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Kings-Thunder Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN

Posted Apr 15 2013 1:58AM With only two games remaining, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a big leg up in the race for the Western Conference's No. 1 seed. A matchup against the lowly Sacramento Kings should help them finally claim it. The Thunder can secure the West's top spot with a win over the visiting Kings, who try to avoid a 12th defeat in 13 matchups in the series Monday night. Oklahoma City (59-21) got some help Sunday from the Los Angeles Lakers, whose 91-86 victory over San Antonio moved the Thunder one game ahead of the Spurs in the West. Oklahoma City, which owns the tiebreaker over San Antonio, can now clinch home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Kings (28-52). If their recent efforts in the series are any indication, the Thunder have to like their chances of doing just that. Oklahoma City has taken 11 of 12 from Sacramento, including each of the last five matchups. Oklahoma City has also outscored the Kings by an average of 13.8 points during an eight-game home winning streak. The Thunder have compiled a 23-2 home record against fellow West opponents. Oklahoma City returns home after sweeping a three-game road trip. Russell Westbrook scored 17 of his 33 points in the third quarter as the Thunder beat Portland 106-90 Friday for their ninth win in 11 games. "He was drinking some of that Space Jam juice in here at halftime," Kevin Durant said of Westbrook. "But really, we're just playing the way we need to play right now." Oklahoma City clinched its third consecutive Northwest Division title earlier in the night when Dallas beat Denver in overtime. "That wasn't a given," Westbrook said about the division title. "A lot of guys came back better, and we've put in a lot of work to put ourselves in a position to win it again." The Thunder, who shot 51.9 percent and limited the Trail Blazers to 40.9 percent, improved to 27-2 when making at least half their shots. "There's a reason they went to the Finals last year and are fighting for the No. 1 seed in the West," Portland rookie Will Barton said. "They're getting ready for the playoffs, so that's what you expect from them." Oklahoma City now turns its attention to a Kings team that's dropped six of seven. In Sunday's 121-100 loss at Houston, Sacramento allowed the Rockets to shoot 54.2 percent and gave up a season worst-tying 33 fast-break points. The Kings are 0-22 when letting opponents shoot better than 50.0 percent. Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins went a combined 5 for 18 from the field and finished with just 10 and eight points, respectively. Thomas, though, added a season-high 10 assists. "That wasn't really a fun event there," coach Keith Smart said. While not much has gone their way this season, the Kings are at least hoping to finish strong. They know they'll have their hands full against the Thunder before concluding their schedule Wednesday against the Clippers. "One thing this group has done, and I got to give it to this group, is that (when) we take the lump and get hit on the chin, this group all year long has been able to move on," Smart said. "We're going into Oklahoma City, another top-level team, and you must again come out and try to play." Averaging a team-leading 16.9 points, Cousins has been limited to 12.0 on 32.1 percent shooting in two losses to the Thunder this season. Oklahoma City's Kevin Martin is averaging 21.0 points against Sacramento - 7.0 better than his season mark and his best against any opponent. The former King sat out Friday with back spasms and his status is uncertain.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Thunder clinch West's top seed, beat Kings 104-95

