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After a couple of scares in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers, 4-1.

It’s the Thunder’s fifth straight home playoff win, which is their longest such streak since winning six straight in 2002.

Kevin Durant finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds for his sixth 25-10 playoff game over the last two seasons. That’s tied with Zach Randolph for most in the NBA during that stretch.

For the series, Durant averaged 26.8 points and Russell Westbrook, who scored 28 points in Game 5, averaged 25.6 in the series. It's just the fourth time teammates each averaged at least 25 points in a playoff series against the Lakers. Durant and Westbrook, however, are the only pair to lead their team to a series victory.

A big key to the Thunder’s success was that they outscored the Lakers by 13.8 transition points per game during the series, including by 17 in Game Five.

Westbrook (6.4), Durant (6.4) and James Harden (5.6) all averaged over five transition points per game in the series.

Despite the tight defense, Kobe Bryant did his best to keep the Lakers in Game Five.

His 42 points gave Bryant his 13th, 40-point playoff game, tying Wilt Chamberlain for fourth most all-time. It was the most points Bryant has ever scored in a playoff game when facing elimination.

Bryant accounted for 44.0 percent of the Lakers field goal attempts, but accounted for 52.9 percent of their made field goals in Game Five.

He did struggle however when guarded by Durant, especially in the fourth quarter this series.

Bryant shot 1-for-10 in that situation whereas he shot 41.7 percent (10-24) against all other Thunder defenders. Only two of Bryant's 34 fourth-quarter attempts were inside of five feet and both of those came against Harden.

This is the fifth time the Lakers were down 3-1 with Bryant and they have gone on to lose the series each time.

The Lakers loss means there are seven different teams who have more playoff wins than them over the last two seasons. That includes the Memphis Grizzlies and their longtime rival Boston Celtics.

The Thunder, meanwhile, advance to the Conference Finals for the second-straight season.

The only other time the franchise advanced to the Conference Finals in consecutive seasons was when they made three straight appearance from 1978-1980 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.

Ricky Rubio and Derrick Rose both tore their ACL’s this season. Rubio did so March 9 against the Lakers after the Timberwolves entered the day tied with the Rockets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Rose went down with 1:10 remaining in Game 1 of the First Round and the game already in hand for the Bulls.

Which point guard was more valuable to their team’s success this season? Most would probably assume Rose, the reigning MVP, was once again one of the most valuable players in the NBA when he was healthy. But is it possible that Rubio could’ve been a more valuable player than Rose?

RICKY RUBIO
In games Rubio played this season, the Timberwolves were 21-20 and had a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Without him, the Timberwolves lost 20 of their final 25 games and finished last place in the Northwest Division.

With Rubio off the court, the Timberwolves were 7.1 points worse per 48 minutes. The Timberwolves offense wasn’t affected as much as their defense was without Rubio. They scored 1.4 more points and allowed 5.7 fewer points per 48 minutes with Rubio on the court.

DERRICK ROSE
Rose missed 27 games during the regular season and the Bulls were 18-9 in those games. They were significantly better at 32-7 with Rose, but they still maintained the top seed in the East without him.

The Bulls were 3.5 points worse per 48 minutes with Rose off the court this season. The Bulls were greatly affected offensively without Rose, but their defense actually improved. They scored 8.2 fewer points and allowed 4.7 more points per 48 minutes with Rose off the court.

SUMMER OLYMPICS
Neither Rubio nor Rose will be able to compete for their respective countries in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Which player’s injury will have a larger effect, Rubio on Spain or Rose on USA?

In the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Rubio averaged 8.1 assists per 40 minutes, the second-highest behind Argentina’s Pablo Prigioni. Spain had to rely heavily on Rubio running the point without Jose Calderon, who injured his leg and didn’t play in Turkey.

Calderon will be an offensive asset, but Spain could be hurt defensively without Rubio. Since Calderon entered the NBA in 2004, nobody has better than his 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. This season, the Raptors scored more, shot better and had a much better assist-to-turnover ratio when Calderon was on the court, but their opponents also scored more and shot better while Calderon was out there.

Raul Lopez, Sergio Llull and Juan Carlos Navarro could also contribute for Spain at the point.

Rose led USA in assists per game (3.2) in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Without him, USA’s point guard options are Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. In the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Paul and Williams didn’t play and Westbrook averaged 18.8 points, 5.4 assists and 5.8 rebounds per 40 minutes. Paul (9.1 APG) and Williams (8.7 APG) both ranked in top five in the NBA this season in assists per game (Calderon was 4th and Rubio was 6th).

