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Aug 5 '16 | By wxy1123 | 133 Profile Views | support user content | Comments: 0
MEMPHIS, Tenn. Cheap Jerseys Authentic . -- Kevin Durant insisted the Thunder facing elimination was all the motivation he needed. Thanks to the NBAs best scorer, the Thunder remain alive and can finish off the Memphis Grizzlies back in Oklahoma City. Durant scored 36 points to break out of a slump, and the Thunder routed the Grizzlies 104-84 on Thursday night to force a deciding seventh game in the first-round Western Conference series. His performance came on a day where the hometown newspaper questioned his struggles with a headline calling him "Mr. Unreliable." "We needed to win this game," Durant said. "Thats more motivation than anything, so our team responded. Weve got to do an even better job in Game 7." Russell Westbrook added 25 points for the Thunder, who havent been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs since 2010. They took control early with Durant scoring 14 points in the first quarter, led by 15 at halftime and never let Memphis get that close again in the second half in the first game in the series that didnt go to overtime since the opener. "You dont get to his level as an NBA player and a great player as he is to have other people motivate you," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Hes self-motivated. Hes a tremendous kid and does everything for his team, for our organization. Were proud of him because he gives everything he has. That was the only focus for tonights game." Durant also had 10 rebounds and made 14 of 15 free throws. Reggie Jackson had 16 points off the bench for the Thunder, who will host Game 7 on Saturday night. Grizzlies guard Tony Allen said the Thunder simply wanted the game more and called the loss embarrassing in front of a sellout crowd. "Now, weve shot ourselves in the foot, and we have to go to a hostile environment now and pretty much show where our heart is at," Allen said. Marc Gasol had 17 points and Zach Randolph 16 for Memphis. Guard Mike Conley strained his right hamstring, briefly returned and left for good with 8:48 left. Conley went down in the third quarter near midcourt dribbling when Kendrick Perkins reached in for a steal. The Memphis guard returned briefly, but Conley was limping noticeably. With the Thunder in control, Conley went to the locker room again and didnt return. Nick Calathes currently is suspended for violating the NBAs anti-drug policy, leaving Memphis with only Beno Udrih at point guard. Memphis coach Dave Joerger said Udrih will play a lot of minutes if Conley cant. Conley said he will be re-evaluated Friday and receive as much treatment as possible before tipoff Saturday. "I plan on playing," Conley said. Durant had to answer questions after the shootaround Thursday about that headline in The Oklahoman newspaper. Durant said he had no problem with the headline and that he just needed to hit shots and be more aggressive. Smiling just before tipoff, Durant did just that. The man who led the NBA scoring 32 points a game during the regular season opened by hitting five of his first seven and finished 11 of 23 from the floor. He continued to struggle outside the arc where he missed all six of his attempts. The Grizzlies had a chance to advance to their third semifinal in four years on their own floor. Yet they couldnt shoot well or match the Thunders intensity with a sloppy performance in front of a sellout crowd that tried to energize the Grizzlies. Oklahoma City outrebounded Memphis 47-36 and easily outshot them 49.3 per cent (37 of 75) to 37.3 per cent (31 of 83). "We knew sooner or later our shots would fall," Brooks said. Brooks also benched Thabo Sefolosha and started Caron Butler. "This is why you play the game to prove doubters wrong, and adversity builds character," Butler said. "This team has a strong character and a will." Memphis last led 6-4. A team that thrives off defence, the Grizzlies couldnt knock down shots even when they managed to get consecutive stops. The Grizzlies got to 42-37 with 3:08 left on a steal and fast-break layup by Conley. The Thunder finished the half with a 14-4 run for a 56-41 lead. The Grizzlies missed their first six shots to open the third quarter, finishing any hopes of a comeback. James Johnson scored 15 points off the bench for Memphis, and Allen added 13. Notes: This will be the second Game 7 between the teams in four years. Oklahoma City beat Memphis in seven in the 2011 conference semifinals. ... The Grizzlies are 4-1 with a chance to close out a series. ... Steven Adams blocked a career-high five shots off the bench for the Thunder. Cheap Jerseys USA . Weaver, 35, has six assists in 55 games this season but is more known for his defensive prowess. In the past, Weaver has been considered something of a specialist against Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Wholesale Jerseys Store . "Last year didnt go the way