The only place Kevin Durant had never won in his career was the Amway Center. He can finally cross that off on his to-do list. The Thunder put an end to the long road drought — they hadn’t won in Orlando in eight years — by staging a big comeback behind Durant to win 105-102 and pushed their winning streak to seven games. Russell Westbrook went off for 29 points and 10 assists, only his second double-digit assist effort this season. Dwight Howard took
It was a Thunder-ous statement in Orlando. Kevin Durant had 38 points, Russell Westbrook 29 as OKC rallied to win. KD poured in 18 in the fourth quarter alone. Dwight Howard, the subject of countless trade rumors, scored 33 in defeat. I’m chalking up a quiet night for Serge Ibaka to his covering Ryan Anderson on the perimeter. It’s hard to block a 3-pointer. Elsewhere MIN @ PHO: Kevin Love was back with a double-double (23 & 10) and Luke Ridnour had
The story of Jeremy Lin has been that of a fairy tale, an unscripted movie, since he took over the reins of the Knicks some three weeks ago. Capturing the hearts of basketball fans around the globe, he answered all questions and exceeded all expectations one big game after another, be it Kobe Bryant or the NBA champs. On Thursday, Lin faced LeBron James and the suffocating defense of the Miami Heat. The best team in the league came prepared to
It was about time for Jeremy Lin to have a bad game. Everyone does. The ferocious Miami defense harassed the Knicks’ PG into eight turnovers, and held him to 1-11 shooting. Don’t panic; the Heat can do this to a lot of teams. Amare Stoudamire turned the ball over six times and had just 13 points, and while Carmelo Anthony scored 19, he shot 7-20 with five FG attempts blocked. Only J.R. Smith and Steve Novak seemed unaffected by the
MIAMI – The Miami Heat have been playing better than ever during the past 10 days. Think about that. Better than ever. Last season the Heat had stretches in which they won 21 of 22 games, and 15 of 18 games. Yet this is the best stretch ever. That’s not me talking, that’s Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. The Heat are on a six-game winning streak over the past 10 days, and five of those wins were blowout victories on the road. Those
Amar’e Stoudemire is an afterthought, and Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler are hurt. So meet the new “Big Three” of the New York Knicks – Jeremy Lin, J.R. Smith and Steve Novak. The trio combined to lead the Knicks to a nationally televised 104-97 victory over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, their eight win in nine games. Remember the calls for coach Mike D’Antoni’s job and the blind hope that Baron Davis and his balky back would be the season’s savior?
Dirk? Apparently, the Western Conference coaches chose this year’s All-Star reserves based upon last year’s accomplishments. The 14 All-Star reserves were announced tonight on TNT, and there were a couple of surprises. None was bigger than the selection of Nowitzki, who is averaging the lowest numbers since his sophomore season. His points per game (17.6) are down 5.4 from last season, his field-goal percentage has dropped from.517 to .461, and whose 3-point percentage has nosedived from .393 to .211. He even acknowledged recently
Greatness up in the air