The first half was an eyesore, as the Thunder led nearly the whole way despite a bevy of turnovers by both teams. Then the Clippers rallied back to drop the Thunder 92-77 on Monday, five nights after Los Angeles went into Oklahoma City and stole one on the Thunder's home court. The game was a revelation for the Clippers, and a nightmare for the Thunder after halftime.

• So many of the Clippers' wins this season have been of the lightning-in-the-bottle variety. Randy Foye will get hot from long range, or Chris Paul will emerge from the bullpen late in the fourth quarter and carry the team to an improbable win. A win is a win -- but the best teams in the league rely on reliable systems and methods to chalk up victories. The Clippers, on the other hand, have been masters of serendipity. But that wasn't the case Monday night, when the Clippers collectively identified Oklahoma City's weaknesses and attacked them. Playing a grown-up brand of basketball, the Clippers threw a steady stream of different defensive coverages at the Thunder. When the Thunder confronted their strengths with strength, the Clippers made reads and found workarounds. This is how mature basketball teams win big games in the NBA and, in taking out the Thunder with substance and savvy, the Clippers played up to their potential Monday. The pyrotechnics will explode at some point; the Clippers' challenge going forward is adopting a series of principles that will guide them when they don't.
• The turning point of the game came toward the end of the third quarter when Nick Young exploded for eight points in three possessions. Prior to Monday, Young had been terrible for the Clippers, failing to shoot over 50 percent from the field in any of his 17 games with the Clippers. That was largely a function of looking for the wrong shots in the wrong spots. But during this stretch of possessions, he played off the Clippers' primary action: the middle pick-and-roll between Paul and Blake Griffin. On the first shot, the Thunder trapped Paul, then the other three OKC defenders converged on Griffin in the lane. Griffin takes a lot of grief as a "one-dimensional" player. Ever seen him move the ball out of a triple-team? That's what he did there to find Young open for two. One possession later, Paul ran a little slip screen with Griffin. This time, Young needed some help, so DeAndre Jordan pinned Kevin Durant (Young's man) out of the play. Young was open for a 3-pointer at a spot a couple of feet deeper than the previous one. On the third possession, the Clippers ran that Paul-Griffin pick-and-roll one more time. Again, a trap and, again, Durant got caught helping middle (to pick up Jordan on a duck-in) rather than staying at home on Young. It's safe to say Paul is a guy who knows how to make hedging defenders look silly. He did here. In a flash, the Clippers shaved the Thunder's lead down to a single point. Young finished with 19 points on 11 true shots without a turnover. The swag was back, at least for a night, and a very opportune one at that.
• In their heyday, the Celtics got away with a lot of turnovers, largely because they were impossible to score against for long stretches of basketball. The Thunder have a reasonably efficient defense, but they can't continue to cough up the ball on nearly a sixth of their possessions, because a team like San Antonio or the Lakers -- or even the Clippers, who protect the ball well -- will punish them for it. Russell Westbrook, who scored the Thunder's first seven points, couldn't find his cutters in the first half, errors that resulted in a slew of turnovers. In the third quarter, Serge Ibaka couldn't make a simple entry pass into the high post, and Westbrook found a wide-open Vinny Del Negro for a kickout. All of it made for very bad news, as the Thunder couldn't get out of their own way.
• The Clippers started dabbling with the zone a couple of months back when their man-to-man defense was in shambles. The schemes weren't terribly effective, but you could see the faint sketch of something that could potentially work. The Clippers are quick and long, and they certainly had the potential to compensate for their lack of reliable isolation defenders by using their size and athleticism in the zone. Gradually, that zone defense has improved, and it hummed just before halftime. Jordan was everywhere, and the Clippers were quick to match up the instant the Thunder found a seam. I caught up with Chauncey Billups after the game to ask him about the Clippers' zone, which gave up only seven points in 13 possessions. Billups was miffed when Flip Saunders installed the zone in Detroit, because he took it as an affront to his Pistons' defensive capabilities. Zone, as Metta World Peace recently told me, was for teams that can't defend in man, and for a certain proud vet, the scheme still carries a stigma. "We looked at it like it was a weakness, like you couldn't stop anybody," Billups said. "But it's a good gimmick to change up a defense." The Clippers, with Jordan anchoring underneath in Chandlerian fashion, are making it work. The Thunder couldn't lay off the long jumpers (though Durant missed a couple of open ones from long range), or they drove recklessly into the teeth of the zone. No flashes, few cuts and little patience.
• Oklahoma City couldn't make sense of the Clippers' varied coverages. The Clippers ran under Westbrook on pick-and-roll plays -- but not the big man -- giving the eager point guard just enough rope to hang himself ... but not too much. The Clippers played Durant straight-up in isolation or in the post, with the occasional trap. Sometimes they'd switch when Durant came off the pindown, sometimes not. "The big thing was to make [Durant] catch as high as possible," Kenyon Martin said. "Sometimes out of timeouts we'd switch the coverage if we saw he was getting low, and sometimes we made a read." Durant shot 7-for-18 from the floor, and drained 10 of 12 from the line.
• Aside from the handful of lousy close-outs, the Thunder didn't play a poor defensive game. Their defensive pick-and-roll strategy can best be characterized as a "long show." The big man -- be it Kendrick Perkins or Ibaka -- stayed with Paul until the point guard gave up the ball, and this creates all sorts of confusion behind this quasi-blitz. The Clippers' wing would stagnate in the corner, while Griffin would shuffle around the high post desperately looking to provide a pressure release for Paul. More times than not, it worked, even against a menace like Paul. The Clippers point guard finished with 12 points (5-for-12 FGAs, 1-for-2 FTAs) and 10 assists. Not bad, but hardly destructive.

