OKLAHOMA CITY -- There will be times the Oklahoma City Thunder will miss Russell Westbrook as he rehabs from another knee surgery, but Sunday certainly wasnt one of those nights. [url=https://www.cheapceltics.com/]Wholesale Celtics Jerseys[/url] . Kevin Durant had 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assi

OKLAHOMA CITY -- There will be times the Oklahoma City Thunder will miss Russell Westbrook as he rehabs from another knee surgery, but Sunday certainly wasnt one of those nights. Wholesale Celtics Jerseys . Kevin Durant had 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assists and the Thunder won their second straight game without Westbrook, beating the Houston Rockets 117-86. Jeremy Lamb added a career-high 22 points (on 8 of 10 shooting) and five assists for Oklahoma City, which has the NBAs best record at 25-5. The Thunder have won 12 of their last 13 and 20 of their last 22 games. Reggie Jackson, starting in Westbrooks place, had 16 points and eight assists as the Thunder never trailed and led by as many as 32 points against a team they beat in six games in the first round of last seasons playoffs. Durant said the experience of playing without Westbrook for the final four games of that series and the rest of the playoffs prepared the Thunder for what they must face now. "Its still tough not having him here, but we know what we have to do now," Durant said. "We learned from our mistakes last time. Hopefully we just keep getting better and when he comes back its kind of a seamless transition for us." Oklahoma City shot 57 per cent from the field (47 of 82) in dealing the Rockets their worst loss of the season. The Thunder held James Harden to eight points on 2-of-9 shooting, while Dwight Howard, often stymied by Oklahoma City centre Kendrick Perkins, had nine points on 4-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds. "That team is a very, very high-powered offence," Durant said. "Theyre so quick up the floor. We just wanted to let them see bodies and just play hard. . Weve got to do a better job (defensively) but tonight was a step in the right direction." Aaron Brooks had 17 points and Chandler Parsons scored 15 for Houston, which was playing its fourth game in five days. The Rockets, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, missed their first 12 shots and shot 36.5 per cent from the field (31 of 85). Houston coach Kevin McHale wouldnt use fatigue as an excuse for the Rockets performance. "Youre playing basketball," McHale said, shaking his head. "Youre not logging tall timbers, believe me. Four games in five nights ... next question. "We couldnt stop them. We couldnt run. We had nothing." Oklahoma City is 3-2 this season without Westbrook. The All-Star point guard underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday, his third surgery since last April, when he tore his meniscus after Houston guard Patrick Beverley banged knees with him as Westbrook tried to call a timeout in Game 2 of last seasons playoff series. The Thunder have said Westbrooks latest surgery will sideline him until after the All-Star break. Oklahoma City won 89-85 at Charlotte on Friday night in their first game since that surgery, as Durant had 34 points and 12 rebounds. "The teams going to pick it up," Jackson said. "Were going to do things collectively. Were going to find a way to play, but we all know our limitations. We all know what were good at. . We dont know, necessarily, where well get it from each and every night, but were just trying to go ahead and find our shots and continue to take them." Oklahoma City jumped to a 13-0 lead as the Rockets failed to score until Howard hit a 3-foot jump hook with 5:27 left in the first quarter. The Thunder extended their lead to 22-5 on a driving layup by Thabo Sefolosha and were up 26-14 at the end of the quarter. The Thunders lead stayed in double digits most of the second quarter and Oklahoma City led 56-44 at halftime. Parsons opened the second half with a corner 3-pointer to pull the Rockets within nine points, but Durant hit two 3-pointers and Jackson had another during a 15-0 run to give Oklahoma City its biggest lead to that point at 71-47. Houston came no closer than 17 points the rest of the way. "We just had a tough time making shots tonight," Howard said. "That happens. Weve got to come out better. Weve got to find a way to get ourselves going. Thats it." Houston also struggled at the free throw line, hitting just 17 of 31 attempts (54.8 per cent). Sefolosha scored 13 points, one off his season high, for Oklahoma City. Omri Casspi added 15 points for the Rockets. Notes: Harden, a former fan favourite with the Thunder before being traded to Houston before last season, received a strong mix of boos and cheers during pregame introductions. Right before the tipoff, Harden walked over to the Thunder bench to greet some of his former teammates and coaches ... Houstons 14-point first quarter was a season low and the Rockets second-lowest quarter of the season . Brooks hit a halfcourt shot at the end of the third quarter, which pulled the Rockets within 90-70. Celtics Jerseys 2020 .