Thunder Tops Hawks for 12th Straight Win
photo taken by Jim Folsom 12-19-12
The Oklahoma City Thunder don’t have very many losses to avenge this season. They’ve only lost four times. But in the last week, they have avenged two of the four. Last week they beat the San Antonio Spurs to get even for an opening night loss, and on Wednesday, they squared things with the Atlanta Hawks, making up for dropping one to them at home early on. The Thunder beat the Hawks in Atlanta 100-92 for their 12th straight win. Oklahoma City is an NBA best 21-4. The other two Thunder losses are to the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics. They get a shot at Memphis on January 31st but will have to wait until March 10 for a crack at the Celtics.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 41 points while Russell Westbrook added 27 points. That’s 68 out of the Thunder’s 100 points between their two young guns. Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 19 points, Josh Smith had 17 points and Al Horford and Lou Williams had 13 each. But the Hawks could not slow down Durant. They zoned and they double teamed him, but Durant was red hot, especially in the second half when he scored 28 points, 18 in the fourth quarter.
The New York Knicks welcomed Carmelo Anthony back into the lineup after missing two games due to a sprained ankle. Anthony led the led with 31 points on their 100-86 win over their cross town rival Brooklyn Nets. It was the third meeting between the two teams already this season and the second won by the Knicks. J.R. Smith added 19 points and Tyson Chandler added 16 as the Knicks took control in the second half.
The score was 52-48 at the half in favor of the Knicks but they clamped down in the second half on the defensive end, allowing only 19 points in both the third and fourth quarters. The Knicks are now 19-6 while the Nets fall to 13-12.
The Orlando Magic won their fourth in a row over the pesky Washington Wizards 90-83. Orlando got 17 points from J.J. Redick off the bench as well as E’Twaun Moore chipping in 15. Arron Afflalo also had 15 and Glen Davis added 12. The Magic improved to 12-13 on the season while the Wizards fell to 3-20. 16 of Washington’s losses have been single digit margins.
The news was not all good for Orlando however as Davis crashed to the floor in the final minute and had to be helped to the locker room with what appears to be a separated shoulder.
The Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons 97-91. The Raptors have now won four in a row. Demar DeRozan led the Raptors with 23 points and Alan Anderson added 16 for the 8-19 Raptors. The Pistons are now 7-21.
The Indiana Pacers whipped the Utah Jazz by 20 points Gerald Green led he Pacers with 21 points and Paul George and George Hill added 20 points a piece to run their record to 14-12. The Jazz dropped to 14-13.
