Katzen Allerlei » career, but doesnt do enough otherwise to h

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durants rare streak of games with least 25 points continued, and San Antonios run of 19 straight wins came to a halt. Another streak might mean more than both of them -- Oklahoma Citys season sweep. Durant scored 28 points and Russell Westbrook scored 27 to help the Thunder defeat San Antonio 106-94 on Thursday night in a showdown of the top two teams in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City won all four games against the Spurs this season, and this was the most lopsided result. "Thats a big thing," Westbrook said. "When you have a team thats a good basketball team -- theyre the No. 1 team in the West, and we want to be the best team, youve got to beat the best. I think we did a great job of that tonight." Serge Ibaka added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who trail San Antonio by three games with eight remaining. Durant scored at least 25 points for the 39th consecutive game, the longest streak since Michael Jordan did it 40 consecutive times during the 1986-87 season. He reached 25 on a free throw with 3:31 remaining, drawing a roar from the crowd. "That was a cool feeling," Durant said. "I dont want to take those moments for granted. Its not what Im really playing the game for, but it is still cool to see that support from such great fans, no matter what." Durant can match Jordans mark, the longest such streak in the past 50 years, Friday in Houston. "Thats a lot of games to be scoring 25 points in a row," Westbrook said. "You cant just not think about that. Thats an unbelievable stat. I think he may just finish the season doing that. He does that in his sleep." The Thunder shot 59 per cent in the second half to pull away. Oklahoma City scored 30 points off San Antonios 19 turnovers. "Too many turnovers led to too many points, and thats the ballgame," San Antonio guard Danny Green said. "If we changed that, its probably a totally different game." Patty Mills scored 21 points and Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan each added 17 for the Spurs, who hadnt lost since Feb. 21. "We never thought about the streak in the first place," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "To us, it is just another game." Spurs reserve Manu Ginobili did not play. The veteran guard was not listed on the injury report, and Popovich did not explain why Ginobili was out. Oklahoma City trailed 51-43 in the second quarter before Westbrook drained a 3-pointer, then made a layup with 2.6 seconds left in the first half to cut the deficit to 51-48 at halftime. Westbrook had struggled with his shot before that flurry. "You may miss a few shots here and there, but youve got to keep your mind in the game and stay in the moment," Westbrook said. The Thunder continued their surge in the second half. Rookie Andre Roberson hit a 3-pointer gave the Thunder a 57-56 lead. A lob from Reggie Jackson to Durant for a dunk gave Oklahoma City a 75-65 lead. Durant hit a running jumper in the closing seconds of the third quarter to put the Thunder up 80-71. He scored 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the period. Oklahoma City pushed its lead to 16, but San Antonio went on an 8-0 run to pull to 91-83. The Thunder regained control. Westbrook got into the open court, clutched and threw down a reverse dunk to bump Oklahoma Citys lead back up to 95-83 with 5:25 to play. "We just made the second and third efforts," Durant said. "We did a good job of helping each other on the defensive end, and once you do that, you give yourself a good chance." The Spurs said they will study the game and move forward. "You can learn a lot from a loss," Green said. "Obviously, Id rather learn from a win, but sometimes, you feel like you can learn more from a loss. Well go back to the drawing board tonight." NOTES: Jackson played after sitting the previous two games with a mid-back sprain. ... Thunder C Kendrick Perkins returned to action after missing the previous 17 games with a left groin strain he suffered against the Miami Heat. ... Duncan and Perkins got tangled up early in the third quarter, and both were issued technical fouls. Perkins had his arm around Duncan, Duncan threw it off, and Perkins shoved Duncan. ... Thunder reserve F Nick Collison left the game in the third quarter after he took an elbow to the head from San Antonio reserve F Jeff Ayres and was bleeding. He got four staples and was ready to play early in the fourth quarter. ... Westbrook was issued a technical with 1:07 remaining after arguing with the officials. Nike Free Discount . The best round belonged to Pat Perez. Tiger Woods didnt come close to claiming either Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open, where the seven-time champion failed to break par in the opening round for first time in his career. Cheap Nike Free Shoes . At times during a solid but not spectacular season, they looked all three. Still the defending AFC champions persevered, riding their top-ranked defence and key contributions from younger players to a 12-4 record and their eighth playoff appearance since 2000, remarkable consistency in a league where change is the only constant. http://www.cheapnikefree.us/ . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. Nike Free Online Sale . - Florida State has suspended Jameis Winston for the entire game against Clemson on Saturday, extending its initial punishment of one half after the quarterback made offensive and vulgar comments about female anatomy earlier this week. Nike Free Shoes Sale .com) - The surprising Calgary Flames host the winless New Jersey Devils at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.The Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks hooked up for a deal involving six players and a couple of draft picks. Numbers Game breaks down the deal sending Tyson Chandler back to Dallas. The Mavericks Get: C Tyson Chandler and PG Raymond Felton. Chandler, 31, returns to Dallas, where he was a critical part of their 2011 NBA Championship squad, and gives the Mavericks a more formidable presence in the paint. Chandler is not particularly durable, having missed 65 games over three seasons in New York and there are signs that his game is declining -- his .593 field goal percentage and 16.48 Player Efficiency Rating last season were his lowest since 2009-2010 and his estimated points allowed per possession was his highest since 2008-2009. Those statistical declines could be a reflection of Chandlers unimpressive supporting cast in New York, or it could be an indication of a 31-year-old centre who missed 20 games with a broken leg last season, but Chandler had more productive years in the previous two seasons with the Knicks. