Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter VI Mobile College Basketball March Mayhem Picks College Basketball March Mayhem Picks VegasInsider.com VegasInsider.com
Handicapper Bios Sports Picks Free Odds Contests Sportsbook
Sports Betting Home NFL NBANHLMLBNCAA FBNCAA BKGolfAutoHorsesBoxingVI More Sports
 
NBA Scores Matchups Teams Standings Schedules Injuries News
 
 · Latest News
 · Player Updates
 · Transactions
Buy Picks Vegas Odds
 
 · Vegas Odds
 · Offshore Odds
 · Future Odds
 
Recap: Thunder 117, Nets 111
Line Movements
Date: December 04, 2012 7:30 PM EDT
  

NEW YORK (AP) - Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder looked spectacular most of the night even when the ball didn't go in.

The blowout didn't last, but their winning streak did.

Durant had 32 points and just missed what could have been the dunk of his career, Russell Westbrook added 25 points and nine assists, and the Thunder held off the Brooklyn Nets 117-111 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight victory.

Advertisement

Serge Ibaka scored 18 points and Thabo Sefolosha 14 for the Thunder, who revved up the NBA's No. 1 offense to surpass 100 points in a 10th straight game for the first time in 15 years. They beat the Nets for the seventh consecutive time, but had to work much harder for this win than they have lately.

``It's a good win, good test for us. We were up, we should have did a better job of playing with the lead, but they're a good team,' Westbrook said.

Oklahoma City, which had won its last four by an average of 25 points, leads the NBA in victory margin, beating teams by 9.6 points per game. But their 16-point lead was sliced to two down the stretch, even as they shot 60.6 percent for the game.

Deron Williams scored a season-high 33 points for the Nets, who had their six-game home winning streak snapped. They played without starting center Brook Lopez (sprained right foot) and reserve forward Reggie Evans (flu), leaving them without their leading scorer and top rebounder.

They still almost pulled it out after the Thunder threatened to run them off the floor in the first half, but lost their second straight following a five-game winning streak. After falling in Miami on Saturday, they have dropped consecutive contests against last season's NBA finalists.

``I thought we played them tough today,' Williams said. ``We played tough at the beginning of the first half of the Miami game. So those are two teams that have been together for a couple of years. They've won at the highest level and they know how to play together. We're still trying to figure things out.'

The Thunder hit 21 of their first 30 shots in an offensive clinic by a team that came in averaging an NBA-best 105.1 points - and were feeling so confident that Durant even tried a dunk that left the Barclays Center crowd gasping.

``We made shots,' Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. ``Some nights you're going to make shots. You don't anticipate shooting 60 percent in this league, there's too many good defensive teams and they are a good defensive team. We both are and we both had trouble guarding each other tonight.'

Andray Blatche had 19 points and 11 rebounds in Lopez's place, Joe Johnson scored 17 points, and Kris Humphries had 12 points and 12 boards for the Nets.

The Nets were on their longest home winning streak since late in 2005-06, but weren't quite sharp in their $1 billion arena, where even the overhead video board had some technical difficulties, resulting in some garbled names in the first half.

The Thunder hit 12 of 18 shots in the first quarter, getting 10 points apiece from Westbrook and Sefolosha, but the Nets stayed right with them behind 12 from Williams and trailed only 31-28 after one.

But the Thunder were just too sharp in the second quarter, even looking good when they missed. Durant launched himself for a dunk from at least 6 feet away, his feet way up near the 6-foot-11 Blatche's head for an attempt that would have rivaled anything Blake Griffin or Vince Carter has ever thrown down. He missed, throwing the ball hard off the rim, but Blatche was called for a foul and Durant made the free throws.

``I wanted to finish it so bad. I know Dray from him playing in D.C. and that's where I'm from, so I'll talk a little trash to him after that one,' Durant said.

Durant said it probably would have been his best dunk in the NBA had it gone down, laughing that he didn't jump higher because he ``didn't have no more left in the tank.'

``I think that ignited my team just a tiny bit and I wish I could have made that one, but hopefully I get the next one,' Durant added.

