game

Thunder eliminate Lakers; Celtics reclaim series lead

by on May 22, 2012

Oklahoma City — Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant scored 53 points between them as the Oklahoma City Thunder surged ahead in the second half and beat Los Angeles 106-90 in Game 5 yesterday, eliminating the Lakers from the NBA playoffs.

Westbrook scored 28 points, while Durant added 25 and 10 rebounds. the two All-Stars both bypassed their breaks in the second half and used the time they’d normally be resting to fuel the big run that put away the game and end the Lakers’ season.

Westbrook had a pair of three-point plays during a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, and Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push their lead to 93-77.

Kobe Bryant played almost a lone hand for the Lakers, scoring 42 points.

The Thunder will open the Western Conference finals on Sunday at top-seeded San Antonio.

Oklahoma City was eliminated from the playoffs by Los Angeles in 2010 and Dallas in 2011, with both those teams going on to win the championship. This year, the Thunder have knocked both out on their way to the West finals for the second straight year.

Their next opponent, the top-seeded Spurs, are the only team other than the Lakers or Mavericks to win the West in the past 13 years and are currently riding an 18-game winning streak.

Westbrook celebrated after scoring the first of his key 3-point plays in the third quarter; running to the scorer’s table and pumping his fist in the air after being able to flip the ball in despite Ramon Sessions fouling him on the fast break.

He converted another after banking in a jumper from the left side despite Sessions slapping him on the arm, making it 82-76 with 1:29 left in the third quarter.

Durant extended the lead with a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth and then hit another 32 seconds later — just after Bryant had stepped to the scorer’s table to check in after a brief rest.

There was little Bryant could do after he got back in, despite the 13th 40-point game of his playoff career.

In Boston, Brandon Bass scored 18 points in the third quarter as Boston pulled away from Philadelphia and took a 3-2 edge in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Bass set a postseason career-high of 27 points while Kevin Garnett added 20 points and Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 14 assists for the Celtics, who can advance to the East finals with a victory in Philadelphia in Game 6 on Wednesday. the Sixers would need a win there to force the series back to Boston for a decisive seventh game on Saturday.

Elton Brand scored 19 and Evan Turner had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which led by six points early in the third quarter before Boston scored 14 of the next 16 points.  AP

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Tags: Basketball , National Basketball Association

Suicide – The Devil’s Alternative

by on May 17, 2012

This generation seems to have a special tag on it. Suicide – that odd thing people do to end a life – ranks as the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 19. every day, 11 people between the ages of 15 and 24 commit suicide. the fastest growing age group for suicide is between 10 and 14 years old. the majority of adolescents who die by suicide use a firearm. More young men take their lives than young women.

However, for every male suicide, three females will attempt to take their lives. Despite these alarming statistics, God is more than capable of changing them. Satan is out to destroy this generation. he is deceiving young people into thinking that suicide is the answer to their problems. It’s not the solution; it’s only a way to lure you to an early grave. the answer to any situation comes from the Word, and it’s up to you to arm yourself with scriptures to beat the Devil at his game. It’s the only way that you can live your life to the fullest.

The Devil doesn’t want you to impact anyone’s life. he hates you because he hates who you represent: Jesus. As a result, he will always try to trick you into doing something that will ultimately harm you. he clouds your thinking so that you end up making bad choices. that way, he can destroy your witness as well as your self-esteem.

Satan knows that you were created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). he also knows that if you would stand in the authority that has been given to you in Christ, you could dominate your circumstances and rule and reign in every area of your life. because of your godly identity and potential, he wants to stop you at all costs.

The word, dominate, means to influence, control or rule by superior power or authority; to have dominion, supreme authority or control. God gave you the ability to control your own destiny by giving you the power to choose. Life is choice-driven (Deuteronomy 30:19); you live and die by the choices that you make. that means you have the ability to succeed, live out loud and dominate Satan by taking full authority over all of his wicked works, including depression, suicide, loneliness, negative words and feelings of worthlessness.

