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Durant Returns In Thunder Defeat; NBA Results, Box Scores

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NEW ORLEANS (Sporting Alert, Box Score) — Kevin Durant returned for Oklahoma City, but his 27 points was not enough to prevent the Thunder from falling 112-104 to New Orleans on Tuesday night, as three Pelicans players finished with double-doubles.

Durant, the league’s reigning MVP, made his season debut after missing the Thunder opening 17 games because of a fractured foot and he played 30 minutes and went 9 of 18 from the field in the defeat.

“I felt good out there,” said Durant.

“I just got to keep putting together good days and I’ll keep getting back to where I want to be.”

Tyreke Evans scored a game-high 30 points and Anthony Davis collected 25 points, 10 rebounds, six steals, four blocks and four assists to lead the way for the Pelicans (8-8), which stopped a three game losing streak and moved back to .500 on the season.

“I was in attack mode,” Evans said. “I was in a zone. Once you get in a zone, you feel like no one can stay in front of you.”

Ryan Anderson had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Jrue Holiday collected 16 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the victory for New Orleans, who will next play at the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.

“It was a good win,” New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. “We played extremely hard tonight.

“I thought that was going to be the key for us, to do something that is ordinary for us but it is something we haven’t seen consistently, playing hard for 48 minutes.”

After a close opening quarter, the Pelicans scored 40 points in the second against the Thunder’s 26, as the home side took a 52-69 lead into the halftime break.

After the interval, the home side increased the lead to as many as 19 points, before OKC rallied to trim the gap to just five with 10:22 left.

But more turnovers led to the hosts going on another run, and the Thunder struggled to keep up in the end.

”We did a great job of being disciplined on our game plan, knowing what guys were going to do and we just stayed with it for four quarters,” Davis said.

”We’ve got to defend, rebound and run. That’s what we do. That’s going to get our offense going.

”When we’re moving the ball, sharing the ball, cutting hard and playing for each other, it makes the game a lot easier.”

Russell Westbrook scored 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Oklahoma City, but was also 6 of 20 from the field, while he and Durant combined for 12 of the Thunder’s 17 total turnovers.

Reggie Jackson added 17 points and Jeremy Lamb went 5 of 7 attempts from the floor for 15 points and five boards for OKC, which will next meet the winless Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 5.

LA Lakers Beat Detroit Pistons – Box Score

Los Angeles Lakers also grabbed a win on Tuesday, after beating the struggling Detroit Pistons 106-96 at The Palace of Auburn Hills to win back-to-back games for the second time this season.

Jordan Hill finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Kobe Bryant added 12 points, 13 assists and five boards in the win for the Lakers (5-13), which handed the Pistons their eight defeat at home.

Nick Young scored 19 points, Carlos Boozer had 14 points and seven rebounds and Wesley Johnson contributed 13 points and four blocks for Los Angeles, which led 81-65 at the end of the third quarter.

Detroit cut the gap to seven points with 5:13 left, but the Lakers took care of business from the free throw line to seal the win.

Josh Smith collected 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead the way for the Pistons.

D.J. Augustin had 13 points, while Caron Butler, 11 and Brandon Jennings, 10, where the only other players in double figured for the hosts in the defeat.

In another result, Cleveland hold on for a 111-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, with the “Big 3” making big contributions for the Cavs.

Kyrie Irving scored 28 points and six assists, Kevin Love had 27 and 10 boards and Lebron James added 26 points and 10 assists in the win.

Brandon Knight top scored for the Bucks with 27 points and rookie Jabari Parker had 22 points and eight rebounds in the defeat.

NBA SCORES: Tuesday, Dec. 2

New Orleans 112, Oklahoma City 104 – Box Score
Cleveland 111, Milwaukee 108 – Box Score
Portland 105, Denver 103 – Box Score
LA Lakers 106, Detroit 96 – Box Score
Atlanta 109, Boston 105 – Box Score
Brooklyn 98, New York 93 – Box Score
Dallas 132, Chicago 129 (OT) – Box Score
Phoenix 116, Indiana 99 – Box Score

No. 3 Alabama Allstate Sugar Bowl clash with No. 11 Oklahoma

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ORLEANS – The football team arrived in New Orleans last Friday afternoon and got its first practice of bowl week under its belt with a two-hour workout inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Game Information

Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban met with the media at an introductory press conference along with captains AJ McCarron, C.J. Mosley and Kevin Norwood.

