OKC Thunder Blog – Page 65 – NBA Blog

Lakers outlast Thunder 114-106 in double OT

Metta World Peace was subdued and contrite in the Los Angeles Lakers’ locker room, apologizing to Oklahoma City’s James Harden for throwing the elbow that sent them both to the locker room in the second quarter.

They both missed a beauty of a game that could echo into the postseason for two division leaders.

Kobe Bryant scored six of his 26 points in the second overtime alongside an unorthodox Lakers lineup, and Los Angeles rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half for a 114-106 victory over the Thunder on Sunday.

Pau Gasol had 20 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers, who made an impressive comeback in their regular-season home finale against off-target Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who combined to miss 42 of their 56 shots. Los Angeles’ rally stunned the Thunder and set an early tone for their possible second-round playoff matchup…

Ibaka had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder, who led by 11 points with 4 minutes left in regulation. Westbrook had 14 points on 3-for-22 shooting and 10 assists as Oklahoma City fell 1 1/2 games behind San Antonio atop the Western Conference with just its third loss in nine games.

— Reported by the Associated Press

National Basketball Players Association requests that Derek Fisher quit

NBPA STATEMENT REGARDING THE NBPA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VOTE REQUESTING THE RESIGNATION OF NBPA PRESIDENT DEREK FISHER

On April 18th, the NBPA executive committee cast an 8-to-0 vote that it lost confidence in Derek Fisher’s ability to act as Union President, and requested Derek’s resignation.

The Executive Committee based its decision on numerous instances over the past six months, where Fisher engaged in conduct detrimental to the union, including acting in contravention of the players’ best interests during collective bargaining, declining to follow the NBPA Constitution, and failing to uphold the duties of the Union President. To avoid further damage to the NBPA and its 450 members, the Executive Board again calls for Derek’s resignation.

The NBPA performs annual financial audits and shares the results of those audits with the Executive Committee and Player Representatives at its annual meetings. The NBPA completed a financial audit in February and will share the results of the audit with the Executive Committee and Player Representatives at the union’s summer meeting.

Additionally, the NBPA conducted two business reviews following the negotiation of the 1999 and 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreements. And with the support of the entire Executive Committee, the union will conduct another business review in a timely manner.

We hope for a swift and complete resolution to these issues.

Read NBA fan opinion and share your views in this basketball forum topic.

James Harden drops 40 on the Suns

James Harden scored a career-high 40 points, including making 5 of 8 3-pointers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder dealt Phoenix a blow in its scramble to make the playoffs with a 109-97 victory over the Suns on Wednesday night.

Kevin Durant added 29 points and Russell Westbrook 15 for the Thunder, who stayed a half-game behind San Antonio for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference.

Phoenix’s loss, coupled with Utah’s’ victory over Portland, moved the Jazz a half-game ahead of the Suns for the West’s eighth and final playoff spot.

Jared Dudley scored 21 points for Phoenix.

Harden, who starred at nearby Arizona State, made 12 of 17 shots overall and was 11 of 11 from the free throw line. The Thunder’s superb, bearded reserve played 33 minutes. His previous high was 33 against Charlotte on March 10.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Chris Paul scores 31, Clippers edge Thunder

Chris Paul scored 31 points, including the game-winning shot on a layup with 8.8 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers to a 100-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night that kept them in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Paul got past Thunder defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha and squeezed the ball onto the rim past the league’s leading shot blocker, Serge Ibaka, to put L.A. ahead.

Kevin Durant missed a 3-pointer that could have won it, hitting the back rim on a shot over Clippers center DeAndre Jordan from the left wing.

Durant led Oklahoma City with 22 points and Russell Westbrook scored 20 on 3-for-14 shooting. The West-leading Thunder have lost four of their last six games.

Blake Griffin added 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Heat win 17th straight at home, beat Thunder

LeBron James had 34 points and 10 assists, Dwyane Wade scored 19 points and the Miami Heat avenged a loss at Oklahoma City last week, rallying to beat the Thunder 98-93 on Wednesday night for their 17th straight home victory.

Mario Chalmers scored 13 points, and Chris Bosh had 12 for Miami, which trailed by 11 in the first half before a comeback fueled in part by Russell Westbrook pulling James down from behind on a fast break in the second quarter.

