Johnson, Durant Earn Weekly Honors The Atlanta Hawks’ Joe Johnson and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played March 19-25. Johnson led the Hawks to a 4-1 week with averages of 23.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Johnson hit game-tying three-pointers vs. Cleveland on March 21 and Utah on March 25, as well as the game-winning three-pointer at Washington on March 24. Durant’s 29.5 ppg
You have to wonder what criteria the NBA is using to determine its Players of the Week. Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, who averaged 33.5 points, 15.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from 3-point range, somehow did not win Western Conference Player of the Week honors announced Monday. That honor went to Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant, whose numbers were 29.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting under 50 percent (42-of-86)
Kobe Bryant watched from the bench for a key stretch of the fourth quarter as his Los Angeles Lakers suffered a rare home loss. Dwyane Wade watched LeBron James dominate the ball and didn’t attempt a single shot in the final 12 minutes as the Miami Heat got soundly defeated in Oklahoma City. Do we have a pair of controversies on two of the NBA’s marquee teams? On a Sunday that included a possible NBA finals preview, the first quadruple-overtime game in 15
Arguably the NBA’s best two players go head-to-head for the first time this season on Sunday when LeBron James and the Miami Heat visit Kevin Durant and the Thunder in Oklahoma City. The outcome of this game could impact the finals if these two clubs are to meet there. At 35-11 the Heat, second to the East-leading Chicago Bulls (40-10), are percentage points ahead of the West-leading Thunder (36-12). Home-court advantage during the finals is given to the owner of the better regular-season
Who has time for the NBA during the NCAA Tournament? We do. And on Friday night, you should have made time, too. From John Rohde of the Daily Oklahoman: “Inside one locker room sat a player who had just set a single-game franchise record for points scored, while four chairs away sat a teammate who had collected his first career triple-double with 25 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. And this was on the losing team. Inside the victorious locker room across
Chris Bosh is on a roll. His 29 points on 12-16 shooting, plus 8 REB and a couple of STL, led the Heat to an exciting, come-from-behind win over the inspired Suns. LeBron James was shaken up twice but stayed in the game and finished with 20. Though Dexter Pittman got his first start because Joel Anthony has a sore ankle, he played less than 14 minutes while Udonis Haslem (15 & 9) got most of the work. Grant Hill led
The Los Angeles Clippers have won two straight games by a total of eight points. Both wins, which allowed the Clippers to shave one game off of the L.A. Lakers’ lead in the Pacific Division, came down to late-game heroics by Chris Paul. Late in Saturday’s 95-91 victory over the Houston Rockets, Paul scored 10 consecutive points in less than 2 1/2 minutes, beginning with a 16-foot jumper at the 2:42 mark of the fourth quarter, to bring the Clippers
