Kings-Thunder Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Apr 23 2012 2:54PM

As the Oklahoma City Thunder move closer to beginning the playoffs, their major concern is the health of key reserve James Harden.

It's unlikely that Harden will play in the Thunder's two remaining regular-season games at home, beginning with Tuesday night's matchup against the Sacramento Kings.

Harden was the victim of Metta World Peace's vicious elbow during the second quarter of Sunday's 114-106 double-overtime road loss to the Lakers. The Thunder swingman dropped to the court and stayed down for about a minute before heading to the locker room.

Oklahoma City (46-18) hasn't announced whether Harden, who leads the NBA as a reserve with 16.9 points per game, has a concussion.

"I'm just happy my teammate is all right," Kevin Durant said. "It was a bad play. Hopefully Ron (World Peace) didn't do it intentionally or have any malicious intentions on that. We've got to move past that."

The Thunder led by 16 points after three quarters Sunday, but were undone by poor shooting performances by Durant and Russell Westbrook. Durant made 11 of 34 shots for 35 points and Westbrook was 3 of 22 for 14, although he handed out 10 assists.

"I believe in Kevin, I believe in Russell, I believe in what our guys do," coach Scott Brooks said. "Some nights they're not going to fall for you, but if the execution is good and the shots are good, you have to live with the results."

Durant outscored the Lakers' Kobe Bryant by nine as the race for the NBA scoring title remains tight. Durant leads the league with a 27.91 average while Bryant is right behind him at 27.86.

Oklahoma City closes the regular season by hosting Denver on Wednesday before Los Angeles plays its finale Thursday in Sacramento.

Facing the Thunder and Lakers to finish a sixth straight losing season won't be easy for the Kings (21-43), especially if DeMarcus Cousins is unavailable Tuesday.

Cousins picked up his 13th technical foul, which comes with an automatic one-game suspension, in Sunday's 114-88 victory at Charlotte. He and Bobcats rookie Bismack Biyombo drew a double technical as they exchanged words while running down the court after a Sacramento basket.

"It's part of being DeMarcus Cousins," said Cousins, who also said he plans to appeal to the league.

The 26-point win was the largest margin of victory this season for the Kings, who built a 22-8 lead eight minutes into the mismatch.

"I thought we had the right energy from our starting lineup," coach Keith Smart said. "We got off to the great start that we needed and we sustained it through the half."

Sacramento won 106-101 over Oklahoma City in the first meeting Feb. 9 before the Thunder responded with two victories in the series by an average of 18.5 points this month. Durant is averaging 28.3 points and Westbrook 24.3 against the Kings in 2011-12.

The Thunder have taken six straight at home in the series.

Durant scores 32, reserves get Thunder past Kings

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Apr 25 2012 12:32AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) When Oklahoma City Thunder All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook head to the bench to rest in the fourth quarter, that's usually James Harden's time to take over.

Daequan Cook proved to be the perfect substitute for the NBA's top-scoring bench player.

Durant scored 32 points and Cook had all 19 of his points in the fourth quarter to rally the Thunder to a 118-110 win against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night in their first game since Harden took an elbow to the head.

Harden wasn't able to pass league-mandated tests to allow him to return after the concussion he suffered when he was hit by the Los Angeles Lakers' Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest.

Cook broke out of a slump to help ease that pain, at least for one game.

"He's a big factor on our bench. Not just our bench but our whole team," Cook said. "The bench guys had to step up big."

Cook started the fourth quarter with a jumper and a 3-pointer to erase a four-point deficit, and he went on to score Oklahoma City's first 14 points of the period and put the Thunder ahead for the first time since the first quarter.

"Fortunately with James out, Daequan was that guy," Durant said. "He was able come through for us and make some really big shots."

The performance by Cook and the other backups was enough to convince coach Scott Brooks to leave his starters on the sideline in a game without much on the line.

The Thunder are locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs but did ensure that they'll finish ahead of Miami - the No. 2 team in the East - and would have home-court advantage if that star-studded NBA finals materializes.

DeMarcus Cousins led Sacramento with 32 points after finding out about 3 hours before game time that the league had rescinded his 13th technical foul and he wouldn't have to serve a one-game suspension.

The Kings were without leading scorer Marcus Thornton for the third straight game with a left quad contusion, and reserve Terrence Williams was out sick.

Travis Outlaw moved into the starting lineup and scored a season-high 20 points, surpassing 10 for only the fourth time this season. Jason Thompson scored 22, Tyreke Evans had 18 and Isaiah Thomas 11 as all five Sacramento starters hit double figures.

The youthful Kings will try to avoid finishing the season with the West's worst record when they host the Lakers on Thursday night.

"You can see upside but it's not much that you want to talk about," Thompson said. "You want to be about it."

Durant extended his lead in a tight NBA scoring race with the Lakers' Kobe Bryant despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter. Durant, who moved into the lead Sunday, is averaging 27.97 points per game to Bryant's 27.86 with each having one game left.

"Hopefully it's a fun one. That's what the fans want to see, I guess," Durant said. "But for me as a player, all I'm worried about is getting better."

Bryant will get the last chance to move ahead, playing a night after Oklahoma City's regular-season finale Wednesday night against Denver.

"I don't care about that," Bryant said. "If I did, I would have went for 50 (last week) in San Antonio. They were playing me straight-up in single coverage."

Sacramento made 18 of its 22 shots (82 percent) in the first quarter and then scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second to go up 50-37. Oklahoma City closed to within 59-57 by halftime, only to give up a 10-0 run in the third that pushed the lead back out to 13.

