Thunder-Warriors Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Feb 07 2012 2:49AM

The Golden State Warriors let one slip away their last time out after failing to slow down one of the weaker teams in the Western Conference.

Getting back on track could prove all the more difficult with Kevin Durant and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder coming to town.

Golden State looks to avoid a seventh defeat in nine games versus Oklahoma City as the teams meet Tuesday night.

The Warriors (8-13) failed to carry over any momentum from a 3-1 stretch, suffering a disappointing 114-106 overtime loss at Sacramento on Saturday. Golden State was outrebounded 55-36 and managed just four points in OT.

"(The Kings) outworked us in overtime and we are going to have to individually and collectively look in the mirror and own up to a lack of effort," coach Mark Jackson said. "Their starters outscored our starters 104-63. You can sugar-coat it all you want, but that was just bad basketball."

If their recent efforts in this series are any indication, the Warriors could be in for another long night versus the Thunder (19-5).

Oklahoma City has won six of the last eight matchups, most recently prevailing 120-109 in Golden State on Jan. 27 behind a season-high 37 points from Durant. Russell Westbrook, meanwhile, added 28 points and recorded season highs of 11 assists and seven steals.

"They've been together a long time and have grown up a lot together," Golden State's Stephen Curry said of the Thunder following that game. "They know each other well, they know what it takes to finish out games just with that chemistry that they have."

Durant has torched the Warriors over the course of his career, posting 32.1 points per game against them on the road - his highest mark in any opposing arena.

Durant also came up huge Monday, scoring 33 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists during a 111-107 overtime win at Portland. He tied the game on a questionable goaltending call with six seconds remaining in regulation.

"I got it up there quick enough that it hit the glass first. It was a goaltend, so it was a good play for us," said Durant, who is averaging 31.2 points while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor, 11.3 boards and 2.2 blocks in his last six contests.

While Durant is obviously at his best when trying to score the basketball, he may want to think about continuing to get his teammates involved. The Thunder are 16-1 when he dishes out at least three assists.

Westbrook had 28 points and 11 rebounds against Portland, finishing two assists shy of a triple-double.

Oklahoma City has the best road record in the West at 10-4.

Golden State's Dorell Wright, who made 6 of 9 from 3-point range and finished with 23 points versus the Thunder last month, scored a season-high 24 versus the Kings. He's gone 15-of-30 from beyond the arc while averaging 18.8 points in his last four games - significantly higher than his season mark of 11.4

Leading the Warriors with 21.3 points per game, Monta Ellis has made just 14 of 47 shots (29.8 percent) and averaged 16.5 points in his last two meetings with Oklahoma City.

Durant's shot lifts Thunder past Warriors 119-116

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Posted Feb 08 2012 5:09AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Kevin Durant came hard off the screen, took the pass and launched a jumper that banked off the glass and through the net.

In a season already filled with late-game highlights and game-winning shots, Durant can't miss even when he's off the mark. The same might go for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It's no surprise both are among the NBA's best.

Durant made the go-ahead bank shot with 14.2 seconds remaining and the league-leading Thunder overcame career performances by Monta Ellis and David Lee to beat the Golden State Warriors 119-116 on Tuesday night.

"It's one of those things where you shoot it and you're like, `Aw, that's a terrible shot,"' Durant said. "When it went in, I was kind of surprised."

He might've been the only one.

Durant finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Russell Westbrook added 31 points and seven assists to give Oklahoma City its fourth win in five games. After rallying for a thrilling comeback at Portland a night earlier, the Thunder had to sweat out another frantic finish.

Ellis scored a career-high 48 points, and Lee had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double. Ellis and Brandon Rush both missed 3-pointers in the closing seconds to tie or take the lead.

The Warriors had every opportunity for a stunning upset.

Ellis pulled up just outside the paint and floated a runner while getting fouled by Westbrook, bringing the announced crowd of 17,971 to its feet. He completed the three-point play to give Golden State a 112-108 lead with 3:53 remaining.