Third-ranked Alabama will meet No. 11 Oklahoma in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 2, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The Sooners possess a potent offense that features a pair of talented signal-callers.

“I think that we have a lot of respect for both of (Oklahoma’s) quarterbacks and what their capabilities are,” Saban said. “I think both guys are people who will run their offense very efficiently and effectively.

“Both are dual threats in terms of their ability to run the ball and run the option and pull the ball on the dive and challenge you on the perimeter, as well as be able to throw the ball in the play action game or on third down when they drop back.”

The 2014 Sugar Bowl will also be the final game for a group of seniors who have compiled a 46-6 record over the last four years and a 60-6 mark over the last five campaigns.

“We have to make sure that everyone is staying focused – the main thing is that when we get to practice we are doing the same things that we have done all year,” senior linebacker C.J. Mosley said.

“We had eight practices in-a-row leading up to this and everyone had the right mindset then. We had great practices and got our bodies back in shape. We have these practices the next few days, and if we practice well we will have a good chance to win.”

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaFTBL on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaFBL on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.

NBA Scores and leading scorers – Dec. 28

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Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat

NEW YORK — The following are the NBA scores, results and leading scorers for each teams from the games that took place on Saturday, December 28.

Saturday, December 28 – ESPN Scoreboard Brief
RESULT WINNER HIGH LOSER HIGH ATT.
Boston 103, Cleveland 100 Green 19 Pts
Crawford 19 Pts		 Irving 32 Pts 18,264
Toronto 115, New York 100 Lowry 32 Pts Stoudemire 23 Pts 19,800
Dallas 105, Chicago 83 Ellis 22 Pts Noah 20 Pts 22,099
Miami 108, Portland 107 Bosh 37 Pts Matthews 23 Pts 20,071
LA Clippers 98, Utah 90 Griffin 40 Pts Kanter 17 Pts 19,278
Indiana 105, Brooklyn 91 George 24 Pts Pierce 18 Pts 18,165
Washington 106, Detroit 82 Wall 20 Pts Monroe 14 Pts 19,336
Atlanta 118, Charlotte 116 (OT) Millsap 33 Pts Jefferson 24 Pts 15,180
Houston 107, New Orleans 98 Howard 24 Pts Anderson 22 Pts 18,233
Memphis 120, Denver 99 Randolph 20 Pts Lawson 20 Pts 17,017
Minnesota 117, Milwaukee 95 Love 33 Pts Middleton 23 Pts 14,971
Phoenix 115, Philadelphia 101 Plumlee 22 Pts Young 30 Pts 15,623

Leading the list of winners on the night were the two-time reigning champions, the Miami Heat, who won the battle against another title contenders for this season, the Portland Trail Blazers.

Playing without the injured LeBron James, star center Chris Bosh stepped up big time to score a game-high 37 points, including the go-ahead three pointer and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Heat (23-7) to a narrow 108-107 victory over Portland (24-6) .

Wesley Matthews finished with 23 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and seven rebounds in the defeat for the Trail Blazers.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra admits at the end of the game that the plan was to go for a two-pointer and try and send the game into over, but Bosh wanted none of that. He had already played enough and wanted to go for the three-pointer.

“My call at the end of the game was much more conservative,” Spoelstra revealed. “I drew something up to get him on the move and he said, ‘No, I want it for the 3.’ So he overruled it and became a prophet.”

Spoelstra added: “He was terrific tonight, a true two-way player. He took the challenge for the majority of his minutes on one of the premier players in this league (Aldridge) and then had to shoulder a big-time offensive load.

“That takes incredible stamina but also the skill set that he put on display tonight on both ends of the court.”