LOS ANGELES -- When Ramon Sessions arrived in Los Angeles at the trade deadline, he seemed to heal a struggling Lakers team by injecting them with something you can’t find in some laboratory in Germany: fun.

In the wake of their second straight title, bodies began to age, injuries began to pile up -- particularly for their most dynamic player, Kobe Bryant, who was being held together by duct tape and gum toward the end of the season -- and the oversized frontcourt that powered them past the Celtics in the 2010 Finals was no longer just the team’s strength, it became their identity as well. Showtime became Slowtime. Even with the star like Kobe, the Lakers were pretty boring.

But ever since Sessions’ arrival here in Tinseltown, the fun factor has returned. The rather quiet 25-year-old point guard doesn’t have much of a presence in the locker room, but he commands attention on the court, his quick bursts and dishes set to a different speed than the rest of the team.

The competitiveness of the team never dipped much, but in the five games Sessions has played at Staples Center since the March 15 trade that sent Luke Walton and Jason Kapono to Cleveland, the crowd seems to have an extra shot of adrenaline, the stadium a little extra electricity. And Sessions, playing for a team located outside of middle America for the first time in his career, enjoyed all that came with it.

But in perhaps the Lakers’ biggest game since they acquired him, the team now housing the veteran leader they shipped out to clear space for the former Cavaliers 1 played the role of killjoy. Derek Fisher certainly had his moments, but more with his presence than his points (seven) off the Thunder bench. It was Russell Westbrook, the lone point guard between the two teams who hasn't experienced significant change since the post-deadline Fisher fallout, who was in charge of the No Fun Police. The hard-charging fourth-year player finished with 36 points on 13-for-27 shooting, six assists and only one turnover in Oklahoma City’s 102-93 win, one in which even the joy of free taco coupons was taken away from the crowd.

“I’m glad I played my career when I played because I couldn’t stop players like Russell,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

The Lakers held Westbrook in check in the first half, holding him to just nine points on 3-for-10 shooting. But the Thunder point guard seemed to get whatever he wanted in the third quarter, scoring 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting while L.A. could muster only 19 as a team (none of which coming from Bryant, who was 0-for-6 in the game-swinging section).

“In the third quarter he just came out, put his head down and went one-on-four and either scored or got fouled every time he came down the floor,” Lakers coach Mike Brown said.

With three fouls, Paul Gasol played only 2:22 in the third, leaving a 7-foot hole in the paint. But Westbrook surprisingly did most of his damage from midrange, using the threat of his powerful drives to burn the Lakers for continually going under screens -- a usually sound strategy against the attack-focused guard, but one that's losing its effectiveness as Westbrook continues to improve his range.

After laying it in on a fast-break layup early in the third, Westbrook’s next five buckets that quarter came from 13 feet and out, including a buzzer-beating shot from three feet outside the 3-point arc in which the point guard celebrated by letting out a loud scream and holstering his hot hands, each holding up three fingers.