Kevin Durant scored 30 points for Oklahoma City, and Westbrook added 28, but shot 9 for 26. James Harden had 12 for the Thunder, who lost despite holding Miami to 37 percent shooting.

The win moved Miami (39-14) within two games of Chicago (42-13) in the race for the NBA’s best record. Oklahoma City fell to 40-14.

Durant could have given Oklahoma City the lead with 1:30 left, backing down James and then trying a turnaround from the left side. His shot was way off, hitting the top of the backboard.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Grizzlies win 94-88, snap Thunder streak at 6

O.J. Mayo passed up one 3-pointer with the Memphis Grizzlies’ lead dwindling in the final minute.

He wasn’t going to do it again.

Mayo scored 22 points, including a key 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, and the Grizzlies prevented Oklahoma City from tying for the NBA’s best record by beating the Thunder 94-88 on Monday night.

“It was a good look. I had my feet set,” Mayo said. “I just wanted to knock it down.” …

Oklahoma City had pulled within a game of league-leading Chicago by blowing out the Bulls a day earlier, but the Grizzlies took the lead just after halftime and never gave it back.

Memphis won despite playing without starting point guard Mike Conley (sore right ankle) and reserve Dante Cunningham (sprained left ankle) for the second straight game…

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 21 points and Russell Westbrook scored 19, with 12 coming as Oklahoma City tried to rally in the fourth quarter. After averaging 31.7 points and one turnover in his previous three games, Westbrook went 5 for 16 and committed four turnovers.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kevin Durant to appear on Jimmy Kimmel show

Kevin Durant

May score 80 during the show taping

Two-time scoring champ Kevin Durant will make an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night. The show tapes at 6:30 p.m. and airs at 11 p.m. on KOCO-5 (ABC).

This will be Durant’s first stop on the major talk-show circuit.

“It’s new for me,” Durant said. “It should be fun. I’m excited.”

Asked if he was nervous about his talk-show debut, Durant smiled and said, “Nah, we’re just talkin’.”

— Reported by John Rohde of the Oklahoman

Joe Johnson and Kevin Durant named NBA Players of Week

The Atlanta Hawks’ Joe Johnson and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 19, through Sunday, March 25.

Johnson led the Hawks to a 4-1 week with averages of 23.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Johnson hit game-tying three-pointers vs. Cleveland on March 21 and Utah on March 25, as well as the game-winning three-pointer at Washington on March 24. Johnson’s 37-point, eight-rebound effort keyed a 139-133 quadruple overtime win over the Jazz on March 25.

Durant’s 29.5 ppg ranked second in the league (Kevin Love, 33.5), his 10.3 rpg ranked ninth, and his 2.0 spg tied for fifth best in the Western Conference as he helped the Thunder to a 3-1 week. Durant, the league’s second leading scorer for the season at 27.9 points (Kobe Bryant, 28.3) tallied 40 points and a season-high 17 rebounds on March 25 in a 103-87 win over the Heat.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Josh Smith, Houston’s Goran Dragic, Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Minnesota’s Kevin Love, New York’s Amar’e Stoudemire, Orlando’s Ryan Anderson and Utah’s Al Jefferson.

LeBron, Durant had intense summer workouts together

LeBron James and Kevin Durant called it “hell week.”

For five days last summer, the two NBA superstars came together for one of the most grueling workout routines they have experienced in their careers. With only a few weeks before the playoffs, James is crediting those grueling workouts for contributing to one of the best seasons of his career.

“Monday through Friday, twice a day, and it was one of the toughest weeks that we’ve both had as far as workouts,” James said. “But it was some great work, and we got a lot out of it.”

Even before the workouts at the University of Akron, James and Durant enjoyed a strong friendship that extended several years. James was giving Durant advice when he was still in high school. The greatest change James said he sees in Durant this season is his ability to lead his teammates.

“We respect each other, and it’s always great to see a friend of yours do well,” James said.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald

Thunder recall Reggie Jackson from D-League

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

Jackson appeared in one game (one start) for the 66ers scoring 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in 41 minutes.

During the 2011-12 season, Jackson has appeared in 41 games with the Thunder and posted averages of 3.4 points, 1.7 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 11.8 minutes.