Durant hit all five shots in the period, and the Thunder pulled away with a 16-4 run before taking a 61-48 lead to the half.

They were running away with it when they scored six straight points to make it 73-57 with 8:26 remaining in the third, but then completely forgot to guard the 3-point line. The Nets made five in the final 3:49 of a 38-point period, getting within two before Durant's basket made it 90-86 heading to the fourth.

``I challenged them a little bit at halftime,' Nets coach Avery Johnson said. ``I was disappointed with our effort in the first half. We were playing them like we were giving them a little too much respect and I didn't see the Brooklyn Nets, all right. So they came out and we got it going in the third quarter.'

The Thunder quickly got it back to double digits but the Nets rallied again as Joe Johnson finally got untracked so Williams didn't have to carry the entire scoring load. His short jumper cut it to two with 2:14 left, but Durant was credited with a basket on a goaltend call against Humphries that stood up after video review. After Williams missed, Sefolosha swooped in to put back a miss to make it 112-106, and Oklahoma City was safe again.

Notes: Oklahoma City wore its alternate third uniforms, which are navy blue with ``Thunder' written vertically along the right side of the chest. ... Avery Johnson was the Eastern Conference coach of the month for November. ... If the Thunder ended the season with their current scoring margin, it would be the NBA's largest since Boston won by 10.3 points per game during its 2007-08 championship season.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2013
The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

 CLOSING LAS VEGAS LINE
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 OKL  -180   -4   195 
 NJN  +160   +4   
LAS VEGAS LINE MOVEMENTS

 CLOSING SPORTSBOOK LINE
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 OKL  -200   -4.5   195 
 NJN  +170   +4.5   
OFFSHORE LINE MOVEMENTS

 BETTING TRENDS
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 OKL  48%   68%   89% 
 NJN  52%   32%   11% 
BT MOVEMENTS

 NBA RECAPS
 Tuesday, Dec 4
 
  •  Timberwolves at 76ers
7:05 PM EDT
  •  Heat at Wizards
7:05 PM EDT
  •  Thunder at Nets
7:35 PM EDT
  •  Pacers at Bulls
8:05 PM EDT
  •  Lakers at Rockets
8:05 PM EDT
  •  Suns at Grizzlies
8:05 PM EDT
 
 
 
  
GOLD Membership
Over 150 Member Plays free each month. Signup Today!
 
 

NFL
NFL Sports Picks
NFL Vegas Odds
NFL Online Odds
NFL Matchups
NFL Scores

More Sports
Golf
Auto Racing
Horse Racing
Boxing
WNBA

MLB
MLB Sports Picks
MLB Vegas Odds
MLB Online Odds
MLB Matchups
MLB Scores

Features
Free Odds
Contests
Newsletters
VI Radio
Las Vegas Travel
Follow us on Twitter
Add us on Google+
Join us on Facebook

NBA
NBA Sports Picks
NBA Vegas Odds
NBA Online Odds
NBA Matchups
NBA Scores

Sports Betting Tools
Live Odds
Mobile Odds
Parlay Calculator
Gaming Terms
TV Listings
Handicapping Records
Sports Betting
About Sports Betting
Sportsbook Reviews

NHL
NHL Sports Picks
NHL Vegas Odds
NHL Online Odds
NHL Matchups
NHL Scores

VegasInsider Info
About Us
Help Center
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Refund Policy
Contact Us
User Feedback

College Football
NCAA FB Sports Picks
NCAA FB Vegas Odds
NCAA FB Online Odds
NCAA FB Matchups
NCAA FB Scores

Sportsbooks
CarbonSports · Review
SportBet · Review
Sportsbook · Review
TopBet.eu · Review

College Basketball
NCAA BK Sports Picks
NCAA BK Vegas Odds
NCAA BK Online Odds
NCAA BK Matchups
NCAA BK Scores

Rotation Schedules
Baseball: Mar 31 - June 02

Copyright © 1997-2013, VegasInsider.com Inc., The Global Leader In Sports Gaming Information. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, please contact us at 1-800-211-4759.