we wanted it to, but we need to look at what went well and what didnt go so well. Hopefully this year we will be better," Brendan Gallagher said after practice. This year, the Canadiens have a little more depth to work with by adding players like Daniel Briere, Dale Weise, Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and arguably, the biggest addition to this playoff roster, Thomas Vanek, who the Canadiens were able to land at the trade deadline.LONDON - Forget for a moment how illogical it was that $300 million worth of soccer talent lost to a team which cost $12,000 to assemble.Forget how embarrassing it was for Jose Mourinho to see his Premier League-leading Chelsea side beaten by Bradford of the third tier.Savour instead the FA Cup and the enduring ability of the worlds oldest knockout competition to throw up giant killings that particularly befuddle the modern tribe of football fans whose predictions and judgments are based on heat maps and player data.Clips from Chelseas 4-2 fourth-round capitulation at home to Bradford on Saturday will be replayed for decades, resonating far longer than even the occasional Champions League group-stage upset.But for Bradford, the comeback from two goals down is about much more than removing some of the sheen from a Chelsea team being tipped at one stage to go through the Premier League season unbeaten.An afternoon as the jubilant underdog will make a big difference to the finances of a club, which also stunned English football by reaching the League Cup final in 2013.We have an overspend this year of more than 1 million pounds ($1.5 million), Bradford co-chairman Mark Lawn told The Associated Press on Monday. We will break even now and dont need to sell players.Between the third and sixth rounds, each team receives 45 per cent of the gate receipts from matches, with the rest going to the Football Association. Lawn anticipates the cup generating an extra 700,000 pounds ($1 million) for his northern English club, highlighting just how important the competition is financially for professional teams outside the Premier League.Cup runs keep the 72 clubs in Football League going, Lawn said by telephone. They can be the difference from financial ruin and financial stability.The tone for a frenzied weekend of cup upsets was set on Friday with Cambridge, a fourth-tier team of cast-away academy graduates and freebies, holding a Manchester United matchday squad worth more than $300 million to a 0-0 draw. Cambridge is anticipating a windfall of more than 1.5 million pounds ($2.3 million) from a replay at Old Traffordd next week. Wholesale Jerseys 2016. Hopefully we can get the stadium done and start putting in some proper toilets, said Cambridge chairman Dave Doggett.For United it was the second humbling experience of the season under Louis van Gaal, with third-tier MK Dons ousting them from the League Cup in August. And in the FA Cups third round earlier this month, United needed more than an hour to score against Yeovil before edging the third-tier team 2-0.At Yeovil, a seemingly perplexed Van Gaal said: When you can organize your team (defensively) like the manager of Yeovil Town and they believe in it, you cannot do a lot.Not even when you are a veteran coach who only last year was being called a genius for leading the Netherlands to third place at the World Cup.Unlike Chelsea and Premier League champion Manchester City, which was stunned by second-tier Middlesbrough on Saturday, United was at near full-strength against Cambridge. The expensive strike force, led by Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria, couldnt find the net once.What Cambridge, and indeed Bradford, showed is that a teams stature and squad value can count for little when taking on a more determined, well-organized lower-league team.Perhaps Mourinho now regrets destabilizing the team by making nine changes, giving top-scorer Diego Costa a day off and leaving defensive fulcrum John Terry on the bench.Bradford didnt just steal the victory with scrappy goals. The team looked tenacious and unsettled its more illustrious hosts.It shouldnt make sense, said Lawn, who first invested in Bradford in 2007. We are lucky in this country we have the FA Cup. We are lucky a team 50 places below the people at the top of the tree can still go there to Chelsea and win.What might perplex the outsider is why Bradford is only seventh in the third division and not competing against powers like Chelsea every week.You could see it in their legs they were tired, Lawn reflected on Saturdays game at Stamford Bridge. You cant play every single game at the same pelt ... and you need to have a bit of luck on your side.___Rob Harris can be followed at www.twitter.com/RobHarris Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Authentic China Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NHL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys ' ' ' 

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