OKC Thunder Blog – Page 74 – NBA Blog

Durant, Thunder beat Grizzlies to reach Western conference finals

The AP reports:

Durant, Thunder beat Grizzlies to reach West finals

Kevin Durant scored 39 points for his best offensive outing of the series, Russell Westbrook had his first playoff triple-double and the Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 105-90 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 7 on Sunday…

“Durant is a special player, one of the best players in the NBA,” said Memphis star Zach Randolph, who was limited to an inefficient 17 points and 10 rebounds…

Westbrook, criticized throughout the playoffs for taking too many shots, was at his all-around best with 14 points, matching his season-high with 14 assists and producing extra possessions with 10 rebounds. It was only the fifth triple-double in a Game 7, according to information provided to the team by the Elias Sports Bureau. Larry Bird, Jerry West, James Worthy and Scottie Pippen also accomplished the feat…

Mike Conley scored 18 points to lead Memphis, which had never won a playoff game before this year and made a bid to become the first No. 8 seed to reach the West finals…

James Harden added four 3-pointers and 17 points for Oklahoma City, and Nick Collison had 12 rebounds.

O.J. Mayo scored 14 for Memphis but couldn’t provide the same amount of room for Randolph as he did after moving into the starting lineup in Game 6.

Sam Young car stolen during ATM visit

WMC TV reports:

According to a Memphis Police report, Sam Young’s Chevy Camaro was stolen while he visited a walk-up ATM at South Main and Peabody Place. Witnesses saw a man with dreads drive away.

Police say the car thief might not have “scored” if Young had not left his car running.

Fortunately for Young, GM vehicles like his come equipped with the On-Star communications and security system. Police used it to track Young’s Camaro to the 1400 block of Breedlove in North Memphis. It was found unoccupied before being returned to the basketball star.

Grizzlies beat Thunder 95-83 in Game 6

The AP reports:

Grizzlies push Thunder back to OKC for Game 7

The Memphis Grizzlies may have finally figured out how to keep the Oklahoma City Thunder from smothering Zach Randolph.

O.J. Mayo moved back into the starting lineup, and his scoring threat from the outside gave Randolph enough room to score 30 points and grab 13 rebounds Friday night as the Grizzlies avoided elimination by beating the Thunder 95-83 to push their Western Conference semifinal to a deciding Game 7…

Mayo moved from the starting lineup to the bench at the start of January, though he did start the final two games of the regular season with the Grizzlies resting for the postseason. But the Thunder had held Randolph to 31.9 percent shooting since he scored 34 points in Game 1 of this series, so Memphis coach Lionel Hollins started Mayo in place of Sam Young…

Mayo scored 16 points for Memphis. Conley had 11 points and a franchise playoff-record 12 assists, and Tony Allen added 10 points. Now the Grizzlies are 5-1 on their home court this postseason, this win celebrated by sellout crowd that stood the entire second half cheering to keep this stunning run going at least one more game…

Memphis outscored the Thunder 51-29 in the second half and 46-38 in the paint overall.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 27 points, and James Harden had 14. Kevin Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer in the regular season, was held to a season-worst 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting. It was his lowest scoring game since he had six points in eight minutes Feb. 27, 2009, at Dallas.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

2010-11 All-NBA Teams named

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, the 2010-11 NBA Most Valuable Player, and LeBron James of the Miami Heat, winner of the two previous MVP awards, highlight the 2010-11 All-NBA First Team. James was the lone unanimous choice, receiving all 119 first-place votes. Joining James and Rose on the First Team are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

Earning his first All-NBA team selection, Rose led the Bulls to an NBA-best 62-20 mark. He averaged team highs of 25.0 points and 7.7 assists to go along with 4.1 rebounds, becoming only the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 25.0 points, 7.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds. Rose was the only player in the NBA to rank in the top 10 in scoring (seventh) and assists (10th).

James, who earns First Team honors for the fourth straight season and fifth time overall, was second in the NBA in scoring (26.7 ppg), and averaged team highs in assists (7.0 apg) and steals (1.57 spg) to go along with 7.5 rpg. James became the first player in history to surpass the 2,000-point, 500-rebound, 500-assist and 100-steal marks in four consecutive seasons.

Howard, an All-NBA First Team selection for the fourth consecutive season, earned the 2010-11 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, becoming the first player to win the award three straight seasons. He led the league with 66 double-doubles, while ranking second in rebounds (14.1 rpg) and fourth in blocks (2.38 bpg). Howard also averaged a career-high 22.9 points.

Bryant, an All-NBA First Team selection for the sixth straight season and ninth time in his career, finished fifth in the league in scoring (25.3 ppg), while averaging 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Among active players, Bryant is tied with the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan for most First Team selections.