“Kevin (Durant) and I started a little slow and the game kind of got out of whack,” said Westbrook, who has been the game-high scorer in each of the Thunder's three wins against the Lakers over the past two seasons. “My job was to pick us up and do whatever we need to do to win.”

With the Thunder’s lead snowballing in the fourth, Bryant tired his hand at guarding Westbrook. But after keeping close outside the 3-point arc for the first few seconds of the shot clock in their first faceoff, Durant used a Nick Collison screen at the top of the key and found Westbrook all alone on a backcut for an easy bucket.

“I didn't really get much of a crack at him tonight. But, I'm looking forward to it,” Bryant said. “He's one of my favorites. He's developed his outside shot a great deal and tonight he went to the post a little bit as well. So, he's ... he's a problem."

Sessions' new problem isn't the good kind to have. After reaching double-digits in five of his first six games, the point guard scored seven points for the second consecutive game, this time on 3-for-6 shooting to go along with as many assists as turnovers (five). The Lakers seemed on the verge of turning a corner into West elite territory when he arrived, winning three of their first five with him in the lineup as showing signs of that lost spark, but they have since lost two of three, with the lone win an ugly one in Oakland against the Warriors on Tuesday.

Even though he finally found a place to live in L.A. and his dog “Sesh” has arrived safe and sound, Sessions admitted that he’s still trying to get comfortable in his new surroundings.

“[I’m] playing off the ball a little bit more than usual, a little less pick-and-rolls,” he said. “You just have to continue to get familiar with the guys. It’s only been about six or seven games for me. Just learning to get comfortable each night and playing off the ball more.”

After watching Westbrook have his way with the defense, Sessions certainly has some homework ahead of him before the playoffs. And that’s certainly no fun.

Justin Verrier is an NBA editor for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Sunday night at 8 ET on ESPN, the Heat and Thunder square off in the first of two head-to-head matchups this season.

So what can we expect?

With all the athletes on the floor, one might anticipate a track meet. And while the Thunder and Heat rank sixth and seventh in the NBA in fast-break points, it’s actually in the half court where they do the most damage.

According to our video-tracking friends at Synergy Sports, the Thunder average 0.93 points per play and have an effective field goal percentage of 50.2 percent in the half court, both of which rank second in the NBA.

Miami, which ranks third in both categories, is the only team which scores more often in the half court than Oklahoma City, scoring on nearly 45 percent of their half-court plays.

Perhaps most fascinating is that while both teams excel in the half court, they do so in much different ways.

While the Thunder runs a fairly balanced half-court offense, they are particularly strong in pick-and-roll and isolation situations.

With its outside-in trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden running the show, the Thunder are by far most efficient isolation team in the NBA. They rank first in the NBA in points per possession (0.92) and FG pct (45.0), easily exceeding the league averages of 0.79 and 37.2. Durant, Westbrook, and Harden rank fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in isolation points per play (min. 75 plays).

Additionally, Oklahoma City runs a higher volume of pick-and-rolls than any other team in the league, as its P&R ball handler accounts for just under 20 percent of the teams’ possessions in the half court.

The quality matches the quantity as the Thunder rank second in points per play from the P&R ball handler, with James Harden the primary facilitator. Of the 79 players with at least 75 plays as the P&R ball handler, Harden’s 1.07 points per play ranks first in the NBA.

The Heat meanwhile rely on spot-up shooting nearly 10 percent more than any other play in the half court, and for good reason, as they rank third in the NBA in points per play (1.01) and effective field goal percentage (51.7).

While Mike Miller leads the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage, the other supporting players have been no slouches either. Of the more than 225 players with at least 50 spot-up plays, Miller, Mario Chalmers and James Jones all rank in the top 15 in points per play.

The biggest difference between the two teams is their ability to score in the post. Whereas less than eight percent of the Thunder’s half-court possessions end in a post-up, it’s the Heat’s second-most utilized play type in the half court.

Miami ranks second in the NBA in points per play in post-up situations. Oklahoma City ranks 23rd.

While LeBron James has been lauded all season long for his new-found willingness to go in the post, Dwyane Wade is quietly doing the same. Among players with at least 100 post-ups, Wade and James rank second and fourth in points per play.

How each team executes in the half court will likely determine the outcome of this potential NBA Finals preview. Can Oklahoma City run its pick-and-roll and isolation sets with a high degree of efficiency? Can Miami spread the floor for its shooters and then pound the post with its physical wings?

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant and guard Russell Westbrook have set a new standard of dynamic-duo performance in the NBA.