Meanwhile, in other NBA scores on the night, the LA Clippers, behind Blake Griffin’s season-high 40 points, beat the Utah Jazz 98-90, Paul George scored 24 points and the Indiana Pacers defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 105-91, while Houston beat New Orleans, 107-98.

Eric Gordon guides New Orleans to 105-102 win over OKC

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TULSA, OK (Sporting Alert) — Eric Gordon scored 21 points and Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson combined for 36 and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-102 in a preseason game at BOK Center on Thursday night.

Gordon shot 6-for-9 from the floor to lead the way, while Davis and Anderson finished with 18 points and six rebounds apiece.

Davis, who netted two late free throws to seal the win, also had a last second block on Jeremy Lamb, who was attempting a three point jumper in an effort to tie the game.

The Thunder were led by star forward Kevin Durant, who had 25 points, six rebounds and three blocks in the defeat.

Jeremy Lamb and Reggie Jackson both scored 12 points, with the latter adding nine assists as well and Serge Ibaka and Ryan Gomes each scored 11.

Steven Adams pulled down 15 rebounds and scored 10 points in the defeat for Oklahoma City, which dropped its first preseason game and fell to 3-1.

Brian Roberts, who made the go-ahead bucket that gave New Orleans a 103-102 lead, finished with 14 points, while Al-Farouq Aminu supported with a fine double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win for the Pelicans, who stayed undefeated in preseason and a 5-0 record.

Preseason Live: Oklahoma City Thunder v New Orleans Pelicans

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TULSA, OK (Sporting Alert) — The Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans will meet in what is expected to be an exciting preseason contest at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday night.

Watch Live on FS OKLAHOMA HD | Live GameCast

8:00 PM ET, October 17, 2013
BOK Center, Tulsa, OK

Kevin Durant currently leads the Thunder in scoring and is coming off a 36 points performance in a 109-81 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. He is averaging 27 points from three preseason games.

Oklahoma City are 3-0 in exhibition thus far.

Anthony Davis has also been in good preseason form for the undefeated New Orleans Pelicans, which have won all four of their opening preseason games, including a dominating 105-73 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Davis averages 24.5 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the preseason games thus far.

Against the Orlando Magic, second year pro scored 29 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals on Oct. 9.

Preseason Leaders

Points Rebounds Assists
NO Davis 24.5 Davis 7.0 Holiday 6.0
OKC Durant 27.0 Ibaka 8.7 Durant 6.3

New Orleans Pelicans hold off Houston Rockets, win preseason opener

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Houston, TX (Sporting Alert) — Anthony Morrow scored a game high 26 points and the new-look New Orleans Pelicans edged the Houston Rockets 116-115 in their opening preseason game at Toyota Center Saturday night.

Morrow went 8-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three point range, while pulling down five rebounds and going a perfect seven from the free throw line.

Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers both had 21 points in the win as the Pelicans fought back to take the lead with a Rivers drive with 2:15 left and then fended off the Rockets’ late charge.

Dwight Howard, playing his first game with Houston since his move from the LA Lakers in the offseason, finished with 19 points and nine rebounds in the defeat at home.

Star guard James Harden led the way for the Rockets with 21 points, while Omri Casspi punched in 20 points.

Chandler Parsons scored 11 points and six rebounds and Jeremy Lin added 11 points, four assists and three boards in the loss.

Top Performers
New Orleans: A. Morrow 26 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Ast
Houston: D. Howard 19 Pts, 9 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Blk

Flagrant Fouls: None
Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: 1 HOUSTON ( Howard 1 ) – TEAMS: NEW ORLEANS (1), HOUSTON (4) – COACHES: None
Officials: Derrick Collins, Sean Corbin, Steven Anderson
Date: 8:00 PM ET, October 5, 2013
Attendance: 15,049
Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX

ESPN, WatchESPN Live: Miami Dolphins at New Orleans Saints

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(Sporting Alert) — These are the players who have been listed as inactive for Monday Night Football – NFL game between the undefeated teams Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints.

Watch Live Miami Dolphins at New Orleans Saints on ESPN, WatchESPN

Miami will be with the injured corner back Dimitri Patterson, who did not practice leading up to the game because of a groin problem.

