Boston Celtics was beated by Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. Westbrook scored 31 points, including six free throws in the fourth quarter for the Thunder’s only points over a nine-minute span, and Oklahoma City held on to beat Boston 89-84 on Friday night. “We’re not used to finishing games without Kevin Durant,” Oklahoma City forward Thabo Sefolosha(notes) said. “Russell had to do it. It showed a lot about our team. It definitely gives confidence to a lot of guys.” The Thunder led by 10 points late in the third quarter and had an 83-74 edge after Westbrook made a pair of free throws with 7:11 left in the game. But they didn’t score again until he made another pair with 4:30 left, and the lead was down to one point when he went back to the line with 13.4 seconds left. Westbrook went 11 for 13 from the line, but he missed all seven of his field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. The Thunder missed their last 13 shots from the field, going without a basket for the last 9:28 of the game. “I knew going into the game that we would have to play just an ugly game,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “But our guys really battled and picked up the effort throughout the game and it was a good win for us. Having KD and Jeff out, it’s not the easiest thing to do.” Oklahoma City was playing without two of its top three scorers: Durant, the NBA scoring leader who has a sore left ankle, and Green, who has a sprained left ankle. “It’s not painful to watch when we’re winning,” said Durant, who played in all 82 games last season and the first 11 this year. “Of course I want to be out there and play with my team. I’ve got to make sure I’m healthy first, though.” Kevin Garnett(notes) scored 16 points for the Celtics, but had a season-low two rebounds after getting bonked in the head in the first quarter. Rajon Rondo(notes) had 14 points and a season-low seven assists and finished the game on the bench with an unspecified leg injury. Glen “Big Baby” Davis went 2 for 10 from the field and missed four free throws in the fourth quarter. The defending Eastern Conference champions had won three in a row and eight of nine. “It’s historical: The Garden, the Staples Center,” Westbrook said. “It’s buildings like that you kind of get ready to play for.” The Celtics have dodged two of the top young players in the league this week. On Wednesday, No. 1 overall draft choice John Wall(notes) sat out the Wizards’ game in Boston with a sprained left foot; the Celtics won that one 114-83, their biggest margin of victory of the season. But the Thunder managed to overcome Durant’s absence. “We didn’t start the game with the right mindset,” Celtics forward Paul Pierce(notes) said. “We knew what they were going through. We kind of eased into the game.” The Thunder took a 77-67 lead near the end of the third when Westbrook lost control of the ball and it rolled over to Royal Ivey(notes), who put up a desperation 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and smiled as it banked off the glass and through the net. Delonte West(notes) scored to make it 77-69 heading into the fourth. It was a nine-point game with 7:11 left before the Celtics cut it to 83-79 on five free throws. It was still a four-point game when Davis missed both free throws, then went back to the line and missed one of two. West made a pair of foul shots to make it a one-point game with 76 seconds left. But Ray Allen(notes) missed a 3-pointer that would have given Boston its first lead of the half. After Westbrook’s free throws, West missed a 3 that would have tied it. Garnett played just three minutes in the first quarter but returned in the second with a big bump on the back of his head. “I didn’t know if I should play him even though he played OK,” Rivers said. “Still don’t know if I should have played him.” Rondo came up limping during a timeout with 6:19 left to play in the fourth; he stayed in the game for another possession, then came out for West. “He wasn’t running right and had to come out,” Rivers said. NOTES: The Thunder used three different starting lineups all of last year. They’ve now used three in the first 12 games this year. … Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal(notes) had 10 of his 11 points in the first quarter. … The Celtics had trailed only once before at halftime. … New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker, an Oklahoma City native, was in the crowd wearing a Thunder cap. … It was Durant’s first game out since he sat out seven in a row in March 2009. … The Celtics missed their last nine shots as the teams combined for just 27 points in the fourth quarter.