The Bible says that you will reap a harvest from the words that you speak. you have the ability to speak life over yourself. There are rimes when you will have to counteract what the enemy is saying to or about you by speaking what God says in His Word about you. you will also have to remind yourself that you are beautiful, capable and able to do anything, because you have God’s ability within you. you will have to remind Satan that you are not a failure. It’s up to you to release life from your lips by declaring God’s Word in faith.

Death and life are in the power of your tongue, and you’ll eat the fruit of your lips any day. Similarly, you are a dominator, not a victim. you must live out loud so that the world can see the outer manifestation of the fruit of God’s greatness inside of you.

Jesus, the greatest man to live on planet earth, chose to live out loud and make an impact on all those who were around him. As a result, there are millions of people around the world today living out loud because of the example he set.

Imagine where the world would be today if Jesus had given up after all of the things that he had faced. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even want to imagine it because of Christ, you have been redeemed from the curse of death – it has no power over you. Choose today to walk in your redemption and don’t allow the enemy to trick you any longer.

Happiness is not an accident; nor is it something you wish for. Happiness is something you design and create. So make a decision to live your life out loud

Suicide – The Devil’s Alternative

Tim Duncan

by on May 16, 2012

Since Tim Duncan entered the league he has always been one of the best players. Tim Duncan stayed in school at Wake Forest for all four years, and this paid off for him immediately when he got to the NBA. unlike a lot of players that make the leap too early, Tim Duncan allowed his game to develop at the college level. for this reason he instantly became one of the best players in the league. he has shown this time and time again; year in and year out.

The best thing about Tim Duncan is that he can do it all. for the San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan is consistently the leading scorer as well as the leading rebounder. To go along with this he also gets a couple of blocked shots each game as well. This makes Tim Duncan one of the best all around players in the league. And thanks to him, the Spurs always find themselves going deep into the playoffs. And a couple of times in Tim Duncan’s career he has finished off these playoffs runs with an NBA title.

It is safe to say that the Spurs will again be one of the best teams in the league during the upcoming season. as long as they have Tim Duncan performing his duties game in and game out, there is no reason to think that the Spurs are going to fall off anytime in the near future. There is no doubt that he is hungry for another title.

Tim Duncan

‘Survivor: One World’: Winner Kim Spradlin reveals how she did it, her worst move, and what happened to that hidden immunity idol

by on May 14, 2012

Eighteen players vied for the million dollars on Survivor: One World this season, but in truth, 17 of them never really stood a chance. 29-year-old bridal shop owner Kim Spradlin turned Samoa into her own personal domination station, and in the end, the jury said “I do” when voting to give her the victory. (Only bitter Troy and confused Leif opted to vote for runner-up Sabrina instead.) now $1,100,000 richer after winning both the game and the fan favorite vote, Kim took a few minutes out from her sleepless morning to dissect her own game and reveal whether she would consider doing it all over again.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First question: Where’s the hidden immunity idol you never used?KIM SPRADLIN: you know what? I gave it to Troy! I thought about bringing it out at the final Tribal Council and be like “Hey I had this since day 12 and never even needed it to play it,” but I decided that sort of felt like pouring salt on the wound for people that felt betrayed. so as soon as I got back to Ponderosa that first night I gave it to Troy because I thought it might mean the most to him out of everyone there.

How worried were you about the possibility of your peers being infected with Bitter Jury Syndrome?My gosh, so worried. Honestly, at the actual final Tribal Council, I was kind of pleasantly surprised. Obviously you had Kat and Alicia who I thought were going to be the most angry who kind of stood up and said “vote Kim” with their Kim campaign buttons, and that was awesome. and I walked away from that feeling really good. But as time went on and I watched the show I got really paranoid that more people were probably angrier than I thought, so I was genuinely expecting to see Sabrina’s name come up five times

Are you surprised that Sabrina got more votes than Chelsea?I thought Chelsea was my biggest competition the entire time through the game. I honestly never thought it was going to come down to Sabrina and I. I thought it was going to come down to Chelsea and I, like J.T and Stephen, and that hopefully I might pull more votes than Chelsea. But after the final Tribal Council I knew that Chelsea probably didn’t get a vote. that became pretty clear as we sat there.