In an epic double-overtime matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, the two each surpassed the 40-point mark.

This was the second time this season that both scored at least 40 points in the same NBA game. The Elias Sports Bureau noted that no pair of teammates had done that previously in NBA history.

Timberwolves forward Kevin Love and guard J.J. Barea formed their own statistically special tandem. Love broke Kevin Garnett’s single-game record for points in a game with 51 and Barea recorded his first career triple-double, the NBA’s first by a player born in Latin America.

Only one other time in NBA history has a team had one player score 50 points and another record a triple-double in a losing effort. Elias uncovered that Wilt Chamberlain supplied the scoring and Guy Rodgers had the triple-double for the 1962-63 Warriors.

The Thunder have now won 11 straight games against the Timberwolves.

Heat turn it up on defense
The Miami Heat allowed a season-low 73 points against the Pistons. They held Detroit to only 52 points in half court, 29 fewer than in their previous meeting on Jan. 25.

The Heat had some early offensive success inside. Miami scored 34 points in the paint in the first half, matching its most in a first half for the season.

Dwyane Wade finished with a game-high 24 points and was 7-for-10 from inside 10 feet for the game.

Honorable Mention: Feats of the Night
Steve Nash had his 10th game this season with at least 15 assists for the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Rajon Rondo had his fourth such game. Nash and Rondo rank 1-2 in the NBA in 15-assist games in 2011-12.

Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith (30 points, 12 rebounds) joined Love, Durant and LeBron James as the only players in the NBA this season with consecutive games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Plus/Minus Note of the Night
Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye was a plus-15 in a 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. No one else on the Suns was better than a plus-5.

Frye was 5-for-7 from the field in the win. He was 5-for-17 and a minus-15 in his two games prior to this one.

There were plenty of big performances and notes from around the NBA on Wednesday, but none bigger than the scoring outburst from the Oklahoma City Thunder star trio.

Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, Kevin Durant had 30 and James Harden added a career-high 30 points in the Thunder’s 115-104 win over the Phoenix Suns. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the franchise had three 30-point scorers in the same game was Feb. 26, 1988.

On that night, the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Sacramento Kings behind 37 points from Dale Ellis, 31 from Xavier McDaniel and 30 from Tom Chambers.

Serge Ibaka added 18 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for Oklahoma City, the first 20-rebound game for the franchise since it moved from Seattle. Kendrick Perkins chipped in six points, and nobody else scored for the Thunder. Elias tells us they’re just the fifth team in the past 25 seasons to score at least 115 points in a game with only five players scoring points.

Other Notable NBA Performances:
• The Washington Wizards defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 106-101, coming back from a 21-point deficit in the third quarter. It’s the largest lead the Lakers have blown since Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls came back from 22 down on Dec. 17, 1996.

The Lakers lost their third straight road game -- and second in as many nights to a losing team -- falling to 6-14 on the road this season. That’s the worst road winning percentage among teams currently in playoff positions.

Kobe Bryant had a rough night, shooting 9-for-31 from the floor; his 22 missed shots are tied for the most in an NBA game this season. The only other player to miss 22 shots in a game is Bryant himself. He went 6-for-28 in a loss to the Denver Nuggets on New Year’s Day.

• Kevin Love scored 29 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and went 3-for-5 from 3-point range. According to Elias, Love is the first player ever to record 25 points, 10 rebounds and three 3-pointers in three consecutive games.

• Evan Turner scored a career-high 26 points at the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 103-71, matching the most a Sixer has scored this season. The Memphis Grizzlies are the only other team that hasn’t had a player exceed 26 points this season.

The Celtics’ 32-point loss is the worst since the start of the 2007-08 season, when they teamed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with Paul Pierce.

Kevin Durant had a big game early Thursday and LeBron James returned serve later that night as two of the biggest stars in the NBA continue their monster seasons.

In the Miami Heat's 107-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, James put up a stat line that’s never been recorded in the NBA, finishing with 38 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, five steals, a blocked shot and no turnovers.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since individual turnovers were tracked beginning in the 1977-78 season, no NBA player has had a game with 35 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five steals and no turnovers.

The Miami Heat have won nine straight games, all by at least 12 points. LeBron’s 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers are the only other team in NBA history to win nine games in a row, all by at least a dozen.

This all came after Durant nearly outscored the Orlando Magic by himself in the fourth quarter, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder erase an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and win in Orlando for the first time since March 13, 2004. They were the Seattle SuperSonics back then; the franchise had lost seven straight games in Orlando.

