OKC Thunder Blog – Page 52 – NBA Blog

Thunder recall Jeremy Lamb from D-League yet again

The Oklahoma City Thunder has recalled guard Jeremy Lamb from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Including his 33-point (11-of-19 FGs) performance yesterday afternoon against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Lamb has appeared in 11 games (all starts) with the 66ers this season and recorded averages of 21.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 36.0 minutes.

Lamb is expected to join the Thunder in Los Angeles today prior to this evening’s contest against the Lakers.

Eric Maynor has no interest in D-League assignment

Since falling out of the rotation and becoming a seldom-used third stringer, Eric Maynor has logged just 20 minutes in the past 10 games.

He now enters Friday’s road game against the rival yet reeling Los Angeles Lakers at a crossroad.

Maynor has appeared in only five of the past 10 contests, and the majority of those sparse minutes have come in mop-up duty.

But rather than agreeing to a D-League assignment simply for playing purposes as he continues to regain his rhythm from last year’s devastating knee injury that cost him the final 57 games and the entire playoffs, Maynor said he prefers to remain on the Thunder roster.

“No,” Maynor said emphatically, repeating it two additional times, when asked if he had any desire for a D-League assignment to the Tulsa 66ers. “I get good court work in every day so I’m going to be straight whenever the opportunity comes back around.”

— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman

Thunder wreck injury-riddled Timberwolves

The Oklahoma City Thunder got caught overlooking a short-handed opponent once.

Not twice.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points, Russell Westbrook added 23 and the Thunder pulled away for a 106-84 victory Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were without All-Star forward Kevin Love and four other injured players.

Oklahoma City had lost its last game on a buzzer-beater against a last-place Washington team saddled by injuries to its top three players…

”We don’t really change anything different when we have a bad game,” said Durant, who blocked four shots. ”Every time we lose and we don’t play well defensively, it’s just miscommunications and lapses. Once we take those out of the game, we’ll be all right.”

Alexey Shved scored 18 points for Minnesota, which announced earlier in the day that Love would miss eight to 10 weeks after breaking his right hand for the second time…

Nikola Pekovic added 17 points and 10 rebounds in the opener of a four-game road trip for the Timberwolves. Derrick Williams, forced into playing time at guard because of all the injuries, had 14 points and a season-high 11 rebounds.

Kevin Martin chipped in 19 points off the bench for Oklahoma City, which had a 12-game winning streak in the series snapped last month in Minnesota. Love had 28 points and Barea scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter of that 99-93 win.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Wizards step up and beat the Thunder

Bradley Beal didn’t have a plan. What he had was a good move.

Beal made a jumper with 0.3 seconds left Monday night, lifting the short-handed Washington Wizards a 101-99 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, who missed 16 straight shots at one stretch.

Beal used a pump fake to get open for the 16-footer that gave the Wizards (5-28) their second win this season over last year’s NBA finalists.

”I didn’t know what I was going to do to be honest with you,” Beal said. ”Coach just said go make a play.”

Once Beal sent the Thunder (26-8) to the showers, they were doused with cold water in the away arena.

The Wizards (5-28), playing without their top two scorers, had lost 13 of their previous 14, but they also beat the Miami Heat earlier in the season. Beal and Martell Webster led the Washington with 22 points each.

Kevin Seraphin added 19 points, and Emeka Okafor had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Kevin Durant, who had 29 points, drove through the lane for a thunderous dunk to cut Oklahoma City’s deficit to 95-94 with just more than two minutes left. Martell Webster answered with a four-point play to give the Wizards a 99-94 lead…

Serge Ibaka stepped up as Durant’s complement, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds…

Nene (right knee tendinitis) and Jordan Crawford (sore left ankle) missed the game with injuries.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Westbrook scores 23, Thunder beat Raptors

To Kevin Durant, an early afternoon start in Toronto against an improving Raptors team was a trap waiting to be sprung on Oklahoma City.

But with a balanced offensive attack, and a defensive correction in the second half, the Thunder steered clear of getting caught.

Russell Westbrook scored 23 points, Durant had 22 and Oklahoma City beat the Raptors 104-92 on Sunday, giving the Thunder a winning start to a stretch that sees them play 11 of 13 on the road…

Serge Ibaka had 19 points and eight rebounds and Kevin Martin scored 16 for Oklahoma City, who came in having played an NBA-low 12 road games this season but improved to 9-4 as visitors…

Nick Collison had 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Thunder win for the fifth time in eight games since their season-long 12-game winning streak.

Oklahoma City is 14-0 this season when at least five players score in double figures.

”Everybody participated, everybody chipped in and everybody did their job,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. ”We’re good when we force the defense to chase the ball around and the ball finds a good shot. It’s not really who finds it, just as long as it’s a good shot.”

Westbrook and Durant each had seven assists. For Durant, that was his most since dishing out a career-high 10 against Golden State on Nov. 18…

Alan Anderson scored 19 of his career-high 27 points in the second quarter and Amir Johnson had 19 for the Raptors, who lost their second straight after winning eight of nine.

”I praised our guys, the way we fought and scrapped,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. ”But at the end of day reality set in.”

DeMar DeRozan scored 11 points but made just four of 16 field goal attempts. DeRozan made only 3 of 11 attempts in Friday’s loss to Sacramento.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Big second half helps Thunder wreck Sixers

The Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t want to leave home on a sour note with a difficult stretch on the road ahead.