By JEFF LATZKE

Posted Apr 16 2013 12:07AM OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn't coast to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook teamed up for 50 points and needed to return in the fourth quarter to hold off a Sacramento charge, and the Thunder clinched the top seed in the West by beating the Sacramento Kings 104-95 on Monday night. It was the 60th win for the franchise, which last accomplished the feat 15 years ago in Seattle. The team hasn't been the top seed in the West since 1996, when the SuperSonics went to the NBA Finals before losing to Michael Jordan's Bulls. "We've never done it here before, so it's new to us," said Durant, who scored 29. "But it feels good. It shows our progression as a franchise each and every year." Tyreke Evans, the Kings' second-leading scorer, did not return after grabbing at his troublesome left knee following a drive to the basket late in the first quarter. Without him, Sacramento fell hopelessly behind before mounting a flurry with the Thunder's stars on the bench. Durant hit a 3-pointer and Westbrook set up Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam during a string of 11 straight Thunder points midway through the third quarter that stretched the lead to 75-51. Sacramento was able to cut the deficit to 11 early in the fourth quarter and force coach Scott Brooks to put Durant and Westbrook back in and close out the game. "To get 60 wins is quite an accomplishment," Brooks said. "We've come a long ways through the hard work our entire organization has put in." Westbrook didn't make it until the very end, drawing his second technical foul of the game with 2:28 left after spiking the basketball following Travis Outlaw's dunk that brought Sacramento within 100-88. The two technical fouls brought Westbrook's total to 15 for the season, one short of the number that would draw him an automatic one-game suspension. Westbrook, who had 21 points, left the arena without speaking to reporters. It appeared as though he - along with Durant and Ibaka - wouldn't return after Westbrook was called for a technical foul with 3:04 left in the third quarter for complaining to referee David Guthrie that he had been hit in the face with no foul called. Westbrook continued complaining until Guthrie instructed reserve Daniel Orton to lead Westbrook to the bench with Oklahoma City leading 76-55. But the Kings soon pieced together a 12-2 comeback late in the third quarter, and Brooks called timeout after Sacramento scored six straight points to cut the lead to 84-73 with 9 1/2 minutes left. Durant and Westbrook returned, and Sacramento couldn't get within double digits until Jimmer Fredette's four-point play with 7.8 seconds to go. "With the second-best team in the NBA, you can't get down early," said Isaiah Thomas, who led Sacramento with 16 points. "You can't get down 18 to 20 points. It's going to be a hell of a job to make a comeback. We fought, though, in that third and fourth quarter." Outlaw scored 15 and Cole Aldrich had a double-double for the second straight game by tying his career best with 12 points and setting a career high with 13 rebounds. Leading scorer Demarcus Cousins, who was allowed to play after the NBA rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season, had just seven points and six rebounds and didn't play in the fourth quarter. Evans, who missed 16 games from late November through early January because of left knee injuries, clutched at the front of that knee as he lay under the basket following an awkward landing. His right foot appeared to slip on the court as his left leg folded up underneath him. Outlaw and a trainer helped him off the court and down a tunnel to the locker room with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. A team spokesman described the injury as a left quadriceps strain. "I definitely thought it was his knee, and he thought it was his knee as well," Smart said. "We thought maybe when he fell and he hit the floor that maybe when they fell on it that maybe his knee had thrust into the floor. "But then once he got in the back and realized that it wasn't the knee. It was more the quad. I think it scared him more than anything else, thinking right away it was the knee. Just happy that it was just a quad and a couple weeks of rest and he'll be back to normal." Smart said he won't let Evans, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, play in the team's final game Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. "No need for him to go out there and limp around or try to do anything else to that," he said. "So it'll be a fight between Tyreke and I. We'll do it behind closed doors, but it doesn't warrant for him to get out there and try to do something." The Thunder scored the first eight points of the game and didn't relinquish the lead, despite losing Thabo Sefolosha and Hasheem Thabeet to two fouls apiece within the first 7 minutes. The Kings got as close as one and were down 20-16 after Evans' layup. "It shows that we're improving every year, and it's a big number," Sefolosha said. "There's not a lot of teams that can do it. To be a part of that group and just to get to that number, it's big." Notes: While Durant is trailing New York's Carmelo Anthony in his bid to win a fourth straight NBA scoring title, Brooks thinks another feat would be equally impressive. Durant is trying to become the sixth player in league history to shoot at least 50 percent on field goals, 40 percent on 3-pointers and 90 percent on free throws for a season. The others are Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Larry Bird. "To be able to score as many points as he has scored and shoot that well is pretty impressive. It doesn't happen that often," Brooks said. Brooks actually came close in Houston's 1993-94 championship season, making 48 percent on field goals, 38 percent on 3s and 87 percent at the foul line. ... It was the second straight April that Cousins was able to play at Oklahoma City only after a technical foul was rescinded. "You want to get it to where those things are all behind us," Smart said, "where we don't worry about any of those things anymore, to where we can focus on just the game and focus on the opponent."

