Durant, Westbrook pace Saturday’s S&Ds with monster games

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were determined Saturday night to bring Oklahoma City another step closer to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Durant erupted for 43 points and Westbrook chipped in with 35 points and eight assists to lead the Thunder’s 115-110 triumph at Minnesota.

The victory kept the Thunder a game ahead of the Spurs with six games remaining.

Durant scored 16 points in the last seven minutes as the Thunder wrapped up their fourth victory in their last five games. It was his fourth 40-point game of the season. 

”We want to win as much games as we can going down to the stretch of the season,” Durant told the Associated Press. ”Hopefully we get (the No. 1 seed). If not, we’ve just got to keep playing. We can’t worry about that. We’ve just got to worry about how we can get better every single game.”

Westbrook sank two key free throws with 14.8 seconds to seal the victory. Earlier, Minnesota coach Rick Adelman even tried 6-foot-11 forward-center Anthony Randolph in a futile bid to check the Thunder’s offensive catalyst.

“We tried everybody,” Minnesota guard Jose Barea told the Oklahoma of trying to defend Westbrook. ”He’s tough, especially when he’s making the midrange and the 3-point shot.”

Their combined efforts paced Saturday’s Studs and Duds.
 

STUDS

Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant: Blistered Minnesota for 43 points and seven rebounds and was plus-14 in the Thunder’s victory.

Oklahoma City G Russell Westbrook: Notched 35 points, eight assists and was plus-17 in the Thunder’s victory at Minnesota.

Los Angeles Clippers G Chris Paul: Went for 28 points, 13 assists, four rebounds, three steals and was plus-11 in the Clippers’ triumph over Golden State.

Memphis F Rudy Gay: Went for 26 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks in the Grizzlies’ victory over Utah.

Indiana C Roy Hibbert: Muscled for 23 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and was plus-14 in the Pacers’ triumph at Milwaukee.

Golden State G Nate Robinson: Came off the bench to score 28 points, eight assists, five rebounds and was plus-12 in the Warriors’ loss at the Clippers.

DUDS

Golden State G Charles Jenkins: The rookie from Hofstra missed all four shots with three turnovers and was minus-20 in the Warriors’ loss at the Clippers.

Oklahoma City F-G James Harden: Clanked through a 1-for-11 shooting effort with a turnover and was a game-worst minus-18 in the Thunder’s victory at Minnesota.

Milwaukee C Drew Gooden: The former Spur went 2 for 10 from the field with three turnovers and was minus-7 in the Bucks’ loss to Indiana.

New Jersey G Deron Williams: Notched 14 assists, but was 3 for 12 from the field with four turnovers and was a game-worst minus-16 in the Nets’ loss at Boston.

Phoenix C Marcin Gortat: Went 3 for 12 from the field and was a game-worst minus-27 in the Suns’ loss to the Spurs.

A&M’s Middleton pegged No. 9 for 2012 NBA lottery

It’s never to early to indulge in a little early draft speculation — even if it’s before school has started for the fall semester and top freshman players have even started their fall semesters at their new colleges.

Hoops Hype.com has its for the 2012 draft. And while the Big 12 remains together, it looks like another banner season for Texas-based teams with two Baylor players and a Texas AM player pegged in the top half of the first round.

AM junior forwardis ranked the highest of any player from a Texas school at No. 9. Baylor small forwards and are listed at No. 10 and No. 11, respectively.

Hoops Hype compares the draftees to current NBA players as part of their preview. Middleton is said to be similar to Michael Redd. Miller is likened to Rashard Lewis and Jones to Anthony Randolph.

Heralded Texas freshman guard Myck  Kabongo, who has yet to play a college game, is considered the No. 18 player in the draft and compared to Rajon Rondo.

The upcoming draft is considered to be much stronger than last season’s draft, mainly because several top players decided to return to college for another year of seasoning amid the uncertainty of the looming NBA lockout.

Those draft questions helped explain the return to college of North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and Connecticut’s Jeremy Lamb. All are projected among the top eight picks in the draft.   

The potential teams are pegged in order of their 2011 draft order. The Spurs with the No. 29 pick were linked with USC center DeWayne Dedmon.