NBA: Thunder rout short-handed Magic 102-74
OKLAHOMA CITY — Stan Van Gundy doesn't care how many players the Orlando Magic are missing. He still wants the rest to give their best.
Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Russell Westbrook added 17 points and 10 assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder ran away from the defending Eastern Conference champions in the second half Sunday night for a 102-74 victory.
"We're not a good basketball team right now. I've been saying that, but nobody's listening," Van Gundy said. "We're totally predicated on shooting. We do not have any kind of defensive mindset, we don't have much toughness and we're not very smart. So, right now we're not a very good team."
The Magic played for the fourth time this season without All-Stars Vince Carter (ankle) and Rashard Lewis (suspension), and also added Ryan Anderson (ankle) to their injured list. After a strong start, Orlando fell behind midway through the second quarter and never mounted a comeback.
"That's a team that plays with great intensity. I would like to see our team play with that," Van Gundy said. "We've had teams in the past the last couple years that have played with that. We don't now. We play very soft and not with much intensity. Quite honestly, until that changes, we're going to have a lot more games like that."
Oklahoma City raced out of halftime to score the first eight points, and then added a 9-0 spurt shortly thereafter to push its lead to 72-49 on Nick Collison's basket in the lane midway through the third period.
The Thunder removed any doubt with a run of 10 straight points in the fourth quarter, and coach Scott Brooks pulled the last of his starters after Durant's three-point play pushed the lead to 96-63 with just under 5 minutes remaining.
"All things were clicking for us tonight, especially on the defensive end," Durant said. "We've got to build on that and come back to work tomorrow."
Dwight Howard led the Magic with 20 points, Mickael Pietrus scored 15 and Jameer Nelson 10. Orlando shot just 37 percent and couldn't take advantage of a hefty advantage at the foul line, making just 21 of 34 attempts. The Magic drew 29 fouls against the Thunder while committing just 17.
After taking an early lead on the strength of Howard's inside presence, Orlando failed to score 20 points in any of the final three quarters and fell well short of its scoring average of 108.7 points — the third-highest mark in the NBA.
"Teams that play hard have a chance to get a lot better," Van Gundy said. "They're playing a lot harder at the defensive end of the floor than they did last year. We're playing a lot less hard, and so they're a lot better and we're a lot worse."
Comments
- Court seeks judicial candidates 5:29 p.m.
- Simple candies for the holidays 5:15 p.m.
- Latkes from frozen hash browns 5:14 p.m.
- Cakes taking a starring role 5:14 p.m.
- KSL is No. 1 5:14 p.m.
- Late local news ratings 5:14 p.m.
- Nonni's offers soft version of biscotti 5:14 p.m.
- Oatmeal gives cookies texture 5:14 p.m.
- Black Bean and Shrimp Salad perfect 5:14 p.m.
- Cookbook bookmarks 5:14 p.m.
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- BYU says Hall incident resolved
- Max Hall: a fixture in rivalry lore
- 'Grandfamilies' a growing trend
- Mitchell called intelligent, controlling
- Witness: Mitchell wanted attention
- MWC '09 season in review
- Hall reprimanded by MWC
- Jazz win 6th in 7 games
- Daughter: Mitchell fed me my pet
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
901 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
482 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
400 - Max Hall issues apology
386 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
342 - Utes won't respond to Hall
272 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
220 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
150 - BYU is champion of the state
142 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
123
Just ran into a neighbor of mine at the gas station - thanks for buying...
Is Angels Landing perhaps Utah's single most dangerous hiking trail? The...
Debbie was married to Mitchell from 1980-1985 according to the Sep. 1, 2004...
To all the BYU fans that talk about how nice the Oklahoma fans were to you....
Airlines, aiports, stadiums, movie theaters all make their money from patrons...
Not sure what the third "major" sport is, but if it's Wrestling, Track, Cross...
Oh please, Elia Gourgouris. You're just another BYU apologist. Max Hall is...
Maybe McCoy can call Obama and tell him how to resign as well, since he knows...
All the money that Jack receives is part of the reason that GM and others are...
Jack, if you are indeed serious, it is people like you who are partly...
BHS undefeated season, guaranteed!
The UAW can bake a bow. They brought down both GM and Chrysler. Both...





You can be the first to comment on this story.