Durant scored 24 points and drew a rare offensive charging foul, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed Harden and the Houston Rockets 120-91 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their playoff series.

Durant, who’s known more for his three NBA scoring titles than for stepping in the way of oncoming opponents, got in Harden’s way on a transition drive in the third quarter in a standout defensive effort for the Thunder against the league’s second highest-scoring offense.

“It was all about giving your all every possession,” Durant said.

Hours before going head-to-head with Harden, Durant said that “we’re not looking at him as a friend right now.” But even right before tipoff, the situation didn’t seem natural.

“It felt a little awkward just looking across there during the national anthem and seeing him with another team, but we’ve got to get past that. We’re competing against his team, and he wants to win so bad,” Durant said. “We know him personally, so we know how hard he competes and he knows how hard we compete.”

After letting Houston wipe away an 11-point deficit in the first half, the Thunder regained control with a 14-1 surge just before halftime and kept pouring it on.

Just after a fan nailed a half-court shot to win $20,000 in the break after the third quarter, Durant drove for a two-handed slam while getting fouled and Oklahoma City was soon up by 30.

“We didn’t have a rhythm as a team. I felt like it was basically one on five every time,” Harden said.

Harden, playing against the team that traded him away just before the season started, had 20 points but the Rockets were held 15 points below their regular-season scoring average while shooting 36 percent. Houston, which set a franchise record for 3-pointers during the regular season, finished 8 for 36 (22 percent) from behind the arc.

“We were trying to be solid on the defensive end,” Durant said. “We knew they were a great scoring team. We just tried to pack the paint and get out to their shooters. We had to make the second and third efforts, and I think we did that.”

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

“Believe it or not, I think this was good for us,” Harden said. “Losing like this was definitely good for us. Now we know how to play.”

“We really don’t have an excuse anymore,” said Jeremy Lin, one of three Houston starters making their first career playoff apperance. “We’ve gotten it out and played terrible all the way across the board — offensively, defensively. That one’s over with.”

The Thunder were already up by 23 when Larry Hill connected on the half-court shot and went bounding toward Oklahoma City’s huddle in celebration, getting congratulated by Thabo Sefolosha before the team’s bison mascot pulled him back away.

Durant’s dunk sparked a string of seven straight points for Oklahoma City, and Harden never even came off the bench in the fourth quarter. Coach Scott Brooks called timeout and pulled Durant a few moments later, and reserves finished out the game for the Thunder.

“We wanted to take care of our home court,” Durant said. “We didn’t do anything yet.”

Russell Westbrook ended up with 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Serge Ibaka chipped in 17 points and Kevin Martin, Harden’s replacement in the sixth man role, had nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter with the game already in hand.

It was an impressive playoff opener for top-seeded Oklahoma City, which made it to the NBA Finals last season before losing to Miami in five games. The Thunder led by as much as 35 before Houston’s reserves cut into the lead in garbage time.

Harden didn’t get much help from the rest of his starting lineup, which features players with a total of three career playoff starts, all by center Omer Asik. None of the other starters scored in double figures and the unit went 17 for 50 from the field, with Harden making just six of his 19 attempts.

It was Houston’s first playoff game in four years.

“James, on this team, has to shoulder a ton of responsibilities for us and he’s been great all year long,” coach Kevin McHale said. “He’s had an all-pro type of year. … He’ll play better, just like everybody.

“We ask him to do an awful lot for us — handle the ball, score the ball, pass the ball, make plays. I think that he had it going there for a little bit, but it wasn’t James. It was us in general as a team. We never really caught a flow at all tonight.”

Oklahoma City scored the first six points of the game and opened a 13-2 lead as the Rockets failed to make a basket for the first 6 minutes of the game and started out just 1 for 13 from the field. Houston eventually settled in and charged back with a 13-2 push spanning the break between the first two quarters, with Chandler Parsons providing the final five points on a two-handed putback jam and a 3-pointer.

Patrick Beverley pulled the Rockets even at 38 with a transition 3-pointer from the right wing, but the Rockets couldn’t pull ahead before Oklahoma City’s next surge.

Sefolosha had a two-handed slam on a fast break and also assisted on Kendrick Perkins’ two-handed dunk during the burst, which extended Oklahoma City’s lead to 60-45 before Harden’s driving layup in the final second before halftime.