Royal Ivey put Oklahoma City ahead to stay with a long jumper from the left side with 3 minutes left, and Cook's 3-pointer in transition extended the lead to 114-107 with 44.9 seconds left. Cole Aldrich hit all four of his free throws to close it out.

Cook had made only 11 of 37 shots (30 percent) since returning from a sprained right knee earlier this month.

"DC is a terrific shooter but he has to continue to believe in that shot and keep shooting it," Brooks said. "I thought the last five or six games when he missed a shot, he kind of got down on himself and was concerned about the next one. If you do that, you can never make the next shot."

Cook said he still wasn't completely healthy and then was asked what percentage he's playing at right now.

"I couldn't tell you," he said. "But after tonight, I feel a little better."

NOTES: Sacramento's first-quarter shooting barrage was the fourth-best in the NBA this season, according to STATS LLC. Indiana went 14 for 16 (88 percent) in the first quarter against Washington on April 4. Denver shot 84 percent against Detroit on March 21 and Miami shot 82 percent against Milwaukee on Feb. 1. ... The Kings haven't won consecutive games since a three-game streak ended on March 20. ... Oklahoma City is 3-0 without Harden, who averages 16.8 points - tops among NBA reserves.

Notebook: Thunder

Posted Tuesday April 24, 2012 11:58PM

By Randy Renner, NBA.com

THE FACTS: Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant scored 32 points in 32 minutes to gain a little ground on Kobe Bryant for the NBA scoring title and his Thunder teammates rallied from 13 points down to beat the Sacramento Kings 118-110 inside sold-out Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City trailed much of the game but used 36 fourth quarter points from bench players to grab the win. Durant's 32 led the Thunder, he also pulled down nine rebounds. OKC's 3-point specialist Daequan Cook came off the bench to score 19 points, all in the final frame, on 6-for-9 shooting (4-for-5 on 3-pointers). Russell Westbrook added 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out six assists. The Kings had three players score at least 20 points led by center DeMarcus Cousins who managed to play only because the NBA rescinded his 13th technical foul of the year shortly before tipoff and he avoided being suspended. Jason Thompson added 22 and Travis Outlaw dropped in 20. The Kings have now lost nine of their last 11 games. Oklahoma City is going the other direction winning for the seventh time in the last 10 games.

QUOTABLE: "After the first quarter (when Sacramento scored 40 points) we played better defense. DC (Cook) hit big shot after big shot and I thought Derek (Fisher) was great leading the second unit. But our defense was only good in spurts tonight, not what we need it to be."
-- Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.

THE STAT: The Thunder bench scored 36 points in the fourth quarter on 11-for-19 shooting (57.9 percent) and hit all but one of their 11 free throw attempts.

TURNING POINT: The Thunder trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half but had cut the gap down to just four points (86-82) going into the fourth quarter. That's when Brooks made the decision of the game, letting his bench guys play the rest of the way. They outscored the Kings 36-24 to win the game.

QUOTABLE II: "That was somewhat the general plan (to leave the bench in for the entire fourth quarter). Going into the game I thought our starters probably wouldn't play in the fourth quarter."
-- Brooks.

HOT: Both teams got off to blazing starts...the Kings hit seven of their first eight shots (87.5 percent) and the Thunder started the game 6-for-8 (75 percent)...Sacramento finished the first quarter 18-for-22 (81.8 percent) and OKC ended the first 12 minutes shooting 61.1 percent (11-for-18)...Kevin Durant was 5-for-8 (16 points) in the first quarter...Cousins was 7-for-11 in the first half and 6-for-11 in the second half.

NOT: After scoring 40 points on 81.8 percent shooting in the first quarter the Kings put just 19 on the board in the second quarter on 33.3 percent shooting...Westbrook was 3-for-11 in the first 24 minutes...Kings guard Isaiah Thomas was 1-for-6 in the second half...Durant was 2-for-8 after halftime.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The Thunder had a special assistant coach with them all day long. 17-year-old Lorelei Decker, a cancer patient and student at an Oklahoma City area high school asked the Oklahoma Make-A-Wish Foundation to be a Thunder coach for a day. Her wish was granted by the team and head coach Brooks. Decker had breakfast and lunch with the coaches at the Thunder practice facility and participated in the team shoot-around. Lorelei then sat courtside as a guest of the Thunder.

GOOD MOVE: Before the game Thunder head coach Brooks said he thought, "it would be cool," if Durant won his third straight scoring title. Brooks allowed his three-time All-Star to play 32 of the game's first 36 minutes and his teammates fed him the ball late in the third quarter. Durant responded by scoring 32 points in those 32 minutes to gain a little more ground on the Lakers Kobe Bryant.

NOTABLE: Thunder sixth man James Harden was not at the arena tonight as he continues to recover from a concussion he suffered Sunday after being elbowed by Laker forward Metta World Peace. Harden will continue to undergo tests. He is being listed as day-to-day but Harden is unlikely to play Wednesday against the Nuggets. Asked what he thought of the seven game suspension handed out to World Peace, Brooks said only, "That's a league issue. We're just focused on making sure James comes back healthy and we finish strong. I don't have anything else to say about it."

UP NEXT: For the Kings, Thursday vs. LA Lakers. For the Thunder, Wednesday vs. Denver, Saturday or Sunday Game 1 in the First Round of the NBA Playoffs.

• Kings: Salmons
• Thunder: Harden, Maynor

• Kings: Evans
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #65 Sean Wright, #79 Kevin Scott
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:21