Durant had 18 points in the fourth quarter -- the most he’s scored in any quarter this season -- just three fewer than Orlando scored as a team.

Oklahoma City ran its win streak to seven games, tying its longest of the season and just two short of its longest since moving to Oklahoma City.

In his first four NBA games in Orlando, Durant averaged 15.3 points per game and shot less than 32 percent from the field. He was held below 18 points in three of those games -- remember he had 18 in the fourth quarter alone Thursday -- and the SuperSonics/Thunder lost all four.

He's played in Orlando twice in five days this week, including Sunday’s All-Star Game, and they may not want to invite him back. He averaged 37.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in two wins and took home the All-Star Game MVP trophy.

Orlando led by as many as 14 in this game, but were outscored by 14 in the fourth quarter alone. The Magic shot 32 percent from the floor while the Thunder went 10-for-15 and Durant made five of his six attempts.

Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for more than half of Oklahoma City’s points (67 of 105), the 19th time they’ve outscored the rest of their teammates this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s more than any other NBA duo this season.

It’s been a good formula for the Thunder so far -- they are 14-5 when Durant and Westbrook score more than half the team’s points. The next two duos on the list, Kobe Bryant-Pau Gasol (14) and Bryant-Andrew Bynum (11), have losing records when outscoring their teammates.

The duos of James-Chris Bosh and James-Dwyane Wade are the only others to do that 10 times this season, and the Heat are 7-3 when each duo outscores the rest of the team.

In one of the most entertaining games of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder got an unprecedented performance to beat the Denver Nuggets 124-118 in overtime. Kevin Durant scored a career-high 51 points, the most any player has scored in a game this season.

Russell Westbrook added a season-high 40 points, making Durant and Westbrook just the third pair of teammates in NBA history with a 50-point game and a 40-point game in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Don’t forget about Serge Ibaka, who had his first career triple-double with 14 points, 14 rebounds and a Thunder/SuperSonics-record 11 blocked shots. Elias tells us the Thunder trio is the first set of teammates in NBA history with a 50-point game, a 40-point game and a triple-double in the same game.

Ibaka owns three of the five 10-block games in franchise history and they’ve all come this month. He’s the only player with 10 blocks in a game this season and the first player since Shawn Bradley (5) in 1996-97 with three such games in the same season.

Durant recorded just the sixth 50-point game in franchise history and only Fred Brown, Ray Allen and Dale Ellis have ever scored more in a SuperSonics or Thunder uniform.

Durant and Westbrook are the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in the same regular-season game since Michael Jordan (44) and Scottie Pippen (40) did it on Feb. 18, 1996.

Durant and Westbrook combined to score or assist on 60 of Oklahoma City’s 71 points in the second half and overtime. The Nuggets -- as a team -- scored 60 points in the same three periods.

The Thunder have won nine straight home games, their longest home winning streak since moving to Oklahoma City. The last time they won nine in a row at home was the 2004-05 season when they were in Seattle. They last won 10 consecutive home games from Feb.-April 1998.

The Nuggets are in a free fall, having lost three straight and eight of their past 10 games.

The Miami Heat stayed perfect the hard way.

How difficult is it to win a game in which you get outrebounded by 23, as the Heat were on Wednesday in their comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats?

Since the start of the 2005-06 season, NBA teams entered Wednesday with a 9-95 record when being beaten on the boards by at least that significant a margin.

It was the first time in team history that the Heat won a game in which they were outrebounded by at least 20 (they are 1-23 in such games).

A few other notes and nuggets from that contest:

The Wade Winner
Over the past two seasons, Wade is 2-for-5 on game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 24 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime.

That’s better than both LeBron James (1-for-8) or Chris Bosh (0-for-2) since the trio became teammates.

Halfcourt Happenings
After allowing Charlotte to shoot nearly 60 percent in the half court in the first half, Miami picked it up in the final two quarters, forcing 12 half-court turnovers and holding the Bobcats under 20 points in its half-court offense.

Offensively, the Heat struggled in half-court sets, making just 23-of-59 shots, a sharp contrast to Tuesday’s win over the Boston Celtics, in which they shot 51 percent in halfcourt.

Bosh’s best
Chris Bosh had his best game of the season with 25 points and was also strong on the defensive end, holding his man to 4-for-11 shooting from the field. In three games, the player Bosh has guarded is 10-for-30 overall.