Portland Trail Blazers was beated by Atlanta Hawks at Saturday. C.J. Miles(notes) scored 25 points, hitting five 3-pointers during an electric fourth-quarter comeback, as the Utah Jazz stunned the Portland Trailblazers 103-94 in the NBA on Saturday. Al Jefferson(notes) had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz, who have been the NBA’s best comeback team this season, with six fourth-quarter comeback wins. Miles, who finished with a career-high seven 3-pointers, had 17 points in the fourth. LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who have dropped five in a row to Utah. In Atlanta, Dirk Nowitzki(notes) scored 21 points, including the two free throws that sealed the result, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Atlanta Hawks 98-93 in the NBA on Saturday. Jason Terry(notes) added 15 for the Mavericks. Atlanta guard Joe Johnson(notes) couldn’t shake Tyson Chandler’s(notes) tight defense and misfired on a 3-point attempt that would have tied it with 2.5 seconds remaining. Al Horford(notes) finished with 20 points and 20 rebounds for the Hawks. Spurs 116, Cavaliers 92 In San Antonio, the hosts made it ten straight wins by comfortably beating Cleveland. Off to their best start in franchise history, the Spurs improved their NBA-best record to 11-1 while extending their longest winning streak in nearly three years. Tony Parker(notes) scored 19 points while rookie Tiago Splitter(notes) had 18 on 7-of-10 shooting. Mo Williams(notes) scored 21 points for the Cavaliers, who played a night after losing on the road to New Orleans—the only team to beat San Antonio so far. Thunder 82, Bucks 81 In Milwaukee, Russell Westbrook(notes) made two free throws with 7.3 seconds left to lift Oklahoma City over Milwaukee. The Thunder again were without NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant(notes), who missed his second consecutive game with a sprained ankle. Jeff Green(notes) was also on the sidelines for a fourth straight game—seventh overall—with a sprained left ankle. James Harden(notes) had 23 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City, while Westbrook finished with 18. Brandon Jennings(notes) led the Bucks with 25 points. Magic 90, Pacers 86 In Indianapolis, Jameer Nelson(notes) converted a go-ahead three-point play with 33 second left, leading Orlando over Indiana. The Magic trailed 86-85 when Nelson was fouled by T.J. Ford(notes) on a 10-foot jumper and converted the resulting free throw. Dwight Howard(notes) scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, helping Orlando recover from a 52-49 halftime deficit. Rashard Lewis(notes) made five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points. Howard also had 12 rebounds and blocked three shots for Orlando, which limited Indiana to 34 points in the second half. The Pacers had five players score in double figures but shot just 39 percent from the field. Roy Hibbert(notes) had 19 points and 10 rebounds.Grizzlies 97, Heat 95 In Memphis, Rudy Gay(notes) hit a fadeaway jumper over LeBron James(notes) at the buzzer to give Memphis victory over Miami. James tied it for the 12th time, dunking against Gay with 5.5 seconds left. Gay came back with the winning 13-foot jumper in front of the Heat bench. Memphis was without Dwayne Wade (sprained wrist), while Udonis Haslem(notes) was carried off with a sprained foot in the third quarter. James finished with 29 points and 11 assists. The Grizzlies won despite starters Zach Randolph(notes) and O.J. Mayo(notes) being benched for a quarter as punishment for being late to the pregame shootaround. Randolph led Memphis with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Bobcats 123, Suns 105In Charlotte, Stephen Jackson(notes) had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the first triple-double in Bobcats franchise history as Charlotte beat Phoenix. It was the second career triple-double for Jackson, whose first also came against the Suns when he was with Golden State. He hit 10 of 13 shots and led an efficient night for the Bobcats, who also got 26 points from Boris Diaw(notes) while shooting 58 percent from the field. Playing its second straight game without Steve Nash(notes) (strained groin), Phoenix wilted in the second half and hit only five of 21 3-pointers in its third straight loss. Grant Hill(notes) scored 23 points. Nuggets 107, Nets 103 In Denver, Carmelo Anthony(notes) had 28 points and eight rebounds as Denver held off New Jersey. A three-point play by Anthony with 5:55 left and two free throws by Nene pushed the lead to 99-93. The Nets missed four straight shots before Chauncey Billups(notes) found Nene underneath for a game-sealing layup. Nene scored 22 points to be among seven New Jersey players in double figures. Rookie Derrick Favors(notes) had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Nets. Knicks 124, Clippers 115 In Los Angeles, New York completed an unprecedented three-game California sweep by beating hapless Los Angeles. Amare Stoudemire had 39 points and 11 rebounds while Danilo Gallinari(notes) scored 17 of his career high-tying 31 points in the fourth quarter for the Knicks. New York, who ended a six-game losing streak with consecutive road wins over the Kings and Warriors, have won three games in California on the same trip for the first time. Rookie Blake Griffin(notes) had career highs of 44 points and seven assists for the 1-13 Clippers, off to their worst start since opening the lockout-delayed 1999 season 0-17.
Watch the match between Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks live on NBA at Monday, November 22, 2010.
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