NEW YORK — Not only was there no Kevin Durant-Carmelo Anthony showdown, there wasn’t much of a game, either. ADVERTISING NEW YORK — Not only was there no Kevin Durant-Carmelo Anthony showdown, there wasn’t much of a game, either. The
NEW YORK — Not only was there no Kevin Durant-Carmelo Anthony showdown, there wasn’t much of a game, either.
The Oklahoma City Thunder made sure of it with the most dominant performance ever by a road team on Christmas.
Durant scored 29 points, Russell Westbrook had a triple-double by the middle of the third quarter, and the Thunder rolled to a 123-94 victory Wednesday over the New York Knicks.
The 29-point victory was the largest for a road team on Christmas.
“I just know that if we play the way we play, team basketball, Thunder basketball, not too many teams that can beat us,” Westbrook said.
The Knicks, without Anthony, weren’t one of them.
The matchup between the NBA’s top two scorers was canceled because of Anthony’s sprained left ankle, so the Thunder had the Christmas spotlight all to themselves while winning for the 10th time in 11 games.
Westbrook finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in his first triple-double of the season and seventh of his career. Serge Ibaka added 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting as the Thunder left a sellout crowd of 19,812 booing the home team, or making no noise at all.
“I said that on the bench, I was like, ‘Man, it feels like nobody’s in here,’” Durant said.
Amare Stoudemire scored a season-high 22 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 for the Knicks, who also were missing starting point guard Raymond Felton. J.R. Smith scored 20 points, but shot 8 for 22 and was booed when he left the court for good.
Anthony sat out for the first time this season. The Knicks were never really in it without him and may not have had a chance with him the way the Thunder played.
“Defensively, we just weren’t there tonight,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
The Knicks not only had trouble with the Thunder, but also with the special edition sleeved jerseys NBA teams are wearing on Christmas.
Beno Udrih hit the side of the backboard on two shot attempts in the first half, tugging on his sleeve after the second as if blaming his struggles on his equipment.
Oklahoma City had a much easier time in the uniforms. Coach Scott Brooks said before the game the Thunder hadn’t had a formal practice in them, but players had shot around the last few days in the jerseys that featured a giant logo in the middle of the chest and jersey numbers on the left sleeve.
“They look great. Hopefully, we play well in them,” Brooks said.
They played superbly.
Coming off a 104-98 loss to Toronto on Sunday that ended a nine-game winning streak and was their first setback at home this season, they shot 54 percent and got 18 points from Reggie Jackson.
Durant made all five shots in the first quarter, with the Thunder leading 35-29 after shooting 70 percent. Jackson and Durant made 3-pointers to start the second, making Oklahoma City 16 of 22. Ibaka did most of the work in an 8-2 spurt midway through the period that extended the lead to 17, and the Thunder led 60-46 at halftime.
Durant and Westbrook took turns being unguardable on the perimeter in the third, boos growing louder as Oklahoma City went on to its sixth straight road victory.
“I mean, I’m disappointed with them. Honestly, my disappointment probably outweighs theirs,” Knicks center Tyson Chandler said about the fans. “It is what it is. They come out here to see a show and they come here to see their team play hard and I understand it.”
Anthony was hurt Monday in a victory at Orlando, saying afterward he hoped to play Wednesday. But he looked glum and wasn’t walking well by the locker room area after getting treatment and testing the ankle, and the Knicks announced he wouldn’t be in uniform about 50 minutes before the start.
He sat on the bench wearing a brown sports jacket, getting up slowly during timeouts whenever the Knicks called them in a futile attempt to stop the Thunder’s onslaught.
The Knicks fell to 0-7 in orange uniforms this season.
Notes: Chris Smith, J.R.’s brother, made his NBA debut with a scoreless minute at the end. … Kenyon Martin returned to the Knicks after missing five games with a strained left abdominal muscle.
ROCKETS 111, SPURS 98
SAN ANTONIO — James Harden scored 28 points and Dwight Howard had 15 points and 20 rebounds, leading a balanced Houston team over San Antonio.
Each of Houston’s starters scored in double figures to help the Rockets improv to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3½ games of San Antonio for the lead the Southwest Division.
Chandler Parsons and Terrence Jones each scored 21 points for the Rockets, who shot 52 percent from the field. Jeremy Lin had 13 points, eight assists and just one turnover.
The Spurs have dropped two of three and split their last six games. They are just 3-6 over the last month against teams with a record above .500.
Super sub Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 22 points, and Tim Duncan added 11 points and 14 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard had 13 points, but Tony Parker was held to six points on 3-for-11 shooting.
San Antonio never recovered after Houston raced out to a 27-9 lead. The Spurs were unable to stop Parsons’ long shots, Harden’s drives, Howard in the paint or Jones on the boards for follow-ups.
HEAT 101, LAKERS 95
LOS ANGELES — Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade had 23 points apiece, and the Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers 101-95 on Wednesday for their sixth straight win.
Bosh also had 11 rebounds in the Heat’s fifth consecutive victory against the Lakers on Christmas Day. LeBron James added 19 points and Ray Allen had 12.
Miami shot 51 percent (41 for 80) from the field while improving to 7-0 against the Western Conference this season. It was its 19th straight win overall against West opponents.
Nick Young scored 20 points for the Lakers, who were tied four times in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles shot 42 percent (33 for 79) in its third straight loss.
Kobe Bryant was relegated to the sideline with his fractured left knee, leaving him unable to extend his NBA-record Christmas Day appearances to 16. Jodie Meeks had 17 points for Los Angeles, Xavier Henry added 14, and Pau Gasol had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Jordan Farmar returned from a left hamstring tear after missing 10 games, giving the Lakers a true point guard to run the offense. But he was ineffective, with three points and two assists in 32 minutes.
BULLS 95, NETS 78
NEW YORK — Taj Gibson scored 20 points and Jimmy Butler added 15, and the Chicago Bulls routed the Brooklyn Nets 95-78 on Wednesday.
Trailing 50-49 early in the third quarter, the Bulls took over behind Butler. He keyed a 21-5 run that gave Chicago control.
Butler, who sat out the last game with a right ankle injury, started the burst with a 3-pointer and then soon added a three-point play that made it 57-52. That was the first of 12 straight points by the Bulls.
Another three-point play by Butler made it 66-52.
Chicago (11-16) led by 19 at the end of the period after Reggie Evans’ dunk with less than a second left ended a 5½-minute field goal drought for the Nets (9-19).
Brooklyn couldn’t get much closer in the fourth and was serenaded with a chorus of loud boos from the fans.
What once was viewed as a Christmas Day showdown between Eastern Conference contenders became a matchup of two of the NBA’s biggest disappointments so far, as both teams have been plagued by injuries.
WARRIORS 105, CLIPPERS 103
OAKLAND, Calif. — Klay Thompson blocked a shot by Chris Paul with 1 second left then contested Jamal Crawford’s 3-pointer that fell short at the final buzzer, and Golden State held off Los Angeles 105-103 in a game that featured a pair of ejections on Wednesday.
Paul’s lay-in with 11.9 seconds left went around the rim and out, but Andre Iguodala missed a pair of free throws with 9.3 seconds remaining. That gave the Clippers the ball back with 8.3 seconds to go.
Stephen Curry overcame a slow start to score six of his 15 points over the final 3:01 as Golden State snapped the Pacific Division-leading Clippers’ season-best five-game winning streak.
Blake Griffin was ejected for his second technical with 10:43 remaining after scuffling with Andrew Bogut, following Golden State’s Draymond Green to the showers after they got into it at the end of the third. Green was tossed for a flagrant 2 foul.
By wire sources