Russell Westbrook scored 27 points, Kevin Durant added 26 and the Thunder beat the Philadelphia 76ers 109-85 on Friday night before heading out to play 11 of their next 13 games on the road.

Oklahoma City made eight of its first 10 3-point attempts in the second half and never trailed after scoring the final five points before halftime.

The Thunder had lost 110-93 to Brooklyn on Wednesday night, but were able to avoid posting back-to-back losses at home for the first time since dropping two of the first three games of the 2010-11 season…

Oklahoma City went 23 for 36 from the field, connecting at a sizzling 64 percent clip, while outscoring Philadelphia 63-43 in the second half…

Serge Ibaka chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Martin had 16 points off the bench for the Thunder.

Nick Young hit five 3-pointers and led Philadelphia with 21 points. He also attempted the Sixers’ only eight free throws of the game, making six. Oklahoma City went 21 for 27…

Jrue Holiday had 15 points and nine assists, Dorell Wright contributed 11 points and Thaddeus Young scored 10 for Philadelphia. Spencer Hawes pulled down 13 rebounds. The Sixers fell to 2-5 on their eight-game road trip, which started before Christmas and concludes Saturday night at San Antonio.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Nets beat Thunder 110-93, Kevin Durant ejected

P.J. Carlesimo’s first big motivational message as the interim coach of the Brooklyn Nets earned him an elusive win in Oklahoma City, and perhaps the kind of jolt his team needs to get out of a monthlong funk.

Joe Johnson scored a season-high 33 points, Deron Williams added 19 points and 13 assists, and the Nets snapped Oklahoma City’s 12-game home winning streak by beating the Thunder 110-93 Wednesday night in a game featuring the first ejection of Kevin Durant’s career.

Johnson said Carlesimo ”jumped on us” after a 31-point thumping at San Antonio two nights earlier, stressing the importance of ball movement on offense and helping each other out on defense…

The Nets built a 23-point lead late in the second quarter, then allowed Oklahoma City to tie it at 85 before ripping off a 23-8 run to seize control right back. Durant was ejected near the end of the surge, arguing with Danny Crawford after the referee had already issued a technical foul against Kendrick Perkins.

”I just thought it was a bad call. You get frustrated throughout a game, you show emotion. That’s how you can tell you love it,” said Durant, who scored 27 points…

Brook Lopez added 25 points as Brooklyn ended a seven-game losing streak in the series and got Carlesimo a victory against the team that fired him back in 2008. He’d only had one win in Oklahoma City during his abbreviated tenure in charge of the Thunder, getting fired after a 1-12 start after the team’s summer relocation from Seattle…

Russell Westbrook had 26 points and 10 assists for Oklahoma City, which lost for only the third time at home this season.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Thunder recall Perry Jones, DeAndre Liggins, Daniel Orton from D-League

The Oklahoma City Thunder has recalled forward Perry Jones, guard DeAndre Liggins and center Daniel Orton from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Jones has appeared in six games (all starts) with the 66ers this season, averaging 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocks in 31.5 minutes.

In six games (all starts) with the 66ers, Liggins is averaging 10.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks in 37.0 minutes per game.

Orton has seen action in 11 games (all starts) with Tulsa this season, averaging 10.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.9 blocks and 30.2 minutes.

Thunder destroy Rockets by 30

Russell Westbrook scored 28 points and Kevin Durant added 26 as the Oklahoma City Thunder built a big lead in the second quarter and rolled to a 124-94 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

Durant scored 11 points during a 16-0 run by the Thunder to end the first half and extend the lead to 18. Oklahoma City had another big run early in the third quarter to put the game further out of reach.

Former Thunder sixth man James Harden scored 25 for the Rockets, who went cold on offense for long stretches.

It was Oklahoma City’s second win this season over Houston, after taking the first meeting 120-98.

Kevin Martin, who came to Oklahoma City in the trade for Harden, finished 19 points and five 3-pointers. Westbrook had eight rebounds and eight assists.

Marcus Morris scored a career-high 24 points for Houston…

Houston had cut its 18-point halftime deficit to 13 early in the third quarter before it hit another scoring drought, going more than 5 minutes without a field goal.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Tulsa 66ers (D-League) acquire Chris Quinn

The Tulsa 66ers, proud affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder, announced Friday that they have acquired guard Chris Quinn.

Quinn, 6-2/174, brings five seasons of NBA experience to Tulsa. After four years at the University of Notre Dame, Quinn was signed as an undrafted free agent to the Miami Heat. Quinn spent three seasons (2006-2009) with Miami, averaging 5.6 points, 2.2 assists 1.3 rebounds in 168 games (26 starts).

The guard spent the next two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets, bringing his NBA average to 4.6 points, 1.9 assists and 1.1 rebounds.

The 29 year-old played overseas in 2011-12 with Khimki Moscow in Russia, averaging 7.6 points, 1.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 21 league games.

Quinn’s most recent NBA experience came as part of the Utah Jazz 2012-13 training camp and preseason roster. Following Utah’s training camp, Quinn signed with Valenica in Spain, averaging 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in four league games.

He is expected to be in uniform when Tulsa takes on the Canton Charge on Friday night at 6:30 in Canton.