NEW YORK -- Finally, somebody stopped Kevin Durant: his coach.
Johnny Oduya Stars Jersey . Not that Durant cared. The only streak he cares about is still intact. Durants 30-point run
ended at 12 games when he scored 26 in just 30 minutes, but the Oklahoma City
Thunder won their 10th in a row with a 120-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on
Friday night. "Thats the most important streak," Durant said. Serge Ibaka made
all 12 shots and added 25 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder, who were so
good that Durant sat the entire fourth quarter, the only way to slow him down
right now. Durant came out for good with 1:15 left in the third. Coach Scott
Brooks didnt bother asking the NBAs leading scorer if he wanted to keep playing
to extend the streak, saying he knew what the answer would be. "If he cared
about the streak, he shouldve never missed the two shots. Thats on him. Cant
blame it on me," Brooks said. Durant finished 10 of 12 from the field, though
his scoring average during his sensational January dropped from 36.6 to 35.9. He
had been streaking toward Tracy McGrady, who had the last longer streak when he
scored 30 in 14 in a row in 2003. "The streak was good while it lasted, but
thats the least of my concerns," Durant said. "Its easy for me to try to force
it to keep the streak alive, but we needed this win because they beat us last
time." Reggie Jackson and Thabo Sefolosha scored 14 for the Thunder, on their
longest winning streak since a 12-game run early in the 2012-13 season. They
dominated the final three quarters in their 112-95 victory at Miami and picked
up right where they left off in this one before a sellout crowd of 17,732 that
included former President Bill Clinton. They call this a landslide in his field.
Oklahoma City shot 63.6 per cent (49 of 77), highest in the league this season,
and outrebounded Brooklyn 41-17. The Nets rebound total was the lowest in NBA
history. Shaun Livingston scored 16 points while drawing the impossible
assignment of defending Durant for the Nets, who dropped their final two games
to finish 10-3 in January. "I mean, man, hes shooting the ball, its tough,"
Livingston said. "Its one of those where youve got to tip your hat to him."
Oklahoma City closed the first quarter with the final 13 points, eight from
Ibaka and the rest from Durant, for a 30-16 lead. An 11-0 spurt in the second --
with just two points from Durant and Ibaka -- extended it to 45-24, and one more
surge late in the period put it away. The Nets started the month by holding
Durant to 24 points while rallying from 16 down in a 95-93 victory at Oklahoma
City, but Brooklyn was never in this game. "I said it before the game. Everybody
is talking about Durant scoring 30 points, but its the rest of the guys that are
playing at a high level," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "If you look at Ibaka, hes
12 for 12. So again, it goes back to what I said before the game, its just not
all Durant. He has guys on his team that have stepped up and been playing at a
high level." Durant had a jumper and 3-pointer around Jacksons three-point play
to extend it to 28, and Durant made a turnaround jumper and another 3-pointer on
consecutive possessions late in the half for a 61-30 cushion. Ibaka capped his
perfect half with a follow dunk and Oklahoma City led 63-35 at the break. But
Durant got only three shots in the second half, making two on alley-oops, before
taking a seat for good to get a little extra rest before returning to his
hometown Saturday to face Washington. The Nets played without versatile forward
Andrei Kirilenko, who wouldve been one of their best hopes of defending Durant,
because of strained right calf. Backup centre Andray Blatche left in the second
half with a bruised left hip. Deron Williams had 14 points off the bench for the
Nets and rookie Mason Plumlee scored 13. Kevin Garnett missed all four shots and
was scoreless with one rebound in 12 minutes. NOTES: The Thunder have won six
straight road games. ... The Nets visit Indiana on Saturday, facing both
conference leaders in a 24-hour span. ... Marquis Teague, acquired from Chicago
on Jan. 21, made his Nets debut in the fourth quarter and scored seven points.
Dino Ciccarelli Jersey . - Alex Dostie scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Gatineau Olympiques to a 5-3
victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
action on Sunday.