Will Troyzan simply never be able to admit that you owned him in this game?Ohhhhhh, I don’t know. He’s just struggling right now. I honestly love Troy. I think he’s a cool guy and this was a big dream of his, and I think he’s having a little bit of a hard time coping with the way it all went down.

For me, your best move was getting Troy to vote out Mike. Was that the key of the game for you?I think that was a bigger power play but I really do think it was the week we sent home Jonas. There were a lot of people who did not want Jonas going home, including Sabrina, Chelsea, and Jay. I felt like he was such a close ally with Troy and if he had three more days with Troy it may be me going home instead of Jonas. I think that was the first really key move, and then the second one, we already had the number to take out Mike.

As dominant as your performance was, there are so many times and opportunities over the course of 39 days for things to go wrong. What was your worst move in the game?Well, up until last night I thought it might have been taking Sabrina. But my scariest moment was the whole thing with the helicopter ride and not taking Kat. I should have sent Chelsea back to camp. I knew how solid she was, and Kat absolutely could not handle that.

You kept talking about getting rid of Chelsea at various points in time but never did. How close were you really to getting rid of her?You have so much time to think. I definitely ran all scenarios. I never wanted to fall so in love with another player that I couldn’t see clearly what the threats and dangers of keeping that person around were. I did think Chelsea was my biggest threat and I did really think through whether it was stupid to keep her, and I decided if people were going to respect what I did, I was going to win, and if they didn’t, there was going to be someone in the final three that could beat me, and I would rather it be her.

Did telling Chelsea about your hidden immunity idol sway your decision to keep her because you worried that by not giving it to her and voting her out, that would make her a jury vote against you?Definitely. and me keeping Chelsea and Sabrina at the end, that was half the decision. Sabrina had been threatening me — every time we were voting someone off, she made sure I knew that she was not going to be voting logically for the best player. She was going to be pissed. that didn’t seem like a good person to send to the jury, and I had a good idea that I had Christina’s vote, so it kind of just felt like let me sit here with the people that share the blame with me as opposed to random people where I’m not sure how it will shake out.

It was a dominant performance on every level — social, strategic, and physical. How would you stack yourself up against the Boston Robs and Tom Westmans and other people that have played so well?It’s so hard. I feel like I can’t clearly watch and judge my season. It’s the hardest thing to see it objectively. I understand the comment where it felt like it was a little boring because it felt so dominated. I also feel like people give me too much credit. I’ve been saying that from the beginning. I just went out there like anybody else hoping not to go home first and kept looking up thinking, God, this is going really well. This couldn’t be going better. I don’t know how I would play against a different group of people. you change one thing and I could go home any week against someone else.

Would you play against a different group of people if they asked you to come back?Of course. How do you say no to that?

Okay, the million dollar question, or I suppose the $1,100,000 question: What are you going to do with the money?I had tried so hard not to think about that because I did not want to be disappointed last night, but I definitely have some bills to pay, some small bridal shops I’m excited to put some money into. and spruce up a little bit. I’m going to have some fun with it. I didn’t come from a ton of money, so just getting myself set up in a better way — that’s really appealing to me. and getting to be generous with it with my family and friends.

To read Dalton’s recap of the Survivor: One World finale, click here. also, make sure to read Jeff Probst’s take on the finale here, and also check this article out for some bonus insight from the host on the big twist for next season, Survivor: Philippines. Click on the video player below for an exclusive deleted scene from the finale and for more Survivor news and views all year long, follow Dalton on Twitter @DaltonRoss.

Paul Pierce shrugs off pain

by on May 12, 2012

ATLANTA — going strictly by his 16-point, 7-for-17 performance, including a 4-for-10 first half, you could say that Paul Pierce [stats]’s sore left knee played a role last night.

But the captain wasn’t prepared to go that far after the Celtics [team stats]’ 87-86 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

“I don’t think it bothered me too much,” he said after a brief hesitation. “I tried not to think about it. I was probably a step slower than I usually am, but it didn’t affect me too much. I’m not a riser anyway.”

