PASPN.net - Veteran Collison a perfect fit for young Thunder (Reuters)
Nick Collison News
Trans. Jun 13 4:46 ET (Jun 13 4:46 ET ) OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Lost in the flashiness of the Oklahoma City Thunder's offensive fireworks is soft-spoken forward Nick Collison, a steady hand on a young team playing for the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship. The Thunder's series-opening 105-94 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday in the NBA Finals was vintage Collison: eight points, 10 rebounds and one steal in 21 minutes. On a night that Kevin Durant scores 36 and backcourt mate Russell Westbrook adds 27, hardly a word was spoken about Collison's vital contribution off the bench. ...
Game-winners follow some standard templates: the one-on-one jumper, the pick-and-roll, the drive to the rim that ends in either a lay-in or a kickout to a shooter for an open jumper. There are varying degrees of difficulty and excitement within and across those categories, of course, but the plays usually fall within that range.
Wednesday night, then, represented something of an outlier, because it featured two game-winners achieved by other means: the tip-in.
The first occurred in one of the night's marquee games: a tense, tight matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies, two of the top three contenders in the West. With 13.6 seconds left in overtime and OKC up 89-88, Memphis isolated Zach Randolph in the post. He faced up, tried to drive, and put up a tough runner over Nick Collison and the slow-to-rotate Kendrick Perkins. That left Kevin Durant to box out Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, who muscled into position and tipped the ball in with 0.8 seconds on the clock.
The Thunder still had a 20-second timeout they could have used to both advance the ball and try to draw up their own game-winning response, but as Daily Thunder's Royce Young wrote , "Perk inexplicably inbounded the ball [and] Westbrook launched a 70-foot shot that was wide right." OKC's prayer went unanswered, and the Grizzlies won 90-88 .
Watch that play above. After the jump, check out how rookie forward Anthony Davis downed the Boston Celtics in New Orleans.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Lost in the flashiness of the Oklahoma City Thunder's offensive fireworks is soft-spoken forward Nick Collison, a steady hand on a young team playing for the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship. The Thunder's series-opening 105-94 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday in the NBA Finals was vintage Collison: eight points, 10 rebounds and one steal in 21 minutes. On a night that Kevin Durant scores 36 and backcourt mate Russell Westbrook adds 27, hardly a word was spoken about Collison's vital contribution off the bench. ...
The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the NBA Finals. Good for them. Good for Kevin Durant. Good for Nick Collison. I may just stick with the Western Conference and root with a measured amount of enthusiasm for the Thunder. Will it be easy? No. Here are five reasons it is a little tough to see the Thunder win.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will be without reserves James Harden and Nick Collison for Monday night's game against the New Orleans Hornets. Coach Scott Brooks says Harden is being held out with a sprained left ankle and Collison has a left quad contusion. Their absences will leave the Thunder with only 10 healthy players.
The Daily Oklahoman reports many of the Oklahoma City Thunder will have their own things to do this summer. Superstar Kevin Durant will be attending basketball camps. Nick Collison has a wife and kids to take care of. Serge Ibaka said he would want to play in Spain if the lockout...
I'll admit it. I was poised to shut down all telecommunications with a little less than five minutes left in Game 4 of the Dallas Mavericks - Oklahoma City Thunder series (May 23). As a matter of fact, I momentarily did just that immediately after Nick Collison grabbed what...
I'll admit it. I was poised to shut down all telecommunications with a little less than five minutes left in Game 4 of the Dallas Mavericks - Oklahoma City Thunder series (May 23). As a matter of fact, I momentarily did just that immediately after Nick Collison grabbed what...
James Harden, Eric Maynor, Nick Collison and Daequan Cook did something Kobe Bryant and the Lakers couldn't do -- make big plays down the stretch to hold off Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. The four Oklahoma City reserves teamed with Kevin Durant to turn a slim lead into a big one in the fourth quarter, riding it to a 106-100 victory Thursday night that knotted the Western Conference...
The Scoop: None.
May 19 10:27 ET
News (various sources)
Thunder star Kevin Durant makes $1M tornado pledge (The Associated Press) (3 Hours Ago | courtesy: The Associated Press) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Oklahoma City isn't just a place where Thunder star Kevin Durant lives these days. It's home. More...
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