Daequan Cook followed with a 3-pointer, Westbrook hit a long jumper and Durant had a powerful two-hand slam to put Oklahoma City back in front 115-112 in an instant.

After Dorell Wright made one of two free throws to get Golden State within two, Durant missed a contested 3-pointer. The ball found Ellis' hands and the guard never gave it back.

Ellis darted to the basket off a pick-and-roll with Lee, threw his body into center Serge Ibaka and shielded the ball for a right-handed layup that started another three-point play that gave Golden State a 116-115 lead with 22.3 seconds to play.

Then, Durant simply showed his best.

After missing a finger roll through a crowd of defenders, Durant got a second chance when the ball trickled out of bounds off Golden State. He didn't take long to redeem himself, coming off a screen and banking in an 18-footer with 14.2 seconds left.

Ellis missed a 3-pointer on the other end, Westbrook followed with two free throws and Golden State had one last chance to send it to overtime. But Ellis inbounded the ball on the final play, and Rush missed a 3-pointer in the corner at the final buzzer.

"We have to break that cycle," Ellis said. "The games we should win, we've got to start winning. And the games like this, we should go out and compete and give ourselves a chance to win."

Ellis finished 18 for 29 from the field and was 9 of 10 on free throws. He also had seven rebounds and two assists.

"You want me to tell him stop shooting? The guy went for 48 tonight," said Warriors coach Mark Jackson.

The West Coast swing of the Thunder's long road stretch came full circle.

A trip that began with a 120-109 victory at Golden State on Jan. 27 hit one of its more difficult stretches. After a 111-107 comeback victory in overtime a night earlier at Portland, Oklahoma City struggled early to find its rhythm.

The Warriors sprinted to an 8-0 lead in the first 1:58 of the game with Ellis setting the tone. The Warriors dynamic shooting guard started the game 8 for 10 from the floor and often finished in acrobatic fashion.

Oklahoma City clamped down on defense - if only for a moment - to overpower Golden State, which shot 66.7 percent in the opening quarter. Durant stole an off-balance pass from Ellis and handed off to James Harden for a layup to highlight an 11-3 run that put the Thunder ahead 53-43 late in the second.

The break did little to slow Golden State's undersized shooting guard.

Ellis slipped through screens and past every defender the Thunder threw his way, igniting a fast-pace push to the second half. He started a three-point play with a scintillating layup over Westbrook and Wright also hit a 3-pointer to highlight a run that put the Warriors in front 80-68 in the third quarter.

"We have to break that cycle" Ellis said. "The games we should win, we've got to start winning. And the games like this, we should go out and compete and give ourselves a chance to win."

"Our goal going into the game is to hold Monta Ellis to 50 and he only had 48 so we accomplished two things," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said, sarcastically. "We got the win and we kept him under 50. It was a great performance by him, but we did get some stops at the end of the game and we needed it."

Notes: Lee's previous triple-double came with the Knicks at Golden State on April 2, 2010, when he had 37 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists with the Knicks. ... Ellis had scored 46 points twice previously. ... Oklahoma City swingman Thabo Sefalosha sat out his sixth straight game with a sore right foot.

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Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

Notebook: Thunder 119, Warriors 116

Posted Wednesday February 8, 2012 2:26AM

By Geoff Lepper, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Kevin Durant scored 33 points, including a go-ahead bucket with 14.2 seconds remaining, and added 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame huge performances from Monta Ellis and David Lee to beat the Golden State Warriors 119-116 Tuesday night. Durant and Russell Westbrook (31 points, seven assists) combined for 35 points in the second half as the Thunder erased a 12-point deficit in the final 17:07 to improve to a league-best 20-5. Ellis' career-high 48 points -- tied with Kobe Bryant for the most by an NBA player this season -- went by the boards, as did Lee's first triple-double with Golden State: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists.