His health remains a concern for his coach, however.

“With all of our guys. I didn’t think Paul would play the other night, but he does what he does. He’s just such a gamer,” Doc Rivers said before the game. “but we had already tweaked the (Game 3) lineup preparing for him not to play. the fact that he did was a bonus.

“Ray (Allen) feels good, and he’s probably the healthiest,” Rivers said of another banged-up Celtic. “Avery (Bradley) has to be feeling better because he got through the game without any injuries, so that’s two more days of his shoulder being stronger. but honestly you don’t know once the game starts what will happen. you just have to be ready for anything.”

Ryan Hollins was sent into the game to create mayhem under the basket, and performed that task so well the backup center played 19 minutes that were low on stats but high on body count.

“He was terrific,” Rivers said. “He was out there in place of (Greg) Stiemsma, Brandon (Bass), everybody. his energy was great. the one thing you know when Ryan comes into the game is that something is going to happen. It could be good or bad, but something is happening. That’s why we put him in, and we rode him. his energy was great. He’s an instigator with how hard he plays. He gets under people’s skin, and that’s fine by us.”

Allen, who scored 15 points in the loss, was out on the Philips Arena floor shooting yesterday morning as if he had never missed a day. Considering the strain Allen puts on his right ankle simply from his work moving without the ball, his coach is impressed.

“part of what Ray had to get through was getting on the floor, because there was pain involved,” Rivers said. “He had to jump, and once he jumped into the water he found out that he could do more. the thing with him is that his ankle has just reacted on days where you just don’t know when it will happen. He’s playing on eggshells in a lot of ways, and we are with him, because you don’t know his next step. you have to just play him. I was joking with him — I’m going to get every minute out of him just in case. but I think he’s good to go.”

Though he tried working out with a brace on his left shoulder prior to Game 4, Bradley quickly scrapped the device. He has no intention of giving it another try, either.

“I tried it, but it limited me so much that I didn’t feel comfortable with it,” Bradley said. “It not only affected my shooting, but a lot of movements. Raising my hand on the blind side, things like that it limited me a lot.” . . .

KTVN Channel 2 – Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video – Knicks coach not counting on Lin for Game 5

by on May 7, 2012

By BRIAN MAHONEYAP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – Linsanity turned the season around for the Knicks once, and they are even more desperate for help now.

Mike Woodson isn't expecting it.

The interim coach said Monday he wasn't counting on Jeremy Lin to play Wednesday when his short-handed Knicks visit Miami for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

“I'm going at this as if he's not going to play. That's how it's been here for the last month, month and a half, and that's how I'm preparing,” Woodson said during a conference call.

Woodson also knows Baron Davis won't be available after the veteran guard tore ligaments in his right knee.

Lin became the biggest story in the NBA in February when he went from undrafted benchwarmer out of Harvard to starring point guard who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated two weeks in a row. A quicker-than-expected return from knee surgery would be heavily hyped with the Knicks down two point guards and facing elimination against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat. but Lin just may not be ready to attempt it.

“I've watched him shoot and run up and down. He's not in great shape and you know as well as I know that playoff basketball, you've got to be at an all-time high, and he hasn't played in a while,” Woodson said. “So I don't know if that's going to be a determining factor with the doctors, and the fact that he hasn't played. I can say, yes, he looks good, but again, does he feel good? Do the doctors think it's enough time based on the injury that he's had to get him out on the floor? I can't make that decision.”

Davis and Iman Shumpert have been lost to knee injuries during this series, leaving only 33-year-old Mike Bibby and seldom-used Toney Douglas at the point guard spot. Lin is close, but Woodson said that only the player and the team's medical staff would determine when he can get back on the court.

“Again, I'd love to have Jeremy out there on the floor in uniform,” Woodson said. “Don't get me wrong, guys. Jeremy is a big piece of our team. but if the doctors say, 'Mike, we're taking a chance; he shouldn't be out there playing,' I can't be that selfish and say, 'Son, put on a uniform and play.' I mean, I just can't do that.”