Gump Worsley Jersey .ca. Hi Mr. Fraser, When I was watching the Heritage Classic in Vancouver there was a play midway through
the third where Ottawa crashed the Canucks net and it came off its
moorings.LONDON -- Eugenie Bouchards historic run at Wimbledon is over, but she
thinks shes just getting started. Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat
Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday in the womens final to claim her second Wimbledon
title, ending an impressive run by the 20-year-old Canadian at the All England
Club. No Canadian had ever reached a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era
before Bouchard. "It was a big moment walking out on to centre court for a
final. I have that experience now, I know what it feels like," said Bouchard. "I
hope I can walk out to many more finals. Thats the goal. "Im going to go back,
work on my game, try to get better. You always need to get better." Bouchard,
from Westmount, Que., is currently ranked 13th in the world, seven positions
below Kvitova. She will rise to seventh when the WTA standings are updated after
Wimbledon. She beat Germanys Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-final
before topping Romanias Simona Halep 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the semis. The success at
Wimbledon comes after a breakthrough season last year. Bouchard reached the
semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open earlier this season. "I think
its a tough road to try and become as good as I want to be, no matter what,"
said Bouchard. "Im not going to win every single time. I think this was a good
experience for me -- my first Slam final -- so Im going to learn a lot from this
match and hopefully use it to get much better." Bouchard was overwhelmed by
Kvitova, who added a second to her first from 2011. Watching from the Royal Box
was Britains Princess Eugenie, the royal for whom the Canadian was named. "Tough
loss today at Wimbledon, but youre an inspiration (at)geniebouchard & Canada
couldnt be more proud of you," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a tweet.
Kvitova, her right thigh heavily wrapped as it was through the two-week
tournament, quickly took charge of the match. She handcuffed Bouchards attacking
game with a strong offence of her own, putting the Canadian under pressure on
every service game with break point. "I have to give full credit to my opponent,
she played unbelievable," said Bouchard. "I know I wont win every match but I
want to be as good as I can be. This was a good experience and something I will
learn from. I can hopefully use it to get better." Bouchard was broken in the
third and seventh games to fall to a 5-2 deficit. She showed her own form by
breaking back for 3-5 affter Kvitova netted after chasing Bouchards cross-court
shot.
Antti Niemi Jersey. . Despite Bouchards resistance, Kvitova wrapped up the first set in less than 30 minutes on a third
set point. Kvitova picked up where she left off to start the second set with a
break of Bouchard for 2-0. With the experienced Czech keeping up a lethally
rapid pace, there was little time for Bouchard to react. Bouchard missed on a
return at her feet to trail 4-0 as Kvitova took a stranglehold on the match. The
Czech dished out a love game for 5-0 and finished off the title performance on
her first match point with a deeply angled backhand cross-court winner after 55
minutes on court. It has been a strong tournament for other Canadians as well.
Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock beat Bob and Mike Bryan of the
United States in a thrilling 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory to win the
mens doubles final Saturday. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., made it to the
mens singles semifinal before losing to seven-time champion Roger Federer of
Switzerland in straight sets. The last Canadian to reach a mens final four at a
major was Robert Powell at Wimbledon in 1908, according to Tennis Canada.
Montreal native Greg Rusedski reached the U.S. Open final in 1997 but he was
representing Great Britain at that time. Defending mixed doubles champions
Daniel Nestor of Toronto and French partner Kristina Mladenovic will play a
semifinal match against Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan.
Bouchard has done well at the All England Club in the past. She won the
Wimbledon girls title in 2012, becoming the first Canadian to win a junior Grand
Slam in singles. "I love coming back to Wimbledon, so thank you, guys," said
Bouchard at centre court immediately after the match to a loud round of applause
from the fans in attendance Saturday. Last year at Wimbledon, Bouchard won her
second-round match against former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in straight sets
before she was eliminated in the third round by Carla Suarez Navarro. Kvitova
defeated Bouchard in straight sets in their lone previous meeting last year at
the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Bouchard said she will return to Montreal to
decompress after the Wimbledon final. "Ill take some time off -- much deserved,
Ive been playing a lot of tennis at a high level recently," said Bouchard. "Ill
take time for the mind and body and then hit the practice court again and get
excited for the second half of the season."
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