Elsewhere in the NBA
Safe at home
The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the San Antonio Spurs have won their last 17 home games against the Clippers, the third-longest current home winning streak for any NBA team against another.

The Spurs own the longest streak, having won their last 26 home contests against the Warriors, while the Suns have 23 straight home wins over the Bucks.

Thunder survive an 0-for
The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 92-90, despite an 0-for-13 from the field by point guard Russell Westbrook.

A check of Basketball-Reference.com showed this to be only the fourth time since the 1985-86 season that a team won a game in which it had a player shoot 0-for-13 or worse from the field, the first since David Wesley for the Hornets against the New Jersey Nets in 2001.

Celtics starting similar to Red Sox
The Celtics are 0-3 for the fourth time in the last 40 seasons. In the three other seasons in that run (1977-78, 1994-95, and 2006-07), the Celtics finished a combined 91-155.

Plus-Minus Note of the Night
Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison had 10 points and 12 assists in a 90-85 win over the Toronto Raptors, but also of note was that in the 38 minutes that he was on the floor, the Pacers outscored the Raptors by 16 points.

With the season set to tip-off on Christmas Day, here are four major statistical storylines to keep a close eye on:

Can the Mavericks repeat?
With the departure of Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and DeShawn Stevenson, the Dallas Mavericks will be the first defending champion since the 1998-99 Bulls to lose three of its top seven in minutes played from the previous season’s NBA Finals.

Added to the mix are Lamar Odom and Vince Carter. In Odom, the Mavericks added an incredibly efficient half-court scorer according to our video-tracking friends at Synergy Sports. Among all qualified forwards, he ranked third in the NBA in points per play in the half court, trailing only Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki.

Carter is also a good fit. Last season, only five teams scored more points on spot-up shots. In 2010-11 Carter ranked in the Top 25 in the NBA in field goal attempts per game, field goal percentage and points per game on spot-up shots.


How does Chris Paul improve the Clippers?
As a pick-and-roll ball handler last season, Chris Paul ranked sixth in the NBA in points per play among the 103 players with at least 100 pick-and-roll plays. As a team the Los Angeles Clippers ranked 17th in pick-and-roll efficiency while Paul’s old team in New Orleans ranked seventh.
Look for Paul to help improve the Clippers jump-shooting woes as well. Last season the Clippers shot just 35.1 pct on jump shots which ranked dead last in the NBA. Paul ranked 20th in jump shot FG attempts, but did so with great efficiency, connecting on 44 percent. Of the 19 players which took more jumpers, only Dirk Nowitzki, Stephen Curry and Ray Allen shot a better percentage.

While the loss of Eric Gordon hurts, consider this: accounting for three-pointers, Gordon had a 48.5 adjusted FG pct on jump shots... worse than both Paul (49.8) and Chauncey Billups (52.7).


Will youth be served in Oklahoma City?
While James Harden and Serge Ibaka continue to improve, the main focus is on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Durant is looking to become the first player since Michael Jordan in 1997-98 to lead the league in scoring three straight seasons. Westbrook meanwhile is coming off a 2010-11 season in which he emerged as one of the league’s best finishers at the rim, ranking sixth in points scored within three feet.

Perhaps the biggest concern with the Thunder is the potential for an alpha-dog dispute. Durant was the unquestioned go-to guy down the stretch during the regular season, an assumption which was then challenged by Westbrook during the postseason (see chart).

Regardless of who takes the big shots, an improvement on their combined 3-26 effort would surely bring OKC closer to a title.

Bigger impact on the East: Richard Hamilton or Tyson Chandler?
While many presume we won’t know anything new about the Miami Heat until the playoffs, the same can’t be said for the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks who added major pieces in Richard Hamilton and Tyson Chandler.

The Bulls brought in Hamilton to take the place of Keith Bogans, who despite starting all 82 games, averaged just 4.4 PPG which was the fewest among all players with at least 50 starts. With Derrick Rose having the second-highest usage rate in the NBA last season, scoring without the ball is an essential skill for all other Bulls players. Among guards, Hamilton has the fifth-most assisted FG on shots beyond 15 feet over the last three seasons.

Chandler’s most significant responsibility will be to improve a Knicks interior defense which allowed opponents to shoot 45.3 percent on post ups last season (21st in the NBA). On post up plays in which he played single coverage, Chandler held opponents to 41.4 pct shooting. That is at least 5 points better than any of the players who saw minutes at center for the Knicks last season.