Durant earns his second All-NBA First Team selection. Durant led the league in scoring (27.7 ppg) for the second consecutive year, to go along with 6.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Durant scored at least 40 in a league-high five games this season.

The All-NBA Second Team consists of guards Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, forwards Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, and center Amar’e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks.

The All-NBA Third Team includes the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili and the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul at guard, the Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph at forward, and the Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford at center.

The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

Below are the results of the voting for the 2010-11 All-NBA Teams, with First Team votes in parentheses:

2010-11 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM

Position Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points
Forward LeBron James, Miami (119) 595
Forward Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (69) 492
Center Dwight Howard, Orlando (118) 593
Guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (98) 551
Guard Derrick Rose, Chicago (118) 593

2010-11 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM

Position Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points
Forward Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers (2) 259
Forward Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas (47) 437
Center Amar’e Stoudemire, New York (2) 258
Guard Dwyane Wade, Miami (24) 392
Guard Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City 184

2010-11 ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM

Position Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland 135
Forward Zach Randolph, Memphis 67
Center Al Horford, Atlanta 62
Guard Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 106
Guard Chris Paul, New Orleans 157

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (first team votes in parentheses): Rajon Rondo, Boston, 68; Paul Pierce, Boston, 55; Carmelo Anthony, Denver-New York, 53; Kevin Love, Minnesota, 48; Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 43; Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers, 36; Tony Parker, San Antonio, 27; Kevin Garnett, Boston, 22; Deron Williams, Utah-New Jersey 19; Steve Nash, Phoenix, 17; Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee, 13; Monta Ellis, Golden State, 11; Nene, Denver, 11; Andrew Bynum, L.A. Lakers, 9; Kevin Martin, Houston, 7; Tyson Chandler, Dallas, 7; Joakim Noah, Chicago, 5; Marc Gasol, Memphis, 3; Al Jefferson, Utah, 3; Kendrick Perkins, Boston-Oklahoma City, 3; Andrea Bargnani, Toronto, 2; Chris Bosh, Miami, 2; Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 1; Emeka Okafor, New Orleans, 1; Eric Gordon, L.A. Clippers, 1; Gerald Wallace, Charlotte-Portland, 1; Jason Kidd, Dallas, 1; Luis Scola, Houston, 1; Luol Deng, Chicago, 1; Ray Allen, Boston, 1.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Durant, Thunder ease past Grizzlies 99-72 in Game 5

The AP reports:

Kevin Durant’s work was done early.

After three quarters. Not three overtimes.

Instead of hunting down key shots, he was tracking down a T-shirt from the stands and reveling in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 99-72 blowout of the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night that gave them their first series lead in the Western Conference semifinals…

Marc Gasol had 16 points to lead Memphis, which didn’t have much left after such a draining loss on its home court.

The Grizzlies shot a season-worst 36 percent, matched their lowest point total from the regular season and never put up much of a fight in the second half…

Zach Randolph, who played 56 minutes in the marathon Game 4, never was effective for Memphis. He finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and even missed four of his first five free throws. He had been averaging 26 points and 14 rebounds in the series…

Conley made just 4 of 16 shots, Tony Allen was 4 for 13 and O.J. Mayo 2 for 8 on a dreadful night when nothing was going in…

Westbrook had 11 points in 25 minutes—half of what he played in Game 4. Mohammed added 10 points and Collison had nine points and 10 rebounds, helping the Thunder to a 50-33 edge on the boards.

Thunder tie series with Memphis with 3 OT thriller

The AP reports:

Kevin Durant scored six of his 35 points in the third overtime, and the Thunder scored the final 10 points to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 133-123 in a thriller that started Monday night and ended early Tuesday morning.

It was the second straight overtime game in the series and the NBA’s first triple-overtime playoff game since Chicago downed Boston 128-127 on April 30, 2009…

The Thunder blew a 16-point lead in losing Game 3 101-93 in overtime. This time, Memphis was up 18, lost that and fell behind 10 in the fourth quarter only to rally.

Memphis’ Mike Conley hit a 3 over a couple defenders to set up the first overtime. Grizzlies rookie Greivis Vasquez hit an off-balance, one-handed 3 setting up the second overtime, and it was Marc Gasol’s scoring to help extend this game five more minutes…

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 40 points and only three turnovers in more than 51 minutes of play. James Harden added 19, and Daequan Cook had 10. Durant, Westbrook and Harden played the most minutes in a single game in their pro careers. For Memphis, Zach Randolph and Gasol posted career highs in minutes…

Randolph led Memphis with 34 points and 16 rebounds. Gasol had 26 and 21 rebounds. O.J. Mayo had 18 points and Conley 16 before both fouled out. Vasquez had 14.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

Grizzlies rally from 16 down, go up 2-1 on Thunder

The AP reports:

Zach Randolph had 21 points and a franchise-record 21 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from a 16-point deficit to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-93 in overtime Saturday and grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

The Grizzlies are trying to do something no NBA team has done in climbing from the No. 8 seed all the way to the Western Conference finals. They moved two wins away from that by remaining undefeated on their home court this postseason…

Kevin Durant, the NBA’s scoring leader in the regular season and these playoffs, took only three shots in overtime and missed them all. He finished with 22 points, his lowest this postseason after averaging 31.6 points coming in.