Lin has been playing in 3-on-3 workouts after surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee April 2. The Knicks said at the time he was expected to miss six weeks, meaning his season was likely over unless they reached the second round.

He was going to work out again Monday, and the Knicks will practice Tuesday. Woodson said he would prefer to see Lin go through an entire practice with full contact before seeing him in a game against one of the NBA's fiercest defenses. but there's just no time for that.

“So I am a little apprehensive about him possibly coming back. but again, if he comes to me and says, 'Coach, I want to play,' and the doctors say it's all right for him to play – they might put a minute time where he can only play so many minutes. I don't know,” Woodson said.

The Heat harassed Lin into eight turnovers and 1-for-11 shooting in a Feb. 23 victory in Miami, so they'll be ready if Lin is.

“Well, we've seen him before,” forward Chris Bosh said. “And we just have to take the challenge. We're going to challenge him. he hasn't played in a while. It's tough to come back in the playoffs. If he does come back, we'll have a game plan specific for him and just challenge him and just compete.”

Woodson said he was confident in Bibby, his former point guard in Atlanta who made a key 3-pointer with 1:23 left Sunday. And he said he would not push Lin to come back if the player is unsure, even if it gave him a better chance at a victory as he tries to secure his return for next season.

“When you're dealing with professional athletes, I would never put a player in that position and tell him that I think he should play,” Woodson said. “Especially after you've had an injury, because it's just not my place to do that.”

Davis tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee and also has a partial tear of the patellar tendon. he will undergo surgery later this week and likely is out for a year.

AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Perfection Denied – The Patriots Suffer the Toughest Loss in Recent Sports History

by on May 7, 2012

One loss has never loomed so large. it turns out, The New England Patriots are not The Greatest Team of all Time, as they were being hailed. and even though they are going down in history, they’ll be there for all the wrong reasons. They will forever be considered one of sports’ greatest disappointments, grouped with the likes of the 1991 UNLV men’s basketball team, another group that didn’t lose until it mattered most. It’s possible for one loss to overshadow eighteen victories, and we saw it last night. and while I hate to look at a game from the loser’s perspective, the historical aspect of this loss is too hard to ignore.

Lost in all of the talk about perfection is the fact that New England has looked very mortal since late November. Since week 12, when The Pats defeated The Eagles by three, the previously perfect team has only been dominant in one and a half games – on December 9th, when they decimated Pittsburgh, and in the first half of their week 16 game against the hapless Dolphins. The warning signs were there, and we chose to ignore them, likely because their story was so compelling.

Or maybe because Mercury Morris and the ’72 Dolphins are so annoying. Whatever the reason, we dismissed the fact that this was a different Pats team than the one that ran roughshod over their opponents in the first half of the season. we ignored the impact of the loss of Roosevelt Colvin, which caused them to rely too heavily on the aging Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi. we also passed over the loss of Sammy Morris, who was the team’s best running back when he went down with injury. this team made so many adjustments that they didn’t skip a beat in the middle of the season, even with these losses. But something changed along the way. Whether it was fatigue, the impact of injury, or the weight of expectations, New England was no longer invincible in the latter stages of the season. in the playoffs it was more of the same, as they comfortably beat Jacksonville, but slithered by an injury-depleted San Diego team that shockingly outplayed them through three quarters. despite all that, they made the Super Bowl.

They reminded me of the ’95-96 Bulls, who were so dominant in getting off to a 41-3 start to the season, and kept winning, but less decisively, after Scottie Pippen aggravated a back injury and the pressure of winning 70 games became more intense. those Bulls managed to pull through, and even though they stumbled twice in the finals, their championship was never in doubt. There are no best-of-seven series in football, however, and the Pats stumbled at the worst possible time. and, unfortunately for them, this loss becomes as much a part of their legacy as their three wins in four seasons. all year long, they were primed to do the unthinkable, and then yesterday, they did just that, just not in the way that we were expecting.

