lead to 119-113…

Thabo Sefolosha led the Thunder with 28 points and had six 3-pointers, both career highs. His previous career high was 22, which he reached twice, most recently in 2008.

Westbrook also scored 28 points and added 10 rebounds and eight assists. Kevin Durant had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his second career triple-double…

Harden was 11 of 12 from the free throw line, made a career-best seven 3-pointers, had eight rebounds and six assists.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Kevin Durant says he and LeBron James are good friends

Kevin Durant wanted to set the record straight once and for all about his relationship with LeBron James.

“I hate him,” he said before breaking into laughter.

Then he got serious.

“We’re actually really good friends,” he continued. “I think people want us to hate each other so bad just because we’re battling against each other.”

That doesn’t mean he has any good feelings toward him when they pair face each other.

“I like the friendly competition, but when we’re on the court we’re the furthest thing away from being friends,” he said. “We don’t take it easy on each other.”

That much was never more evident than when the two competed in last year’s NBA Finals, which the Heat won in five games. James led his team in scoring in each game, and Durant paced the Thunder in all but Game 4.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Thunder doing fine without James Harden

Through 53 games without Harden, the Thunder are 39-14. They were 40-13 at the same point last season.

Last year’s Thunder averaged 103.1 points per game and shot 47.1 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from 3-point range. This year’s squad is scoring 106 points on 48.2 percent shooting (38.9 from 3).

So, their points and percentages are up, and they’re only one game off last season’s more bearded pace.

“We’re different, but I think we’re just as good,” small forward Kevin Durant said. “James, don’t get me wrong, he’s a phenomenal player, but we lost him and we got Kevin Martin back, who’s a really good player as well.

“And I think for the passing ability that we lost with James, and his defense, we make up for it with Russell and myself, and the guys on the bench that help.”

Martin is doing his part as the Thunder’s new sixth man.

— Reported by Jason McDaniel of the Houston Chronicle (Blog)

LeBron streak ends, Heat beat Thunder 110-100

With LeBron James playing at his best level yet, the Miami Heat powered into the All-Star break with a reminder to the Oklahoma City Thunder that the NBA championship still resides on South Beach.

James had 39 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and narrowly missed extending his record-setting streak of high-scoring games combined with top-notch accuracy, as the Heat trampled Oklahoma City 110-100 in a Thursday night showcase.

James was in position to continue his NBA record run of games with at least 30 points and 60 percent shooting to seven, but missed from a couple steps beyond the 3-point line as the shot clock ran down with just over a minute left and Miami up 10.

That dropped him to 14 for 24 in the game, or 58 percent. All that mattered to him, though, was that Miami’s winning streak reached a season-best seven straight games – and the Heat beat the Thunder for the sixth time in a row, dating to last year’s NBA Finals.

”Winning is hard to come by in professional sports. That’s what it’s about,” James said. ”Sixty percent doesn’t matter. Winning is all that matters.”

Chris Bosh chipped in 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat, who won the last four games of last season’s Finals after losing Game 1 in Oklahoma City and continued their dominance in the series after winning on their home court on Christmas Day.

”I thought we imposed our will, playing our style of basketball,” said Dwyane Wade, who had 13 points and eight assists before fouling out with 3:29 to play…

Kevin Durant had 40 points and eight rebounds, but missed his first seven shots as Oklahoma City fell hopelessly behind. After the slow start, he wound up making half of his 24 shots – going 8 for 10 in the fourth quarter to get Oklahoma City within 108-100 after trailing by as much as 23…

Russell Westbrook had 26 points and 10 assists, with six turnovers, for the Thunder. He had 20 points in the first half to keep Oklahoma City from getting run out of its own gym.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Jazz step up and beat Thunder 109-94

Al Jefferson scored 23 points, Paul Millsap had 18 and the Utah Jazz beat Oklahoma City 109-94 Tuesday night to break the Thunder’s four-game winning streak.

Utah’s bench outscored Oklahoma City’s 49-25, and the Jazz bigs dominated the boards, holding a 16-7 edge on offensive rebounds.

The Thunder also committed 20 turnovers.

The game was scrappy from the start, with Kendrick Perkins Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Durant both called for flagrant fouls, and Perkins whistled for a technical. It was the first flagrant foul of Durant’s career.

The Jazz led by seven entering the fourth but quickly put the game away, opening on a 6-0 run.

The Thunder were already down 17 when Durant bumped a driving Alec Burks out of bounds, then exchanged words with DeMarre Carroll after drawing the flagrant.

Durant finished with 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and Russell Westbrook added 22 points…

Derrick Favors added 15 points, Burks and Carroll had 13 apiece and Earl Watson finished with six.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press