O.J. Mayo had 18 points off the bench. Mike Conley also scored 18, Marc Gasol had 16 and Tony Allen 10.

Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 12 assists, but committed seven turnovers and fouled out late in overtime for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka had 14 points and James Harden 12.

Oklahoma City was up 70-54 on Kendrick Perkins’ tip-in with 3:53 left in the third and seemed in control with Westbrook scoring 13 points in the period.

Memphis erased that lead with a 13-2 run and outscored Oklahoma City 23-10 in the fourth quarter, then 15-7 in overtime. The Thunder hit just 3 of 12 in the extra period.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

Thunder forward Serge Ibaka misses practice due to ankle sprain

The AP reports:

Starting power forward Serge Ibaka did not participate in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s practice Thursday because of a sprained left ankle.

Coach Scott Brooks says Ibaka is day-to-day. The Thunder are officially listing him as probable for Game 3 on Saturday in Memphis. The series is tied 1-1.

Durant scores 26, Thunder tie series with Grizzlies with 111-102 win

The AP reports:

Zach Randolph’s first shot got swatted by Serge Ibaka. His next two jumpers didn’t find their target. Soon, the Thunder had the lead and never gave it back.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Oklahoma City clamped down on Randolph and frontcourt partner Marc Gasol to beat the Grizzlies 111-102 Tuesday night to even the Western Conference semifinals…

Randolph and Gasol combined for 54 points in Game 1, but barely managed half of that in the rematch. Randolph made just two of 13 shots and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Gasol was 3 for 9 and had 13 points and 10 boards…

James Harden scored 21 points and fellow reserve Eric Maynor added 15 as Oklahoma City’s bench held a 48-29 scoring edge. All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook scored 24.

Mike Conley scored 24 for Memphis, which got within six in the final minute after trailing 97-76 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter…

The Thunder finally shook free with an 18-6 run by the bench, featuring three 3-pointers by Maynor and seven points from Harden, to start the fourth quarter.

Harden hit three free throws—including one after Darrell Arthur was called for a technical for bumping him in retaliation—then turned a steal into a fast-break layup. Maynor’s third 3 gave Oklahoma City its first 20-point lead at 94-74 with 7:27 remaining, and Daequan Cook followed about a minute later with another 3 to bump the lead to 21.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Thunder bench were the stars of the evening. Harden shot 5-of-9 and 11-of-11 free throws for 21 points and five assists. And guard Eric Maynor shot 6-of-7, including 3-of-4 three-pointers, for 15 points.

Derrick Rose wins 2010-11 NBA MVP

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls is the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2010-11 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the NBA announced today. Rose, who does not turn 23 until Oct. 4, becomes the league’s youngest MVP, a distinction previously held by Wes Unseld, who earned the honor in 1968-69 as a 23-year-old.

Rose totaled 1,182 points including 113 first-place votes, from a panel of 120 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA MVP fan vote. For the second consecutive season, the NBA gave fans the opportunity to submit their votes by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote and was compiled with the 120 media votes to determine the winner. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.

Rounding out the top five in voting are Orlando’s Dwight Howard (643 points, three first place), Miami’s LeBron James (522, four first-place votes), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (428, one first-place vote) and Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (190).

Rose, who became the first player since Steve Nash in 2005 to win the MVP award after not receiving any votes in the previous year’s balloting, led the Bulls to an NBA-best 62-20 mark. The third-year player averaged team highs of 25.0 points and 7.7 assists to go along with 4.1 rebounds. He became the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 25.0 points, 7.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds, joining Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. The All-Star guard made or assisted on at least half of the Bulls’ field goals in 26 games, the highest such total for any NBA player this season.

Rose, who recorded 23 double-doubles and scored at least 30 points on 23 occasions after doing so eight times combined in his first two seasons, was the only player in the NBA to rank in the top 10 in scoring (seventh) and assists (10th). Only once in team history had a Bulls player finished in the top 10 in scoring and assists (Michael Jordan, 1988-89). Rose tallied 2,026 points, 623 assists and 330 rebounds, becoming only the fifth player in NBA history to post 2,000 points, 600 assists and 300 rebounds in a single season as he joined Robertson, John Havlicek, Jordan and James.

The NBA MVP trophy is named in honor of the late Maurice Podoloff, the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.