One game can change so much. bill Belichick was considered by some to be the greatest coach ever, based on his remarkable success during the salary cap era. now, after getting outcoached on the grandest stage (going for it on fourth and 13 instead of kicking a long field goal?), and suffering through a new round of Spygate allegations, he’ll be sure to face more scrutiny than ever before. Tom Brady got outplayed by Eli Manning, and his historic season now carries the same baggage that Peyton Manning’s did in 2004 – remarkable, but incomplete. Randy Moss disappeared throughout the playoffs, and the most prolific offense ever was overwhelmed by the Giants’ pass rush. in our haste to coronate these three, and their team, we missed the obvious – they were the second best team in the league during the playoffs, when true greatness is defined.

Live: Orioles at Red Sox

by on May 7, 2012

Darnell McDonald, who came in as a pinch runner for David Ortiz, took the loss for the Sox after giving up a three-run home run to Adam Jones in the 17th.

He then grounded into the double-play that finally ended the game after six hours, seven minutes.

The Orioles took the lead in the AL East, while the Sox sunk deeper into the bottom of the division.

Will Middlebrooks’s fifth inning grand slam tied the game at 5 and gave the Sox new life.

He became the first Red Sox to hit a grand slam as his first home run since Daniel Nava in 2010.

Clay Buchholz struggled, lasting just 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and getting tagged for three home runs.

JJ Hardy took Buchholz deep twice, and Robert Andino tacked on a three-run homer in the fourth to give Baltimore a 5-1 lead. The Orioles hit seven home runs in the series.

Top of the 17th, Orioles 9, Red Sox 6: The game’s got this twilight-hour loopiness that you’d expect after 17 innings.

After Davis pitched a clean inning, Darnell McDonald’s walked Ryan Flaherty (hard to get a call from the ump when you were yelling in his face earlier in the game), but Flaherty decided to make a break for second and got picked off.

Still, McDonald couldn’t find the plate.

He gave up a double to Hardy, walked Nick Markakis and Adam Jones finally homered to put the Os up again.

Top of the 16th, Orioles 6, Red Sox 6: The game’s reached the point where both managers are scraping the barrel.

Chris Davis is taking the mound for the Orioles.

Darnell McDonald is in the pen for the Sox.

This is clearly about to be the most epic duel ever.

(Actually, Davis, who is 0-for-7 with five strikeouts, might end up having the worst statical day in baseball history if he catches the loss.

Wait … what’s that? he just struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia? Seriously?)

Top of the 15th, Orioles 6, Red Sox 6: Double plays have shot holes in the last four innings for the Orioles. this time Scott Atchison got Adam Jones to bounce out 4-6-3.

Bottom of the 14th, Orioles 6, Red Sox 6: Dustin Pedroia’s entire posture after striking out staring at a curveball sort of sums everything up. he was frozen for a while, then he slumped forward, hands dangling toward the dirt. Then he walked off.

This game’s about to be 15 innings old and even the players can feel it.

Thunder lead 3-0 after 95-79 win in Dallas

by on May 4, 2012

Dirk Nowitzki leaned back in the chair at the podium, trying to explain what went wrong for the Dallas Mavericks once they got home for the playoffs.

There was really only one way to put it after they trailed throughout in a 95-79 loss Thursday night that gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a commanding 3-0 series lead.

“We picked a bad time to put a stinker out there,” Nowitzki said.

After losing the first two games on the road by a combined four points, the defending NBA champions were Thunderstruck by Kevin Durant and young Oklahoma City.

Durant finally found his postseason shooting touch, scoring 15 of his 31 points in the first quarter.

After shooting a combined 15 for 44 in the first two games, though he did have the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds left in the series opener, the three-time NBA scoring champ made 11 of 15 shots in Game 3. Even when he missed the game’s first shot, Serge Ibaka converted a putback to put Oklahoma City ahead to stay.

The Thunder get their first chance to close out the series with Game 4 on Saturday night in Dallas.

“We know we haven’t done anything yet,” Durant said.