All but the first basket in the Thunder’s run came after Asik joined Parsons on the bench with three fouls apiece.

The Rockets never recovered.

Game Notes
The game ball got switched out in the second quarter after it went into the stands and a drink was spilled on it. … Harden scored a career-high 46 points in the Rockets’ only regular-season win against Oklahoma City, but said he didn’t gain any secrets from that performance to carry over into the playoffs. “I’m not going to lie. I was just making shots,” he said. … The Thunder improved to 18-5 in playoff games in Oklahoma City.

The post Kevin Durant scores 24 as Thunder blitz Rockets to take 1-0 lead appeared first on IdealCapper.

It’s 40 minutes of trapping and shot challenging, of closing off angles, of trusting teammates.

“We showed,” senior guard Brandon Triche said, “that defense wins games.”

Yes, the Orange D certainly does.

With a second suffocating performance at the East Regional, No. 4-seeded Syracuse shut down No. 3 Marquette 55-39 Saturday to earn coach Jim Boeheim his fourth trip to the Final Four — and first since a freshman named Carmelo Anthony helped win the 2003 NCAA championship.

“A tremendous, tremendous defensive effort,” Boeheim said.

Fittingly, a matchup between schools from the soon-to-break-apart, rough-and-tumble Big East became quite a struggle on the offensive end. Syracuse (30-9) was led by senior forward James Southerland’s 16 points. Michael Carter-Williams, a 6-foot-6 guard who is out front in the zone, was named the regional’s top player after accounting for 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, five steals and only one turnover Saturday.

Marquette (26-9) hadn’t scored fewer than 47 points all season — and, indeed, put up 74 in a victory over Syracuse on Feb. 25. But this time, Marquette kept turning the ball over, seeing its shots blocked or just plain missing.

The Golden Eagles’ 39 points were a record low for a team in an NCAA tournament regional final since the shot clock was introduced in 1986.

“They beat us from start to finish. We collectively tried everything we knew to try,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “It is the zone, and it is the players in the zone.”

Much like what happened Thursday in the regional semifinals, when Syracuse knocked off top-seeded Indiana by limiting it to a season-low output, too.

“I don’t think we’ve played as good defensively as these last two games,” Triche said. “We held some good teams down.”

Marquette’s 39 points Saturday were the fewest in the shot clock era for an NCAA tournament regional final. Here’s a look:
Points Team Year
39 Marquette (Syracuse, 55-39) 2013
45 Memphis (UCLA, 50-45) 2006
47 Oklahoma (Syracuse, 63-47) 2003
50 Navy (Duke, 71-50) 1986
51 Arizona (Utah, 76-51) 1998
— Associated Press

All told, Marquette made only 12 of 53 shots — 23 percent — and was 3 for 24 on 3-pointers. Vander Blue, who carried Marquette to the round of eight, was held to 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting.

“They cover ground really good. You’ve got to get the ball in the middle, you’ve got to play inside out, you’ve got to get to the free-throw line and wear them down with the 3-pointer when you can,” Blue said. “They’re really good at what they do in that zone.”

Consider these numbers through four games in the tournament: Syracuse is averaging 6.5 blocks and 10.8 steals, while forcing opponents into 29 percent shooting, including 15 percent on 3-pointers.

“We couldn’t get one to drop in from up close,” said Marquette’s Jamil Wilson, who was 0 for 5 on 3-pointers, 1 for 9 overall. “We couldn’t get one to drop in from outside.”

The next team to try to solve that defense will be the winner of Sunday’s South Regional final between Florida and Michigan. Syracuse is 3-0 in national semifinal games under Boeheim.

And to think: Exactly three weeks ago, in this very same building, Syracuse wrapped up its final Big East regular-season schedule before heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference with a bad-as-can-be performance in a lopsided loss to Georgetown. Syracuse’s 39 points that day were the Orange’s tiniest total in a half-century.

That was Syracuse’s fourth loss in a span of five games, a stumbling way to head into tournament play.

That night, Boeheim forgot to adjust his alarm clock to account for daylight saving time, and so showed up late for a pre-practice coaches’ meeting. His players, turned out, had organized their own session without supervision, starting the work it would take to get going in the right direction.

“I watched them for a few minutes and it was really a good thing. I thought our practices were really good after that,” Boeheim said. “You can turn things around in this game.”

Since then, Syracuse has won seven of eight.

