Re: Thunder Roll - NBA 2k13 OKC Thunder Association
Breaking News
Unable to work out an extension with James Harden, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded the Sixth Man of the Year to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, breaking up the young core of the Western Conference champions.
The Thunder acquired guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick in the surprising deal that was completed Saturday night. Oklahoma City also sent center Cole Aldrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to Houston.
Wednesday's deadline to extend Harden or allow him to become a restricted free agent next July had been hanging over the Thunder from the moment they reported to training camp, but sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein late Saturday the Rockets intend to sign the swingman to the max contract extension he was seeking before Wednesday's midnight deadline.
The Thunder offered Harden $55.5 million over four years -- $4.5 million less than the max deal Harden coveted and will get from the Rockets, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard.
"We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement.
"I would love to Thank Oklahoma City for 3 amazing years!" Harden tweeted Sunday. "Teammates and Fans were thee best. The love will always be there. Thanks Again."
New Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin also chimed in about the trade on Twitter.
"Really sad to see Kmart and JLamb go," Lin wrote. "...both class acts and great teammates. Welcome Harden, Cook, Aldrich and Hayward to Houston!!"
__________________
"You come at the King, you best not miss..."
Re: Thunder Roll - NBA 2k13 OKC Thunder Association
Matchup Preview | November 1, 2012
@
Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0, 0-0 Away)
San Antonio Spurs (1-0, 0-0 Home)
Projected Starters
Russell Westbrook
Point Guard
Tony Parker
Thabo Sefolosha
Shooting Guard
Danny Green
Kevin Durant
Small Forward
Kawhi Leonard
Serge Ibaka
Power Forward
Tim Duncan
Kendrick Perkins
Center
Boris Diaw
Game Notes
This will be the first meeting between the teams since the Thunder eliminated the Spurs in last year's Western Conference Finals. After dropping the first two games, Oklahoma City won 4 straight to advance to the NBA Finals. San Antonio enters tonight's game with a 1-0 record after a 116-98 win against the Hornets in New Orleans. Six Spurs scored in double figures in the opener led by Tony Parker's 24 points and 6 assists.
__________________
"You come at the King, you best not miss..."
Re: Thunder Roll - NBA 2k13 OKC Thunder Association
Danny Green's hot shooting propels Spurs past Thunder
SAN ANTONIO -- After Danny Green swished his fifth three pointer and unleashed a cathartic scream, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder looked on in disbelief.
Add in the trade that sent James Harden to Houston, and that's two tough losses for the Thunder already this NBA season.
Green scored 25 points and the San Antonio Spurs won the rematch of the Western Conference finals, beating Oklahoma City 90-97 on Thursday night without having to chase around Harden this time.
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan both added double-doubles to the Spurs effort with Parker scoring 14 points and dishing out 10 assists while Duncan scored 12 and grabbed 11 boards.
Kevin Durant had the game high in both points and rebounds with 30 and 13 to go with 8 assists. During the game Durant became the second-youngest player behind LeBron James to reach 10,000 career points.
The defending West champions broke up their Big Three by trading the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year to Houston on Saturday. Harden had 37 points and 12 assists in a brilliant debut with the Rockets on Wednesday night.
Speaking before the season opener, Brooks succinctly acknowledged Harden's performance before saying his team was moving forward.
The Thunder are starting anew with newcomers Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, who along with draft picks, are what the Thunder got in exchange for their third-leading scorer. Small-market Oklahoma City wasn't willing to offer Harden a maximum contract, and the No. 3 overall pick in the 2009 draft wouldn't accept its lesser offer.
Martin had 11 points and was Oklahoma City's only bench player in double figures.
Asked before Thursday's game whether the second-guessing had begun, Brooks didn't linger on the topic.
"He's played good basketball. He had a good game," Brooks said. "We're real focused on our group, our guys and moving forward."
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili missed his second game with back problems but could make his season debut Saturday against Utah.
Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs
Nov 1, 2012
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
SCORE
Oklahoma City (0-1)
28
20
24
18
90
San Antonio (2-0)
24
25
24
24
97
Oklahoma City Thunder
STARTERS
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
S. Ibaka, PF
33
3-10
0-0
3-4
5
1
2
0
1
9
K. Durant, SF
39
14-24
0-4
2-2
13
8
3
0
3
30
K. Perkins, C
31
206
0-0
2-4
8
1
3
1
0
6
T. Sefolosha, SG
28
1-7
1-7
0-0
1
0
0
0
1
3
R. Westbrook, PG
39
9-20
1-3
4-4
4
5
0
0
1
23
BENCH
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
K. Martin, SG
27
4-12
1-5
2-2
4
0
0
0
1
11
E. Maynor, PG
16
1-3
0-2
2-2
2
3
0
0
0
4
P. Jones, PF
7
1-2
0-0
0-0
0
0
1
0
0
2
N. Collison, PF
14
1-4
0-0
0-0
3
1
0
0
0
2
H. Thabeet, C
11
0-0
0-0
0-0
3
0
1
0
0
0
TEAM TOTALS
36-88
3-21
15-18
43
19
10
1
7
90
San Antonio Spurs
STARTERS
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
T. Duncan, PF
31
6-13
0-0
0-0
11
2
1
2
2
12
K. Leonard, SF
37
3-5
0-0
0-1
9
1
1
0
0
6
B. Diaw, C
37
1-6
0-2
0-0
10
4
0
2
2
2
D. Green, SG
36
9-24
5-12
2-2
6
3
1
0
3
25
T. Parker, PG
41
5-14
0-0
4-4
6
10
1
0
3
14
BENCH
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
G. Neal, SG
15
5-8
2-3
1-1
3
1
1
0
3
13
D. Blair, PF
11
4-6
0-0
3-4
6
0
0
0
1
11
S. Jackson, SF
20
4-13
1-6
0-0
4
0
1
0
0
9
P. Mills, PG
3
1-1
1-1
0-0
1
1
0
0
0
3
M. Bonner, PF
10
0-2
0-1
2-2
3
0
0
0
0
2
T. Splitter, PF
5
0-0
0-0
0-0
2
0
0
0
0
0
TEAM TOTALS
38-92
9-25
12-14
61
22
6
4
14
97
__________________
"You come at the King, you best not miss..."
Re: Thunder Roll - NBA 2k13 OKC Thunder Association
Matchup Preview | November 2, 2012
@
Portland Trailblazers (0-1, 0-0 Away)
Oklahoma City Thunder (0-1, 0-0 Home)
Projected Starters
Damian Lillard
Point Guard
Russell Westbrook
Wesley Matthews
Shooting Guard
Thabo Sefolosha
Nicolas Batum
Small Forward
Kevin Durant
LaMarcus Aldridge
Power Forward
Serge Ibaka
J.J. Hickson
Center
Kendrick Perkins
Game Notes
Both teams enter their first meeting of the season looking for their first win. Portland lost to the Lakers 120-101 to open their season. Rookie point guard Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 20 points, J.J. Hickson added 14 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to L.A.
__________________
"You come at the King, you best not miss..."
Re: Thunder Roll - NBA 2k13 OKC Thunder Association
Westbrook and Durant lift Thunder to OT win in home opener
OKLAHOMA CITY -- So far, Kevin Martin considers it an easy transition into James Harden's old role as the Oklahoma City Thunder's top bench player.
Having two All-Stars to work with can make it look that way.
Kevin Durant scored 37 points, Russell Westbrook had 29 points and 6 assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 105-98 in overtime to win their fourth consecutive home opener.
Martin added 13 points, six of which came during an 11-2 spurt that put Oklahoma City ahead for good late in overtime. Durant had the assist on two of the baskets.