QUOTABLE: "It was a great game. It was a great game for the fans. It was not the way we anticipated it (unfolding) going into the game, but sometimes you have to win in different ways, and our guys never gave up."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT: After shooting nearly 60 percent through the first three quarters, Golden State's offense came off the rails in the fourth as Oklahoma City tightened up its defense. The Warriors shot 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) from the floor and committed six of their 15 turnovers on the evening.

TURNING POINT: Durant was the first to admit it: He wasn't looking to go glass with his 18-foot jumper from the left side of the key with the game in the balance. But after popping free on Oklahoma City's inbounds play, the Thunder's leading scorer was still able to bank home a shot that gave his team a 117-116 lead.

QUOTABLE II: "No, I did not (mean to bank it). It's one of those things where you shoot it and you're like, 'Aw, that's a terrible shot.' When it went in, I was kind of surprised."
-- Durant

GOOD MOVE: When the Thunder beat the Warriors 120-109 at Oracle Arena on Jan. 27, Brooks played two big men for the entire game and it paid off handsomely on the glass: Oklahoma City outrebounded Golden State 53-34, including 19 offensive boards that led to 19 second-chance points. Tuesday, with Kendrick Perkins representing an utter liability -- four turnovers in the first 4:47 of the third quarter -- Brooks went with only one big man the rest of the way, splitting time between Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison, and the Thunder poured home 55 points over the final 18:46.

HOT: Ellis was simply unstoppable through the first three quarters, when he had 40 points on 15-for-23 shooting, including a dazzling array of twisting, circus shots that might have swayed some on-the-fence voters, if only the ballots for All-Star reserves hadn't already been collected. Ellis had an open look at cracking the 50-point barrier on the Warriors' next-to-last possession when his pick-and-roll action with Lee left Ellis with an open 3-pointer, but the ball clanged off iron with 4.9 seconds to go. Nevertheless, Ellis raised his scoring average to 22.6 points, up from 21.3 coming into Tuesday.

QUOTABLE III: "He was outstanding. That's who he is. He's a primetime guy who comes in and plays well. He had it rolling early and often, all the way to the last buzzer. That's what we expect from him. He's an All-Star in my book."
-- Warriors guard Stephen Curry, discussing Ellis' game

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Lee had a relatively quiet first half, scoring only six points, but he erupted in the second, with 19 points and just enough rebounds and assists to complete his second career triple-double. The Warriors were involved in Lee's earlier triple-double as well; he went for 37 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists against Golden State for the New York Knicks on April 2, 2010.

INSIDE THE ARENA: There was a brief delay before the start of the fourth quarter as Warriors staff tried to manually adjust the scoreboard to reflect the correct score of 93-91, Golden State. However, the board -- which read 93-92 Warriors after the Thunder were mistakenly credited with three points on a two-point basket -- would not roll back. Oklahoma City's score remained a point ahead of its true level until James Harden hit a pair of free throws 45 seconds into the quarter.

NOTABLE: Lee's triple-double was the first by a Warriors power forward since Chris Webber hung 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists on the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 23, 1993. ... The last Warriors triple-double prior to Tuesday was Stephen Curry going for 36 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists against the Clippers on Feb. 10, 2010. Curry finished with 16 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds Tuesday. ... Harden had 19 points and seven assists for Oklahoma City. ... Warriors guard Nate Robinson did not dress after suffering a strained left groin Saturday against Sacramento. ... Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha missed his fifth consecutive game with right foot soreness. ... The Warriors had 35 points in the first quarter, their best opening period this season.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Thursday @ Denver, Sunday vs. Houston, Monday vs. Phoenix. For the Thunder, Thursday @ Sacramento, Friday @ Utah, Tuesday vs. Utah.

• Thunder: Maynor, Sefolosha
• Warriors: Brown

• Thunder: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #47 Bennie Adams, #63 Derek Richardson
• Attendance: 17971
• Duration: 2:27