“When you bounce back like that, that says a lot about your kids, your team and your character,” Boeheim said. “This is a heck of a bounce back.”

And the secret to success? Defense, naturally.

“We got the right personnel for each key position,” C.J. Fair said. “We got big long guards, we got big long forwards that can cover ground and our centers do a good job holding down the inside.”

Because of that, Syracuse really needed only one run on offense in the second half, making five shots in a row during a spurt that gave it a 41-28 lead with 9½ minutes left.

Last season, Syracuse fell a victory short of the Final Four, losing to Ohio State in the round of eight.

“We wanted to get over the hump,” Southerland said. “That’s what I told the guys: We’ve still got two more to go.”

With President Barack Obama — a basketball fan who picked Indiana to win the title — and NFL Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins sitting in the crowd, Syracuse harassed Marquette into missing 14 of its first 15 tries from beyond the 3-point arc.

Marquette started 1 for 10 overall on field-goal tries, with Blue’s 3-pointer about 1½ minutes in the only make. He celebrated as though it came at the end of the game, not the outset, punching the air and tapping defender Triche on the back while heading to the other end of the court.

After Blue’s 3, Marquette missed its next seven shots. There would be other such stretches. Six misses in a row. Six misses in a row. Even nine in a row.

The Golden Eagles also went nearly 6½ minutes without a single field-goal attempt in the first half. Forget about putting the basketball through the net; Syracuse was so smothering, Marquette did not even manage to shoot.

When Southerland hit a 3, off a pass and screen by Carter-Williams, the Orange led 24-18 at halftime.

After helping cut down the net to celebrate Saturday, Southerland was asked whether he thought this sort of thing was possible when his team was leaving the same arena on March 9 after losing meekly to Georgetown.

“We just did a good job of recovering from that,” Southerland explained, “and not sulking.”

The post Syracuse smothers Marquette with 2-3 zone, reaches Final Four appeared first on IdealCapper.

Atlanta At Phoenix
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, March 1, 2013
Where: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
TV: 9 p.m. ET, SPSO (Atlanta), FSAZ (Phoenix)
PREDICTION: Hawks 100, Suns 92

Oddsmakers currently have the Hawks listed as 3½-point favorites versus the Suns, while the game’s total is sitting at 196.

Atlanta decided not to deal away Josh Smith at the deadline and has reaped the benefits of that decision during the four-game winning streak. Smith has averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists during that span to support Horford, who has put up 26 points and 14 boards over the last four contests. Those two have opened things up on the outside for point guard Jeff Teague to distribute and score. The Hawks are up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference with their latest run and are within shouting distance of the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks in the second and third spots. A big part of their recent success has been an ability to win on the road, where they have taken five in a row by an average of 11.8 points.

Atlanta was a 102-91 winner in its last match on the road against the Jazz. They covered the 3.5-point spread as underdogs, while the total score of 193 sent UNDER bettors to the payout window.

Atlanta:
Team record: 33-23 SU, 26-28-2 ATS
Current streak: won 4 straight games.

is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of last 9 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 8 games on the road

When playing on Friday are 5-5
Before playing LA Lakers are 5-5
After playing Utah are 5-5
After a win are 6-4

Phoenix is trying to stay out of the West basement, which it currently shares with the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Hornets. The Suns put together a strong defensive effort in San Antonio on Wednesday, when the Spurs went 0-for-10 from the field in overtime, and O’Neal has turned back the clock with some big performances. The 34-year-old former star has pulled down 13 rebounds in each of the last two games and scored a team-high 22 points at San Antonio. Phoenix is giving its bench plenty of time lately, led by O’Neal, Wesley Johnson and the Morris twins. Marcus Morris had his best game since joining the team with 11 points in 24 minutes on Wednesday, outscoring his brother by three points.

The Suns were a 105-101 winner in their most recent outing on the road against the Spurs. They covered the 16-point spread as underdogs, while the total score (206) made winners of OVER bettors.

Phoenix:
Team record: 20-39 SU, 23-34-2 ATS
Current streak: won 2 straight games.

The total has gone UNDER in 10 of last 12 games at home
is 15-3 SU in its last 18 games when playing at home against Atlanta
is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 7 of last 9 games when playing at home against Atlanta

When playing on Friday are 8-2
Before playing Toronto are 3-7
After playing San Antonio are 4-6
After a win are 3-7

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