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. Custom Boston Celtics Jerseys . "We were left with the overall impression that the team wasnt trending toward being able to compete for a Stanley Cup," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a news conference at the clubs arena. "And that was just a clear signal and why it was time to make those changes. https://www.cheapceltics.com/ .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement.CARDIFF -- Wales gave a two-time defending champions response to a demoralizing defeat by whipping France 27-6 and keeping its Six Nations title defence alive on Friday. So shaken to the core was Wales by its 26-3 demolition from Ireland, the only unbeaten team left in the championship, that coach Warren Gatland warned his British Lions-laden side that careers were on the line under the Millennium Stadium roof. The players answer was a robust performance of power, pace and poise, adding up to a third straight win over France last achieved 42 years ago. "That was the response we were looking for," captain Sam Warburton said. "We knew we had it in us." He admitted playing for their jobs was also an incentive. "We said in the week that we dont want to take our places for granted. We have probably worked our hardest in the last two weeks," he said. Stand-in centre George North scored after five minutes and fullback Leigh Halfpennys boot punished frequent French errors and a second-rate scrum with five penalties that propped up a 20-6 halftime lead. When Warburton reached out to plant the ball on the line in the 64th, the score became Wales biggest win over France at home since 1950. That margin will be vital in terms of points difference in the standings if Wales, which jumped over previously unbeaten France into second place, can stay on track and Ireland lose somewhere. The Irish are at Twickenham on Saturday. Wales performance wasnt assured beforehand, certainly not after lock Alun-Wyn Jones, who captained the Lions in their series-clinching win in Australia last year, withdrew just before the match with a foot injury. That gave a second Welshman, Jake Ball, his first test start beside scrumhalf Rhys Webb, whose zippy pass was a big factor in Wales frantic start. Five minutes in, lineout ball was spread left and inside centre Jamie Roberts drew two defenders. North gave Halfpenny an overlap and he chipped ahead. France fullback Bruce Dulin claimed the ball just before the tryline, but he was accidentally clipped in the head by teammate Jean-Marc Doussain and dropped the ball, which North pounced on in goal. Boston Celtics Gear. Halfpenny couldnt convert. He seemed to kick only the hardest goalkicks, and France kept giving him chances, especially from a scrum that Wales eventually got on top of. Captain Pascal Pape conceded the second penalty from a ruck, and tighthead prop Nicolas Mas the third for slipping in a scrum. Wesley Fofana was milked by North in a ruck for Halfpennys fourth, and a tighthead conceded just before halftime ended up giving Halfpenny his fifth penalty. Moments before then, referee Alain Rolland told both captains the scrum was a mess and threatened to dish out cards. He upheld his promise in the 50th, sin-binning Mas and counterpart Gethin Jenkins. By then, Wales was in charge and the outmuscled French had few options. "It was a catastrophic first half, our discipline was poor, and we gave away too many penalties," France coach Philippe Saint-Andre said. "We were totally apathetic in the first half." Dulin said, "They got on top of us very quickly and we couldnt pull ourselves together. We didnt go about things the right way. "We didnt start the game well and they just gained in confidence. After their match against Ireland they really wanted to put their foot down." France had a try rightfully disallowed early in the first half for a knockon, but the backs received no ball and didnt go close again until the 50th, when centre Mathieu Bastareaud slipped North and was stopped just short of the tryline, and couldnt offload to Dulin or winger Hugo Bonneval. The French backs were more involved in the second half, but Wales defence was smothering. Frustrated No. 8 Louis Picamoles got himself sin-binned in the 62nd and Wales took advantage. From a Roberts barging run up the middle, Warburton charged off a ruck and just managed in a double tackle with an outstretched arm to put the ball on the line. With 10 minutes to go, Wales substituted Adam Jones and Jenkins, Ball, Dan Lydiate, Webb, Rhys Priestland and Halfpenny, and all were cheered off as returning heroes deserve to be. ' ' '