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2011-2012 and made the All-Defensive First Team in 2012-2013. The Mavericks need Chandler to stay healthy -- the only time in the past six years that he played more than 67 games in a season was his season in Dallas (2010-2011) -- and provide the same sound defensive presence for which hes been known, at least prior to 2013-2014. Chandler is entering the final year of his contract and it pays him nearly $14.6-million. Thats pretty good motivation to have a strong year, either to get an extension from the Mavs or hit the open market next summer. Felton is a 29-year-old point guard who has had ups and downs in his career, and is currently at a low point, having scored a career-low 9.7 points per game while shooting 39.5% from the field, his lowest since 2006-2007, last season. His 12.90 PER last season was the worst of his nine-year NBA career. Earlier in his career, Felton was a durable player, but hes missed 53 games over the past three seasons. Questionable conditioning has likely contributed to his increasing rate of injuries. On top of his poor performance on the court, Felton recently reached an agreement to a plea deal on a gun possession charge, so its probably best for him to get a fresh start somewhere else. Feltons not a strong defender, lacking the lateral quickness to handle other point guards, but if he gets in shape, he can be a contributor. As it stands now, the Mavericks are looking at a backcourt that includes veteran Monta Ellis and 2013 second-round pick Ricky Ledo. There are surely more moves to make, but there are minutes available, if Felton is up to the challenge. This season, Felton will earn $4.36-million on his contract, then has a player option for $4.54-million the following season; not unreasonable money if he bounces back from his down season. The Knicks Get: PG Jose Calderon, C Samuel Dalembert, PG Shane Larkin, SG Wayne Ellington and two second-round picks. Calderon, 32, didnt have a great season in Dallas. He struggled defensively, which is pretty standard, but his shooting wasnt as effective as it had been in previous years and Calderon couldnt get to the basket, earning less than one free-throw attempt per game. While Calderon did shoot a career-best 44.9% from beyond the arc, he shot 45.6% from the floor andd attempted more threes (425) than twos (323) for the first time in his career.dddddddddddd That may be a function of his role in the Mavericks offence, but it also is a reflection that Calderon wasnt getting any shots near the rim. Signed for three more years, at around $22.2-million, Calderon is a decent point guard option for the Knicks -- its not like replacing Felton is an impossible task -- but his defence is already poor and is only going to get worse as he approaches his mid-30s. If his offence is reverting to spot-up threes only, well, thats going to limit Calderons value. Since they didnt have many options, 33-year-old Dalembert started 68 games for the Mavericks last season. Hes an effective rebounder and shot blocker, who has had an above-average PER in four of the past five seasons. He has limited touches offensively, but shot a career-best 56.8% from the field last season and grabbed 6.8 rebounds with 1.2 blockes per game, while playing a little over 20 minutes a night. For all those attributes, which at least suggest that he can be useful in a reserve role, Dalembert could still be looking for a new team next season. The Knicks hold a team option, at under $3.9-million, for next season. Given what they have currently, the Knicks would have room to fit Dalembert in their rotation, but free agent options could be more appealing. The 18th pick in last years draft, 21-year-old Shane Larkin didnt play a lot as a rookie, averaging a little over 10 minutes per game in the 48 games that he played. Hes on the small side, at 5-foot-11, but has quickness and at least in college, at the University of Miami, he could shoot a bit (40.6% on threes as a sophomore). Will he be able to defend enough to play a big role in the NBA? While Larkin may not provide immediate value, he can continue to develop behind Calderon, ideally taking over as the starter at some point in the next couple seasons. 26-year-old Wayne Ellington has bounced around a bit since he was a late first-round pick by Minnesota in 2009. The Knicks will be Ellingtons fourth franchise in the past two years, and he scored a career-low 3.2 points per game as a spare part for the Mavericks last season. Ellington can shoot, 38.6% on threes for his career, but doesnt do enough otherwise to hold down a spot in the rotation. He is going into the final year of a contract that will pay him $2.5-million this season. The Knicks also get picks 34 and 51 in Thursdays draft. Over the past five years, picks in the 30-35 range have yielded an NBA rotation player 20.0% of the time, while picks from 50-60 have resulted in an NBA have provided an NBA rotation player 8.0% of the time. Its easy to see the appeal to this deal for the Mavericks, as Chandler gives them an immediate upgrade, without a long-term commitment. They have some backcourt issues to sort out but, after pushing San Antonio to seven games in the first round of the playoffs, there is some justification to believe that they can get into the title mix next season. For the Knicks, they could have a better point guard situation, both immediately and long-term and the hope is that Larkin can ultimately provide value. If not, there wont be much to gain. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '