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The AP reports:
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
ESPN Chicago reports:
In the aftermath of the death of Osama bin Laden, the Chicago Bulls will use metal detectors to screen all patrons entering the United Center before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
The NBA issued the mandate for the conference semifinals and all subsequent playoff games.
Not all arenas in the league regularly use metal detectors. At the United Center, patrons are visually inspected. Metal detectors are only employed in a full inspection when, according to the venue’s website, it is determined that “the potential is high for inappropriate or illegal items to be brought into the building.”
I love trash-talk in basketball, both on and off the court. As long as a player can back it up, I think it adds a fun element to the game. With that said, here’s some great stuff after Grizzlies-Thunder Game 1:
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:
Someone informed Zach Randolph about what was being said about him in the Oklahoma City Thunder locker room, and the Grizzlies’ power forward shot back with a line as snappy as the one he put on the final statistical sheet.
Oklahoma City’s scoring machine Kevin Durant basically called Randolph unstoppable and the best on the planet at his position.
“I’ve got to agree with that. Thanks, KD,” a smiling Randolph said while sitting in front of a microphone as the interview room filled with laughter…
“You can not stop him,” said Durant, who led the Thunder with 33 points. “You have to make him take tough shots. He is the go-to guy. He gets into position and gets to where he wants to be. … We must help those guys (Ibaka and Perkins) out more.”
I love it, and wish Grizzlies-Thunder Game 2 was starting, oh, about right now.
Have a reaction? Share it with other fans in this InsideHoops forum topic.
The AP reports:
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Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies powered their way to another playoff upset—not that he considers it one.
Randolph had a playoff career-high 34 points and 10 rebounds, Marc Gasol added 20 points and 13 boards, and the Grizzlies outmatched the Oklahoma City Thunder inside for a 114-101 victory in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday…
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 29, but the All-Star tandem couldn’t overcome a big advantage in the paint for Memphis…
Randolph started out with short jumpers to give Memphis the lead for good in the opening 2 minutes, then he followed a 17-5 run fueled by the bench with the Grizzlies’ lone first-half 3-pointer to make it answer Durant’s two-handed alley-oop and make it 54-38 with 2:26 left before halftime.
The Thunder used a 20-7 charge that spanned intermission to get back within 61-58 before Randolph steadied the Grizzlies again. He hit two free throws, a putback, a tip-in and then a jumper that caromed high off the rim before going in during a key stretch to keep Oklahoma City at bay…
The Grizzlies made 12 free throws in the final 3 minutes to close out another win for the underdogs—if you can even call them that anymore.
The AP reports:
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Kevin Durant matched his best playoff performance with 41 points, including the final nine for Oklahoma City, and the Thunder closed out their first-round series against the Nuggets with a 100-97 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
The Thunder overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 4 minutes, and Durant provided all the offense down the stretch to send the Oklahoma City franchise to its first playoff series win since it was still in Seattle in 2005…
Denver had two chances to duplicate the Spurs’ performance, but Durant blocked J.R. Smith’s potential tying 3-pointer with 9 seconds left and Arron Afflalo missed another 3 at the buzzer.
Afflalo, who missed the first two games of the series with a hamstring strain, led Denver with 15 points and Kenyon Martin added 14 points and 10 rebounds…
Westbrook had 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting, one game after he’d drawn criticism for attempting 30 shots.
Despite dreadful 37 percent shooting, Oklahoma City stuck with the Nuggets with a sizable edge in free-throw opportunities and offensive rebounds.
The Thunder made 34 of 42 foul shots—doubling the number of attempts Denver got—and also had 22 second-chance points off 16 offensive boards.
Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman reports:
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The cameras didn’t catch it, but the broadcast’s sideline reporter did.
Midway through the first half of Monday’s Game 4 loss at Denver, the Thunder’s All-Star duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook reportedly had a heated exchange during a timeout. TNT sideline reporter Pam Oliver reported the verbal dispute during the game.
On Tuesday, the Thunder insisted the jawing was positive.
“It was all about trying to do the right thing,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “We got to get a stop. That’s what it was about. We got to stop the ball. Their point guards are getting inside the paint. The bigs and the guards have got to do a better job of stopping the basketball. That’s what the conversation was about.
“It’s funny because it’s in the playoffs on national TV, but it happens a lot. It doesn’t happen every timeout every game. But guys are emotional. Guys care about what we do and they express that and I like that. I do the same thing.”
Durant also downplayed the incident.
“We’ve been doing that all season,” Durant said. “That’s a part of a basketball team. You’re not going to always be happy all the time. … Sometimes you have to scream at guys for them to get the point. That’s what we were doing.”
The AP reports:
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Ty Lawson scored a career playoff-high 27 points and J.R. Smith and Danilo Gallinari hit clutch shots down the stretch to help Denver beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-101 on Monday night as the Nuggets avoided a first-round sweep…
In denying the Thunder their first playoff series win since moving from Seattle in 2008, the Nuggets went to the hoop better than they had all series and relied on the smooth touch of Gallinari, who totaled just 13 points in the previous two games but finished with 18 Monday night to counter Durant’s 31 points and Westbrook’s 30…
Despite shooting just 31 of 44 from the stripe, the Nuggets sank eight straight during one key stretch in the fourth quarter as they grabbed control and then sank 6 of 8 in the final 23 seconds…
Durant’s four free throws pulled the Thunder to 89-87 with 4 1/2 minutes left, but Lawson’s layup sparked a clinching 8-0 run that included Gallinari’s fadeaway and 3-pointer.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Nuggets shot just 38.6% but hit 9-of-19 three-pointers and spent the night at the free throw line, where they shot 31-of-44… Raymond Felton shot just 2-of-10 for the Nuggets off the bench… Al Harrington and Wilson Chandler came off Denver’s bench and combined to shoot 0-of-8… Russell Westbrook took 30 shots for the Thunder, hitting 12. He was 0-of-7 from three-point range and finished with 30 points… Kevin Durant shot 8-of-18 for 31 points… Thunder forward Serge Ibaka had 13 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks… Aside from Westbrook, Durant and Ibaka, no other Thunder players scored more than seven… The Thunder still control the series. We at InsideHoops.com still expect them to advance.
The AP reports:
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the verge of winning their first playoff series since moving from Seattle in 2008 thanks to All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and their terrific supporting cast.
Following Eric Maynor’s lead in the opener and James Harden’s step-up performance in Game 2, Serge Ibaka was Denver’s dagger Saturday night…
Transforming from a shot-blocker into a shot-maker, Ibaka, the second-year pro from the Congo tied his career high with 22 points and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds in sparking the Thunder’s 97-94 win over the Nuggets that gave them a 3-0 lead in their best-of-7 playoff series…
Ibaka, who led the league with 198 blocks during the regular season, gave the Thunder a third dimension on offense to go with Durant (26 points) and Westbrook (23), and his bucket with 10 seconds left helped the Thunder fend off Denver’s furious rally in the final minute…
Not even the return of Afflalo (13 points) from a troublesome hamstring injury or bounce-back performances from J.R. Smith (15 points) and Chris “Birdman” Andersen (13) could keep the Nuggets from falling to 0-5 against Oklahoma City this month and inching closer to elimination…
Nene had 15 points and 10 boards for the Nuggets, who took a 73-71 lead into the fourth quarter before going cold—29 percent from the floor, 20 percent from long range and 62 percent from the line—and watching Oklahoma City pull away behind Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka.