Re: Thunder Struck - NBA 2k12 OKC Thunder Association
Durant, Thunder rally to beat Hawks in overtime
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The emotions ran high as the Chesapeake Energy Arena lights went down. The Oklahoma City Thunder players walk to center court one at a time to receive their NBA Championship rings and say something heartfelt to introduce the next teammate in line.
The NBA champions needed every bit of that family bond just to survive the first test in a season that's sure to be full of them.
Kevin Durant scored 43 points, Russell Westbrook hit the go-ahead lay-up with 18.8 seconds left in overtime and Oklahoma City rallied late for a 116-112 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
James Harden had 22 points off the bench for the Thunder, who hung the banner celebrating their 1st NBA championship since leaving Seattle and handed out their impossibly ostentatious rings in a surprisingly touching pregame ceremony.
The champs then fell behind by 15 points before rallying to tie the game in the fourth-quarter lead behind a 3-point barrage by new addition Tracy McGrady, who scored 13 points in just 14 minutes of playing time, hitting 3 of his 4 three point attempts.
"Getting those rings, you're definitely on a high," said Harden, "You have to come back down, because that's history. That's something nobody can take away from you ever, but it doesn't help us in the next game."
Joe Johnson scored 21 points, and Josh Smith had 20 as the Hawks come up short in their first game of the season.
"They're the world champs, and we knew it was going to be tough," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "But I thought we responded pretty well. I think [for] about seven minutes, we just didn't play the way we're capable of, and they got back in the game."
Johnson blamed himself for the Rockets' failure in the final seconds after he curled underneath the basket.
"When I caught the ball, I didn't know exactly where I was on the floor," Johnson said. "Then I took a dribble and realized where I was, and I tried to drive, but my leg kind of slipped."
The Hawks didn't make the celebration easy in the Thunder's first real home game since their victory in Game 6 of the NBA finals four months ago.
The Lakers understandably had a little trouble focusing after the pregame festivities.
"I think that the players were emboldened by the ring," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "I think they were excited about it, so that part of it, I thought was good. I just didn't think we played with the right speed and tempo in the first half. We got a lot of shots, not a lot of them good."
Westbrook's layup put the Lakers ahead 114-112 and iced the game with two free throws giving him 24 points to go with his 14 assists in the game.
"It feels great to contribute in the first game, but it's even better to win in the first game," Westbrook said.
The Thunder will have off day before playing on back-to-back days against the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
Durant, Thunder rally to beat Hawks in overtime
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The emotions ran high as the Chesapeake Energy Arena lights went down. The Oklahoma City Thunder players walk to center court one at a time to receive their NBA Championship rings and say something heartfelt to introduce the next teammate in line.
The NBA champions needed every bit of that family bond just to survive the first test in a season that's sure to be full of them.
Kevin Durant scored 43 points, Russell Westbrook hit the go-ahead lay-up with 18.8 seconds left in overtime and Oklahoma City rallied late for a 116-112 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
James Harden had 22 points off the bench for the Thunder, who hung the banner celebrating their 1st NBA championship since leaving Seattle and handed out their impossibly ostentatious rings in a surprisingly touching pregame ceremony.
The champs then fell behind by 15 points before rallying to tie the game in the fourth-quarter lead behind a 3-point barrage by new addition Tracy McGrady, who scored 13 points in just 14 minutes of playing time, hitting 3 of his 4 three point attempts.
"Getting those rings, you're definitely on a high," said Harden, "You have to come back down, because that's history. That's something nobody can take away from you ever, but it doesn't help us in the next game."
Joe Johnson scored 21 points, and Josh Smith had 20 as the Hawks come up short in their first game of the season.
"They're the world champs, and we knew it was going to be tough," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "But I thought we responded pretty well. I think [for] about seven minutes, we just didn't play the way we're capable of, and they got back in the game."
Johnson blamed himself for the Rockets' failure in the final seconds after he curled underneath the basket.
"When I caught the ball, I didn't know exactly where I was on the floor," Johnson said. "Then I took a dribble and realized where I was, and I tried to drive, but my leg kind of slipped."
The Hawks didn't make the celebration easy in the Thunder's first real home game since their victory in Game 6 of the NBA finals four months ago.
The Lakers understandably had a little trouble focusing after the pregame festivities.
"I think that the players were emboldened by the ring," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "I think they were excited about it, so that part of it, I thought was good. I just didn't think we played with the right speed and tempo in the first half. We got a lot of shots, not a lot of them good."
Westbrook's layup put the Lakers ahead 114-112 and iced the game with two free throws giving him 24 points to go with his 14 assists in the game.
"It feels great to contribute in the first game, but it's even better to win in the first game," Westbrook said.
The Thunder will have off day before playing on back-to-back days against the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
| Atlanta Hawks at Oklahoma City Thunder | ||||||
| Nov 2, 2012 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | OT | SCORE |
| Atlanta (0-1) | 24 | 29 | 25 | 26 | 8 | 112 |
| Oklahoma City (1-0) | 24 | 20 | 32 | 28 | 12 | 116 |
| Atlanta Hawks | ||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| J. Smith, PF | 45 | 10-19 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| M. Williams, SF | 31 | 6-7 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
| A. Horford, C | 40 | 5-16 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| J. Johnson, SG | 42 | 9-23 | 0-5 | 3-5 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| J. Teague, PG | 41 | 4-12 | 1-4 | 6-6 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| J. Graham, SF | 23 | 9-14 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| E. Fournier, SG | 12 | 3-7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| K. Jones, PF | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Z. Pachulia, C | 12 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| I. Johnson, PF | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Mack, PG | 13 | 0-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 47-103 | 3-18 | 15-19 | 50 | 32 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 112 | |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | ||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| S. Ibaka, PF | 40 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| K. Durant, SF | 42 | 19-34 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 43 |
| K. Perkins, C | 39 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| T. Sefolosha, SG | 19 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| R. Westbrook, PG | 38 | 6-16 | 0-1 | 12-13 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| J. Harden, SG | 35 | 8-18 | 2-5 | 4-4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 |
| T. McGrady, SF | 14 | 5-8 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| N. Collison, PF | 17 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| E. Maynor, PG | 16 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| C. Aldrich, C | 10 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 44-88 | 7-14 | 21-25 | 47 | 27 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 116 | |
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