OKLAHOMA CITY - Thunder general manager Sam Presti is aware of coach Scott Brooks critics.
Boston Red
Sox David Price Jersey . An NBA Finals appearance in 2012 fueled
expectations, so when San Antonio beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City this season
to close out the Western Conference finals, it didnt go over well with some
locals in this era of winning coaches getting fired. Naysayers also believe
Brooks offensive strategy gives point guard Russell Westbrook too much freedom
at the expense of MVP Kevin Durant. Presti did his best to squelch the talk on
Thursday. After all, he said, the Thunder finished with the second-best record
in the NBA this season, despite numerous injuries to key players. "Scotty, I
think, did an excellent job," Presti said. "I understand, we all have a tendency
to look at the last game and the last series. I respect it. Thats part of
sports. I cant do that." Brooks took over for P.J. Carlesimo during the 2008-09
season and led the team to a 22-47 record. The team has won at least 61 per cent
of its games each season since. Brooks has a 293-170 record with the Thunder.
"Hes stacking successful seasons on top of each other, increasing our odds to
take a really unique amount of time that weve been successful and extend it to a
very, very unique amount of time," Presti said. Durant said this week that he
feels Brooks is the man to keep things moving. "Thats our guy," Durant said. "Im
riding with him." Brooks has praised Westbrook while often publicly pointing out
his three-time All-Stars need to find a balance between shooting and passing
when he attacks. Westbrook also spoke highly of Brooks this week. "Hes done a
great job of having confidence in me personally," Westbrook said. "Theres times
when things have gone south and hes the only one that always — regardless of
what happened — always had my back. Regardless if people were saying I was doing
this or doing that, I was being selfish, he always was the first person to step
up and have my back and support me regardless of whats going on." Brooks will
have plenty to work with. Durant is signed through 2015-16, and Westbrook and
defensive ace Serge Ibaka are signed through 2016-17. Backup centre Steven Adams
figures to be a prominent part of the future. The 20-year-old from New Zealand
improved dramatically late in the regular season while Kendrick Perkins was out
with an injury, then continued to get better in the playoffs. Presti sees Adams
talent, but says he has work ahead. Perkins is still a solid defender, but his
offensive limitations allow defences to pay more attention to Durant and
Westbrook. When Presti was asked about the amnesty clause, which allows a team
to waive one player without his salary counting against the cap or luxury tax,
he hesitated before offering perspective. He said though Adams was solid against
the Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio, Perkins played a key role in the
grueling seven-game series against Memphis. Presti said he wouldnt consider
waiving or trading Perkins unless it could help the team strategically long
term. Shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha is an unrestricted free agent who lost his
starting job during the playoffs. Caron Butler, a mid-season pickup, is an
unrestricted free agent. He had his moments, but was out of the rotation by the
end of the playoffs. The team has the option to keep Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3
backup centre. Thabeet played little, even while Perkins was injured. Presti was
non-committal in each case. Presti seemed uncertain what unrestricted free agent
Derek Fisher will do, but said he will be successful whatever he decides. The
39-year-old guard has been connected to the New York Knicks head coaching job.
"We have absolutely no reason to expect Derek to keep us informed of his plans,"
Presti said. "The only thing we have a right to do is to support him because hes
left an impact here in a positive way." __ Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
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Nov. TORONTO -- It was a game Dwane Casey figures the Toronto Raptors lose two
months ago. Reeling from an 18-3 run by the Brooklyn Nets to start the second
half, Toronto was down 10 points against a team looking to win its season-high
sixth straight game. But rather than rollover, the Raptors fought back, showed
what their head coach called newfound "mental toughness" and coasted to a
comfortable 96-80 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,800 at Air Canada Centre.
"I think our guys showed mental toughness and won a slug out game which I dont
know if we could have won a few months ago, no less last year," Casey said of
the Raptors second straight win, which gave them a four-game lead over the Nets
atop the NBAs Atlantic Division. "Its a testament to our guys mental growth and
mental toughness to win a game like that." After Brooklyn built its biggest lead
of the night at 10 points at the midway mark of the third quarter, the Raptors
went on a 28-5 run over the next 10:33 to secure their seventh win in their last
nine games. After 35 games, the Raptors are 18-17. At this point last season,
Toronto was 13-22. "Guys are growing up," Casey said when asked to explain the
difference in the Raptors this season from last. "Theyre getting tired of me
preaching physicality, dont get knocked down in a street fight." Leading the way
for the Raptors was DeMar DeRozan, who poured in a game-high 26 points.
Terrence Ross added 14 points for the Raptors while Patrick Patterson had 14
points and 12 rebounds. The Raptors took a 47-42 lead into the halftime break on
the strength of 11 first-half points from Ross, who hit half of Torontos six
three-pointers in the opening 24 minutes. Torontoo, which shot an anaemic 38.
New York
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by as many as 13 points in the second quarter but the Nets continued to fight
back. But then the visitors took over the game -- and silenced the boisterous
crowd celebrating Drake Night in honour of the hometown rapper and Raptors
global ambassador -- before Toronto regained control. After Brooklyns
Shaun Livingston hit a six-foot jump shot to restore the Nets 10-point lead with
4:54 to go in the quarter, the Raptors scored 16 of the final 18 points to close
it out. DeRozan scored the final seven points of the third quarter, capping it
with a 25-foot three-pointer. The Raptors then went on a 10-1 run to open the
fourth quarter and put the game away. "We stayed patient. We knew they were
going to make a run, especially in the second half," DeRozan said. "We stayed
disciplined, understood we had to get stops, rebound the ball and push it. "If
Ive got to step up to win, Im going to do as much as I can." In addition to
praising the "big time" performance by DeRozan, Casey also lauded the
contributions of Patterson and John Salmons -- who came over as part of the
trade for Rudy Gay -- to the teams toughness. The Raptors win ended a five-game
win streak for Brooklyn (15-22). "Well, it was an important game," said Toronto
guard Kyle Lowry, who had 12 points. "Every game we play is important. We cant
take any game for granted. "It was really important with them being a divisional
team and them playing really well now. We needed to get this win for our
confidence." The Raptors close out their three-game homestand against the
Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.
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