{"id":385198,"date":"2011-04-21T03:55:27","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T03:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-04-21T03:55:27","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T03:55:27","slug":"thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)\u2014The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> are more than just Kevin Durant<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Russell Westbrook<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Way more.<\/p>\n

A game after scoring a combined 72 points, Oklahoma City\u2019s All-Star duo got plenty of help from the rest of the Thunder to build a commanding first-half lead and beat the Denver Nuggets<\/a> 106-89 in Game 2 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

The first-round playoff series shifts to Denver on Saturday night with Oklahoma City leading 2-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody chipped in tonight,\u201d said Durant, the NBA\u2019s scoring champion the past two seasons. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re going to need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durant scored 23 points and Westbrook added 21, but everyone else contributed to a dominant early stretch that propelled Oklahoma City to a 26-point lead early in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Ty Lawson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> scored 20 points to lead Denver, which could only get as close as 10 in the fourth quarter before Oklahoma City put the game away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gave them too many minutes, too many possessions of they were totally in control,\u201d Denver coach George Karl said. \u201cThey were energized, they were more physical, they were quicker, probably smarter. \u2026 The hole was just too big. When it looked like we could get it under 10, a 3-ball would go in or an offensive rebound would break our heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rematch of a series opener that went right down to the wire and featured a controversial non-call on a goaltending on the Thunder\u2019s go-ahead basket with 65 seconds left couldn\u2019t have been much different than Game 1.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City got a balanced performance, with James Harden<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> providing 18 points and Serge Ibaka<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> adding 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kendrick Perkins<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> had 11 rebounds as the Thunder piled up a 41-19 edge on the boards by late in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done it all year,\u201d coach Scott Brooks said. \u201cYou don\u2019t win the games we\u2019ve won just having one or two guys. I really believed those guys were going to step up and score some points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nene and Raymond Felton<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> added 16 points apiece for the Nuggets.<\/p>\n

Denver made a brief rally to get within 86-76 after consecutive layups by Lawson and Felton with 8:33 to play, but Brooks called a timeout to get Westbrook back in the game and stop the comeback.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City held Denver without a basket for 3 minutes to get started on a 14-5 run that put the game away. Westbrook hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then stuck out three fingers on each hand, blew on them and stuck them down to his sides as if holstering them.<\/p>\n

Durant let out a scream after leaping to slam down Daequan Cook\u2019s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> missed 3-pointer on the next possession, and the celebration was on.<\/p>\n

But not for long. The Thunder are only halfway to their first playoff series win since relocating from Seattle, and there\u2019s more work to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf come with the wrong mind set, not focused and not prepared right, it\u2019ll be tough for us to win\u2014especially in Denver,\u201d Durant said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t worry about that. I think we prepare right, our coaches do a great job, we go out and play hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do that, we give ourselves chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City has beaten the Nuggets four times in 16 days, sweeping regular-season games on each team\u2019s court in a four-day stretch earlier this month and now protecting home court to start the playoffs.<\/p>\n

To stay alive, Denver must return the favor by winning four of five over an eight-day span.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are really good. You expect them to play like that,\u201d Denver\u2019s Danilo Gallinari<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> said. \u201cBut we just have to play better.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a reversal from the first game, it was the Thunder who came out hot.<\/p>\n

Durant and Westbrook opened the game with 3-pointers, and Oklahoma City cruised to a 29-10 lead late in the first quarter. Kenyon Martin<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Karl both drew technical fouls for the frustrated Nuggets, who seemed to be constantly looking for whistles that didn\u2019t come.<\/p>\n

Harden hit two 3-pointers as Oklahoma City scored 12 of the first 14 points in the second quarter to make it 43-17 within the first 15 1\/2 minutes of the game.<\/p>\n

In Game 1, Denver made its first seven shots and led by 13 on three occasions in the first half.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want those guys to come out and have a shooting barrage like they did in Game 1,\u201d Durant said. \u201cI think we forced them into some tough shots. They missed a few easy ones, but I think we did a good job of closing the paint and putting Nene on the free throw line as opposed to giving him dunks like he did in Game 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al Harrington<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> finally brought the Nuggets to life with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, starting a string of seven straight points for Denver. Within 5 minutes, the Nuggets shaved 14 points off the deficit.<\/p>\n

Harrington made another 3 in a 9-0 run, and Denver was suddenly within 50-38 after Lawson\u2019s jumper along the right side of the lane with 3:42 left before halftime.<\/p>\n

The comeback fizzled, though, as the Nuggets made just one basket in the first 5 minutes of the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a game to four, and we\u2019ve got two points. That\u2019s how we look at it,\u201d Nick Collison<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> said. \u201cWe need three and four to move on, so we\u2019ll be ready to play when we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOTES: After making their first seven shots in Game 1, the Nuggets missed their first six in Game 2 and got their first make off Ibaka\u2019s goaltend of a fast-break layup by Lawson. \u2026 Karl said before the game he remembered being suspended while coaching in the CBA for kicking a ball toward the head of official Monty McCutchen, who was part of Wednesday night\u2019s crew. \u2026 Reserves J.R. Smith<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Chris Andersen<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> didn\u2019t play in the second half for the Nuggets. Karl said when Smith came into the game\u201433 seconds before Andersen\u2014was when the \u201cflood gates\u201d opened. The Thunder\u2019s lead went from 10 to 25 with the two on the court together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

See the article here:
\nThunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)\u2014The Oklahoma City Thunder are more than just Kevin Durant (notes) and Russell Westbrook (notes) . Way more. A game after scoring a combined 72 points, Oklahoma City\u2019s All-Star duo got plenty of help from the rest of the Thunder to build a commanding first-half lead and beat the Denver Nuggets 106-89 in Game 2 on Wednesday night<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-385198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\nThunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)\u2014The Oklahoma City Thunder are more than just Kevin Durant (notes) and Russell Westbrook (notes) . Way more. A game after scoring a combined 72 points, Oklahoma City\u2019s All-Star duo got plenty of help from the rest of the Thunder to build a commanding first-half lead and beat the Denver Nuggets 106-89 in Game 2 on Wednesday night\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-21T03:55:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/\"},\"wordCount\":1049,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/\",\"name\":\"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP) - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-21T03:55:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP) - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP) - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)\u2014The Oklahoma City Thunder are more than just Kevin Durant (notes) and Russell Westbrook (notes) . Way more. A game after scoring a combined 72 points, Oklahoma City\u2019s All-Star duo got plenty of help from the rest of the Thunder to build a commanding first-half lead and beat the Denver Nuggets 106-89 in Game 2 on Wednesday night","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP)","datePublished":"2011-04-21T03:55:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/"},"wordCount":1049,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/","name":"Thunder rip Nuggets to take 2-0 lead (AP) - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-04-21T03:55:27+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/thunder-rip-nuggets-to-take-2-0-lead-ap\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}