Running back Mike Gillislee, defensive end Cameron Wake and quarterback Pat Devlin are also among the players listed as inactive for the Dolphins.

For the New Orleans Saints Brodrick Bunkley (calf) and Roman Harper (knee), who did not practice lead the list of players not playing tonight.

Running back Mark Ingram (toe) and wide receiver Lance Moore (hand) are both inactive as well.

MIAMI DOLPHINS AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS, 8:40 PM (ET)

Miami – QB Pat Devlin, RB Mike Gillislee, CB Will Davis, CB Dimitri Patterson, G/T Dallas Thomas, DE Cameron Wake, G Danny Watkins

New Orleans – RB Mark Ingram, WR Lance Moore, CB Rod Sweeting, OT Terron Armstead, DT Brodrick Bunkley, S Roman Harper, DT Tom Johnson.

Reports: Nerlens Noel, Trey Burke will be traded

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NEW YORK (Sporting Alert) — It is less than an hour since he has been picked by New Orleans in the first round, but reports are saying that Nerlens Noel will be traded.

Cleveland Cavaliers select Anthony Bennett at top overall NBA draft pick

Noel was expected and predicted by many to be the top pick in the 2013 NBA draft, but slid down the pecking order to No. 6.

NBA League sources are saying that New Orleans will trade the Kentucky center to the Philadelphia 76ers.

League sources say New Orleans were not willing to keep both Anthony Davis and Noel together.

It is being reported that Noel will be traded to the 76ers, with Jrue Holiday and the 42nd overall pick in this draft going to the Pelicans.

New Orleans will also send their 2014 first round pick to Philadelphia in the deal as well.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Trey Burke, the ninth overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves, is going to be traded to the Utah Jazz.

Minnesota, who according to several sources selected Burke for the Jazz, will get Utah’s Nos. 14 and 21 in this draft.

Irving Leads Cleveland v New Orleans Live On ESPN

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Cleveland, Ohio (Sporting Alert) — Cleveland Cavaliers, with one of the NBA top young player Kyrie Irving, will take on the New Orleans Hornets at Quicken Loans Arena tonight.

The Following are the starting line-ups for both teams. | LIVE TV: ESPN, ESPN3.com and WatchESPN.com

Irving, who has been getting praised by several former players, including for LA Lakers star Magic Johnson, is currently on the form of his young career and many see him as one best point guards in the league at the moment.

He will start as the main ball handler after a very good All-Star weekend in which he won the 3-point competition, while Dion Waiters, Alonzo Gee, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller.

Meanwhile, another young player, Anthony Davis will lead the New Orleans Hornets, with Austin Rivers and Robin Lopez also starting

New Orleans at Cleveland

Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving – G; Dion Waiters – G; Alonzo Gee – F; Tristan Thompson – F; Tyler Zeller – C

New Orleans Hornets: Greivis Vasquez – G; Austin Rivers – G; Al-Farouq Aminu – F; Anthony Davis – F; Robin Lopez – C.

When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Officials: #70 Brent Barnaky, #55 Bill Kennedy, #32 Eddie F. Rush

New Orleans Bowl and MAACO Bowl up for grab on Saturday

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(Sporting Alert) — College football action continues on Saturday with two games with the New Orleans Bowl and MAACO Bowl both up for grabs.

No. 20 Boise State and Washington will take on each other for the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas and the Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian is looking forward to rare meeting with the Broncos.

“I think it can become one of those classic rivalries that get set up,” Sarkisian was quoted as saying.

“Everybody loves a good rematch, you know? Somebody’s going to win and somebody’s going to lose this first one. Then we are going to come back nine months later to see who can win the second one.”

Saturday will see Boise State going for its fourth successive bowl honor, while Washington are looking to make up for the exciting 67-56 Alamo Bowl defeat to Baylor last year.

Also on Saturday, East Carolina and Louisiana-Lafayette and take on each other for the right to lift the New Orleans Bowl.

The clash comes a time when East Carolina are excited about Bowl Games again and Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill is looking forward to the clash.