While they haven’t won the series yet, the Thunder have put Dallas in an 0-3 hole that no NBA team has ever overcome to win a series.

That means a nearly impossible climb for the Mavs to avoid being the first defending champion knocked out in the first round of the playoffs since Miami five years ago. After beating Dallas in the 2006 NBA finals, the Heat were swept in four games by Chicago in the opening round the next season.

“We’ve got to win A game, `’ Nowitzki said, emphasizing the singular focus. “You’ve got to show some pride on Saturday and just play a better game.”

Nowitzki had 17 points and Jason Kidd 12 for Dallas, which shot only 34 percent (26 of 76).

Russell Westbrook added 20 points for Oklahoma City while Ibaka had 10 points and 11 rebounds. James Harden and Derek Fisher both had 10 points.

Oklahoma City led 16-7 less than 5 minutes into Game 3 after Durant’s alley-oop pass to Ibaka for a layup. the Thunder pushed further ahead with 16-5 runs in both the second and third quarters, the later spurt clinching the game.

Dallas was within five after when Ian Mahinmi had a slam dunk and Jason Kidd drove for a layup in the opening minute of the third quarter before Durant missed a turnaround jumper.

But the Thunder then went on their second 16-5 run, pushing back ahead 66-50 on Thabo Sefolosha’s 3-pointer.

The Mavericks never got closer than 11 points after that, finishing the third quarter only 4-of-18 shooting with four turnovers.

“We never recovered from that,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Our third quarter was up and down. we had a good start, then they came back at us and hit shots and made plays. … they threw a great game at us. we needed to be a lot better than we were.”

Carlisle and the Mavericks were frustrated long before that.

When Kendrick Perkins had a tip-in of Harden’s miss with 4 minutes left in the first quarter, Carlisle was so irate that the field goal wasn’t disallowed for basket interference that he had to be restrained by one of his assistant coaches.

Carlisle charged onto the court screaming and pointing at official Marc Davis. Replays showed Carlisle might have had a good argument, but he got called for a technical foul and Westbrook’s free throw put the Thunder up 21-11, their first double-digit lead.

“There’s been frustration with officials, but we’re not going to make it about officials,” Carlisle said.

Durant’s third 3 later in the first quarter made it 28-13.

Dallas got to 32-28 after Vince Carter scored seven points in the final 1:34 of the first quarter and Delonte West started the second with two free throws. the Thunder then had their first 16-5 run, that spurt ending with consecutive 3s by Fisher and Westbrook for a 48-33 lead.

Harden made a cross-court pass to Fisher in the left corner in front of the Oklahoma City bench. then after a wide-open Shawn Marion fumbled the ball out of bounds under the Dallas basket, Westbrook hit his 3 from near the same spot.

“This might have been one of the best games of the year,” Westbrook said. “Especially on the road and the type game it was.”

For the Mavericks, it might have been one of the worst.

“We’ve got to circle the wagons,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to the get the wheels back on the wagon.”

NOTES: Harden was added earlier Thursday to the list of finalists for the 2012 USA Basketball National Team. Thunder teammates Durant and Westbrook are also finalists for the 12-man U.S. Olympic team roster that will be announced later this year. … Dallas was assessed four technical fouls. like Carlisle, Nowitzki got called for one in the first quarter. West got one in the third quarter when he reached out and grabbed the wrist of official Greg Willard when questioning a call. There was a double technical early in the fourth against Brian Cardinal and Durant.

Thunder lead 3-0 after 95-79 win in Dallas

Devils erupt sans Kovalchuk, pull even with Flyers in East semifinals

by on May 1, 2012

Decrease font Decrease fontEnlarge font Enlarge font Game 2: Devils even series Source:SI The Devils scored four goals in the third period to beat the Flyers 4-1 in Philadelphia and tie their Eastern Conference semifinal at 1-1.

PHILADELPHIA — The game was destined to be about the Ilyas — that is, the Devils’ Kovalchuk and the Flyers’ Bryzgalov.