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Thunder 104, Kings 95

Randy Renner, for NBA.com

Posted Tue Apr 16, 2013 1:08 AM - Updated Tue Apr 16, 2013 1:08 AM THE FACTS: It wasn't pretty, in fact there were times when it was downright ugly but the Oklahoma City Thunder held off a stubborn Sacramento Kings squad 104-95 to win their 60th game of the season and clinch the top seed in the upcoming Western Conference playoffs. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook again powered the Thunder and because the Kings refused to fold had to play more minutes than perhaps they'd planned. Durant played 37:20 and scored 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting. He was also 3-for-5 on threes. Durant added eight assists, seven rebounds and two blocks. Westbrook was not as efficient, scoring 21 points on 8-for-19. He also lost control of his emotions a couple of times and picked up two technical fouls in the second half. His second brought an automatic ejection and brought his season "tech" total to 15 with one game left in the regular season. Serge Ibaka finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. The Kings were led by point guard Isaiah Thomas, who finished with 16 points and hit four 3-pointers. He was the only Sacramento starter in double figures. Travis Outlaw came off the bench to score 15 points and Cole Aldrich, a former Thunder backup center, came off the bench to drop a dozen on his former mates on 6-for-6 shooting. Kings leading scorer DeMarcus Cousins was held to just seven points on 2-for-9 shooting and Tyreke Evans finished with eight points before leaving the game in the first quarter with a strained quad. The Thunder went deep into their bench. Starting center Kendrick Perkins and sixth man Kevin Martin were held out of their second straight game with minor injuries. The 60 wins marks the fourth time the Thunder franchise has reached that elite total and the first since the team moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle. It's also the first time the Thunder have clinched the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. QUOTABLE: "60 wins, guys, I'm excited. 50 is a great number and anytime you can get to 60 it's special. It's great, you set goals at the start of the season you wanna work to get to 60 wins and it's quite an accomplishment. We've come a long way." -- Thunder coach Scott Brooks THE STAT: The last season the franchise was in Seattle the Sonics won only 20 games. The Thunder's first season in OKC the win total increased by just three to 23. Since then the Thunder have won 212 games and increased their winning percentage from .280 in 2008-09 to .741 going into Wednesday night's game against Milwaukee. QUOTABLE II: "It feels good but we still have a lot of work to do. It's new to us (60 wins) we've never done it before but it does feel good. We just gotta keep trying to get better." -- Durant TURNING POINT: The Kings kept creeping closer in the fourth quarter and the Thunder saw a 24-point lead shrink down to 10 with just under five minutes to play. Rookie Jeremy Lamb then had a put back and dropped in two floaters to give the Thunder a little more breathing room and secure the win. QUOTABLE III: "They've got some phenomenal players that make great plays but I thought our guys did a great job of trying to battle this basketball team but we turned it over a little too much and got them in transition too much." -- Kings coach Keith Smart HOT: Durant was 7-for-12 (18 points) at halftime and he was 3-for-4 (11 points) in the second half. ... Lamb was 4-for-8 (eight points) in the fourth quarter. ... The Kings were 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) in the fourth quarter. NOT: The Kings started the game shooting just 33.3 percent (7-for-21) through the first quarter. ... Cousins and Jason Thompson were each 1-for-5 in the opening quarter. ... Westbrook started just 2-for-8. ... OKC shot just 33.3 percent (9-for-27) in the final 12 minutes. INSIDE THE ARENA: The 106th consecutive sell-out inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. GOOD MOVE: Brooks said before the game he wanted his defense to control Cousins and in the first half it certainly did. Even without low post defender Kendrick Perkins who sat out with tightness in his right hamstring, OKC held Cousins to just five points on 1-for-6 shooting in the first 24 minutes. BAD MOVE: The Thunder dominated this game in the painted area scoring 62 points but too many times OKC settled for a long range jumper instead of taking the ball inside. Those 3-balls OKC kept firing up seldom went in (5-for-21 halfway through the fourth quarter). NOTABLE: Kings guard Tyreke Evans had to be carried off the court and then into the Sacramento locker room late in the first quarter with what appeared to be a serious injury to his left knee. It was later diagnosed as a strained left quad. Evans did not return to the game. UP NEXT: For the Kings, Wednesday vs. L.A. Clippers. For the Thunder, Wednesday vs. Milwaukee. Playoffs will begin Saturday or Sunday in Oklahoma City.