“All bowl games are exciting to me. Not going to one last year really makes you even more excited,” McNeill said.

“We’re looking forward to going to New Orleans.”

Saturday, Dec 22, Bowl Games
Live Online Coverage on WatchESPN.com

New Orleans Bowl
E Carolina
LA Lafayette
12:00pm ET
TV: ESPN

MAACO Bowl
Washington
19 Boise St
3:30pm ET
TV: ESPN

Bryant reaches 30,000 points, Lakers beat Hornets, 103-87

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New Orleans, Louisiana (Sporting Alert) – The Los Angeles Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant, at age 34, on Wednesday night, became the youngest player in NBA history to score 30,000 points.

Bryant reached the mark with 1:17 left in the first half in tonight’s game against the New Orleans Hornets, after scoring over center Robin Lopez to score his 30,000th and 30,001st points of his 17-year career.

The superstar now joins a list of notable Hall of Famers, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Michael Jordan (32,292) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) as one of five players to achieve that illustrious milestone.

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Bryant went on to finish with 29 points in leading the Lakers (9-10) to a comfortable 103-87 victory over the Hornets at New Orleans Arena – bouncing back from back-to-back defeats suffered at the hands of the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets.

Dwight Howard had 18 points and eight rebounds, Antawn Jamison, 15 points and Metta World Peace, 11 points and nine boards also reached double figures in the win.

Meanwhile, Ryan Anderson hit 4-of-7 from three point range to score a team high 28 points for New Orleans, who are 5-12 on the season.

Greivis Vasquez collected 16 points and eight assists, while Lopez scored 15 points in the defeat.

Will The Lakers Respond Against The New Orleans Hornets?

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New Orleans, Louisiana (Sporting Alert) — The Los Angeles Lakers will want to quickly put the Tuesday night’s disappointing defeat to Houston Rockets behind them when they face the New Orleans Hornets tonight.

When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Where: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
TV: TWSN | Live Audio Lakers Radio

Lakers (8-10) blew a 17 point lead with a poor fourth quarter performance and fell 107-105 in Houston to open its three-game trip.

The Rockets used a vital team strategy to take players such as Kobe Bryant and Jamison, Antawn out of the game by fouling Dwight Howard early, as they knew he would struggle from the free throw line.

In the last five-minutes of the he was fouled five times and hit just 5-of-10 from the charity line – giving Houston the opportunity the claw back into the game.

There were suggestions from the pundits to leave Howard out of close games down the stretch, but he’s having now of it.

“People are going to say whatever they want to say, but at the end of the day, go back and look at the game,” Howard said.

“The reason we lost was not my free throws. That didn’t lose us the game. Our defense was not there in the fourth quarter.”

The Hornets (5-11) are expected to apply the same intentional strategy on the big center if needed, but know they need to do the work to get to that phase.

Lakers will again be without point guards Steve Nash and Steve Blake, while Pau Gasol is also out of the contest.

New Orleans will be without top overall draft pick Anthony Davis, who remains out because of an ankle and despite the Lakers’ struggles, they don’t expect any favors.

“With the next two games, which are big ones, we have to go out there with the same energy and use it in a positive way,” rookie point guard Austin Rivers said.

The Hornets have split its last four games since happily ending a seven-game losing streak.

Monty Williams’s team is coming off a 102-81 home win over Milwaukee and seeks its first back-to-back wins won since early November. The injured Eric Gordon (sore right knee) is also out.

Point Leaders 
Kobe Bryant – (LAL) – 27.9, Dwight Howard – (LAL) – 18.6, Ryan Anderson – (NO) – 17.5, Anthony Davis – (NO) – 16.0

Assist Leaders
Greivis Vasquez – (NO) – 8.7, Kobe Bryant – (LAL) – 4.9, Steve Nash – (LAL) – 4.0, Pau Gasol – (LAL) – 3.5

Rebound Leaders 
Dwight Howard – (LAL) – 11.3, Pau Gasol – (LAL) – 8.8, Anthony Davis – (NO) – 8.3, Ryan Anderson – (NO) – 7.9