"They have to pick their poison when it comes to us," Martin said. "We're both used to putting up numbers in this league, so they're going to take him and he's going to make the easy pass to me or ... they took me and then I made the pass to him.
"We can read off each other very well."
Portland's first-round pick Damian Lillard followed up his 20 point opener with a 30 point performance against the Thunder. LaMarcus Aldridge nearly notched a triple-double with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists.
"We competed for the entire game," first-year Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "We had a hard time putting the ball in the basket in overtime."
After nearly letting the game get away from them late the Thunder jumped on Portland early in the extra period and never looked back.
"We got enough stops. That was big. We finally were getting some stops and created some separation," Westbrook said.
Portland Trailblazers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Nov 2, 2012
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
OT
SCORE
Portland (0-2)
18
25
15
30
10
98
Oklahoma City (1-1)
24
27
17
29
17
105
Portland Trailblazers
STARTERS
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
L. Aldridge, PF
42
10-17
0-0
0-0
13
8
2
1
1
20
N. Batum, SF
42
3-7
0-0
2-2
7
4
2
1
4
8
J.J. Hickson, C
38
4-7
0-0
1-1
13
2
2
0
4
9
W. Matthews, SG
42
6-15
0-2
8-8
5
0
2
0
2
20
D. Lillard, PG
45
12-30
2-7
4-4
6
10
3
1
5
30
BENCH
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
S. Pavlovic, SF
15
3-3
0-0
0-0
2
0
0
0
0
6
L. Babbitt, PF
7
0-2
0-1
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
M. Leonard, C
13
1-3
0-0
2-2
4
0
0
1
1
4
J. Freeland, PF
9
0-2
0-0
1-2
0
0
0
0
1
1
N. Smith, PG
11
0-4
0-2
0-0
0
3
1
0
1
0
W. Barton, SG
2
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
J. Jeffries, PF
5
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
TEAM TOTALS
39-90
2-12
18-19
50
27
12
4
19
98
Oklahoma City Thunder
STARTERS
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
S. Ibaka, PF
29
1-4
0-0
3-5
9
2
1
0
0
5
K. Durant, SF
45
14-25
1-4
8-9
4
5
2
0
5
37
K. Perkins, C
31
2-6
0-0
0-0
10
1
0
0
0
4
T. Sefolosha, SG
31
1-6
0-4
0-0
2
2
0
0
0
2
R. Westbrook, PG
43
11-22
1-4
6-8
4
6
3
1
5
29
BENCH
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PTS
K. Martin, SG
32
5-8
0-2
3-3
3
3
0
0
2
13
N. Collison, PF
23
3-5
0-0
0-0
8
1
0
0
1
6
E. Maynor, PG
16
2-6
1-3
0-0
3
2
2
0
4
5
H. Thabeet, C
9
2-2
0-0
0-0
3
0
0
0
0
4
J. Lamb, SG
5
0-1
0-1
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
P. Jones, PF
6
0-1
0-0
0-0
1
0
0
0
0
0
TEAM TOTALS
41-86
3-18
20-25
47
22
8
1
19
105
__________________
"You come at the King, you best not miss..."
Re: Thunder Roll - NBA 2k13 OKC Thunder Association
Matchup Preview | November 4, 2012
@
Atlanta Hawks (0-1, 0-0 Away)
Oklahoma City Thunder (1-1, 1-0 Home)
Projected Starters
Jeff Teague
Point Guard
Russell Westbrook
DeShawn Stevenson
Shooting Guard
Thabo Sefolosha
Kyle Korver
Small Forward
Kevin Durant
Anthony Tolliver
Power Forward
Serge Ibaka
Al Horford
Center
Kendrick Perkins
Injury Report
Josh Smith Sprained Ankle - day to day
Game Notes
Atlanta lost their season opener to Houston 105-100. Al Horford led the Hawks with 22 points and 8 rebounds in the loss. OKC will be looking to make it two straight wins after defeating Portland 105-98 Friday night.
__________________
"You come at the King, you best not miss..."