Dwight Howard is surprised and disappointed that he’s being labeled a cheater.
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However, James Harden is questionable to face his former team.
“I kind of left Dwight open, trying to bait ’em”, Waiters said. The over/under total for the game is listed at 223.5 points. “But it was a heck of a defensive play by Waiters to deflect the ball”. Like I said all season, if it’s scoring, then I’ll score, if it’s rebounding, that’s what it is, passing, whatever it is. Either lay the ball up or kick it out to Jet. “You’d like it to be the case all the time”. ABOUT THE THUNDER (48-22): Oklahoma City already clinched its playoff spot and is in tune-up mode with a 4 1/2-game lead over the Clippers for the No. 3 spot. Steph Curry’s 3-pointer from way beyond the arc knocked OKC out in overtime on February 27. From March 25 to April 14, he had 10 triple-doubles in 11 games, including a stretch of seven straight.
The Rockets would make it 106-104 with under 20 seconds to go, but old defensive tendencies would come back to bit them. So I would never hate this man because I know what it took for me to get here, and he made it. ” … but I’m not ever gonna get over it”.
Thunder: F Kyle Singler sat out with soreness and tightness in his lower back. A Rockets spokeswoman said there has been no discipline from the league, and Howard chose to use nothing on his hands. The Thunder have swept Utah in three previous encounters, and OKC and San Antonio have held home court in their two meetings this season.
After not practicing on Monday due to a sore right elbow, Durant played 37 minutes against Houston with no restrictions.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re up or down, we’re sticking together and fighting through it”, center Enes Kanter said.
Thus, with so many different factors affecting this game, it truly makes it hard to determine who will come out on top.
If the Jazz are going to beat out Houston, they better take advantage in the next two weeks because the Rockets have the easiest finish to their season with games against lottery teams, Phoenix, the Lakers, Minnesota and Sacramento. Kevin Durant looked as MVP as it gets with 33 points on 11-18 shooting.
“I’m happy for him”. (An aside: Durant said in a decidedly ho-hum kind of way, which says a lot about how routine Westbrook has made these nights). Meanwhile, Randy Foye was a game-best +12. “I’m glad he’s getting his opportunity”.
Westbrook has 15 triple-doubles this season and 34 in his career.
There is good news for the Rockets, and that’s Michael Beasley’s been on an absolute tear, averaging 17.8 point per game over his last 6 contests, when he became a fully active member of the rotation. In that span of 17 games (six in which Payne didn’t play) Payne was 0-of-10 from 3.
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The Thunder enter this game hoping for similar success after topping the Pacers 115-111 on Saturday.