Kovalchuk, who did not travel with the Devils to Philadelphia on Tuesday, was scratched from the game, suffering from a lower-body injury, reportedly a back ailment. And Bryzgalov, who had backed the Flyers to five wins despite pedestrian numbers, is a nightly question mark — and that’s not just in his postgame interviews. But despite Bryzgalov shining through two periods, it was Kovalchuk’s absence that ultimately spurred the Devils, who won 4-1 in Game 2.

KWAK: Bryzgalov headlines Tuesday’s three Stars

"[Kovalchuk] is a huge part of our team," Devils captain Zach Parise said. "And internally, we knew that everyone’s got to be a little bit better when you don’t have him in the lineup. And tonight, we responded well."

Even without the productive winger — Kovalchuk led New Jersey in shots and goals this season — the Devils offense didn’t stutter, as some would have expected. They fired shots on Bryzgalov like they were taking target practice on the Flyers crest on his sweater; that is, that’s where most of them hit, especially early on.

In a dashing second period, the goalie that everyone loves to quote took everyone’s breath away. And when the 20,131 fans at the Wells Fargo Center finally caught their breath, they began to chant: "Bryz-ga-lov! Bryz-ga-lov!" in a city that has historically run hot and cold with their goalies — usually colder than hot — his 12-save performance in the middle frame had kept the Flyers alive.

"without Bryz there, things could’ve gotten really dangerous out there," said Flyers forward Matt Read. "he kept it close and gave us a chance to win [in the third]. If he plays like that on any given night, it does give us a better opportunity to win."

After hopping onto a 1-0 lead early in the game, when Read baited Devils goalie Martin Brodeur out of the net, then hooked a shot in at 2:53, the Flyers offered little help to their goalie; their offense stagnated. They put up nine shots in the first period — seven in the first 10 minutes — and then it took them 18 minutes and 32 seconds into the second to finally get the puck on New Jersey’s net, a Claude Giroux slapshot from nearly 70 feet out. A Devils player admitted he kept looking up at the shot clock throughout the period, hoping time might expire and the Flyers’ shot total would remain at nine.

"You could tell they were looking up too," he said. "They just wanted to throw anything on net."

"[But] it starts with a guy like Zach," Devils winger David Clarkson said. "we didn’t give up, we kept battling, and when we came in the room between periods, we said to each other, ‘Let’s keep going. Let’s keep working.’"

As has often been the case with this New Jersey team, the persistence finally paid off — and in the player who was inserted into the lineup in lieu of Kovalchuk.

With the teams playing four-on-four early in the third, Devils defenseman Adam Larsson, a 19-year-old rookie who was a healthy scratch throughout the first round, took a pass from forward Dainius Zubrus, who had won a battle for a rebound. Larsson skated in on Bryzgalov and then snapped a shot high on the goalie’s short side from the right dot, equalizing a game that had grown lopsided in a way the scoreboard did not reflect.

Eight minutes later, New Jersey’s Clarkson knocked in the winner, punching in the puck from close range after Bryzgalov had poke-checked it away from Parise. Travis Zajac and Bryce Salvador added insurance — the latter on an empty net — sealing a Devils win that evened the series at 1-1.

It only seemed fair that the goals would pour in for New Jersey, which finished the game with 35 shots. They took advantage of a Flyers team that seemed stale, uninspired through most of the game, and in all three zones. They won one-on-one battles with seeming ease. their puck support was ample and communication sharp, and their ability to rush the Flyers into bad decisions or keep them pinned in their zone for shifts clearly gave the Devils the edge.

"I think [the Devils] showed more desperation than we did all night. that showed in the box score," Flyers forward Danny Briere said. "Even though we were able to be up 1-0 [after two], we didn’t deserve it."

Clearly disappointed by his team’s performance, Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette called the game’s outcome just.

"They were quicker, they were more competitive on the puck than we were," he said. "there are times where a goaltender stands on his head and you’re able to squeak one out, but often times it doesn’t last or hold up…. Bryz was phenomenal tonight, but we have to do a better job in front of him."

Devils erupt sans Kovalchuk, pull even with Flyers in East semifinals

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