• ESPN's Chris Broussard reports that the Clippers have intense interest in Dwight Howard. D.J. Foster of ClipperBlog on the Blake Griffin effect: "If there’s a testament to the power of Blake Griffin, this is it. The Clippers were never really in the running for LeBron ... Now that Blake Griffin is a real, dunking, dominating thing, it buys you more than that. It lends legitimacy to these types of discussions. It’s no longer a pipedream for Chris Paul or Dwight Howard to be a Clipper -- Blake Griffin has made even the wildest of dreams suddenly seem very tangible."
• The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's editorial page sounds the bell for a new arena to replace the Bradley Center: "If there isn't a shovel in the ground for a new state-of-the art facility within the next five to eight years, the team's days in Milwaukee are numbered. Bucks owner Herb Kohl has paid big salaries in an effort to keep the team competitive, but he has been relatively quiet on the question of how to fund a new arena. If Kohl wants to keep the team in Milwaukee, he should have some skin in a new building. There will have to be other sources of funding as well. Kohl should be leading an effort to build a new home for the Bucks, and the business community should be backing him."
• How badly do the Heat need Mario Chalmers? The Indexiers discuss.
• HoopSpeak's Beckley Mason breaks down some tape of Tony Parker and discovers that he might be the best analog for the younger Russell Westbrook: "[W]hen he gets space in the open court, Westbrook is every bit as difficult to corral as Parker. But after witnessing James Harden’s emergence as pick and roll dynamo, the Thunder would be well served to take advantage of Westbrook’s excellent cutting instincts by giving him more regular opportunities to be a finisher from off the ball, rather than a creator on it."
• Similarly, Aaron M. of Gothic Ginobili sees a lot of Gerald Wallace in Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard: "His game brings me the electric rush I get watching an older and wiser Gerald, grounded in a younger, more durable frame. The leaping athleticism I love watching in Gerald’s game is there, but in Kawhi’s game it’s completely unhinged from Gerald’s creeping tendency to dial his pure athletic plays back a slight bit -- Gerald knows he’s over 30, and he knows he needs to keep from killing himself just to make the super athletic move when he can do an efficient but not exactly as effective move that keeps him from injury."
• Danny Chau of Hardwood Paroxysm would like you to take a closer look at the Thaddeus Young. The Sixers' 23-year-old small forward might be the league's most valuable sixth man. Imagine him with a right hand.
• Team LeBron James vs. Team Kevin Durant in flag football at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
• Quickish chooses the best sports book of 2011.
• When Wes Matthews chats with teammate Nic Batum on Twitter, he uses French -- and addresses Batum in the "vous" form.
• NBA nostalgia in the form of high-top fades, gold-capped teeth and standard-issue goggles.
• A securities analysts upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden on Monday from a "neutral" to a "buy." The stock jumped more than 10 percent during Monday's trading session.
• Macao Time Machine, as retired NBA players like Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton and Dale Ellis tour Asia.
• Among the losers of the settlement: Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, which canceled Chalmers' charity game scheduled for Thursday night.
• The Top 40 most shared stories of 2011 on Facebook.

• In a parallel universe last night, NBA fans were treated to a Bulls-Thunder/Spurs-Trail Blazers doubleheader. Basketball Prospectus' Bradford Doolittle ran the simulation and found that Derrick Rose went off for 34 points. For those tracking the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook dynamic, Westbrook went 4-for-13 from the field and coughed up six turnovers.
• Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell says that the music industry should look to the NBA as a template for developing young talent: "If music was run like the sports industries, the NBA or the NFL, we would have a healthy school system."
• Kentucky's Terrence Jones, who might have been a lottery pick last June, stayed in school in large part because of advice from cousin Damon Stoudemire regarding the NBA's labor unrest.
• Benjamin Polk of A Wolf Among Wolves likes Luke Ridnour, but also wonders whether average point guards who lack dynamism "are the stock-in-trade of bad teams."
• Kevin Durant's Goodman League Greatest Hits.
• Would a more punitive luxury cap hurt the Thunder's long-term chances of retaining their young core?
• Shawn Bradley has recovered his enormous, stolen bicycle: "The crime perplexed both police and Bradley since the 80 cm frame Trek was built to hold the 7 foot 6 NBA star. 'My brother is 6 feet 10 inches and he can’t ride it,' a baffled Bradley told the Deseret News. The bicycle was stolen from a barn on Bradley’s Murray, Utah, property. Despite having his pick of ATVs, motorcycles and normal-sized bicycles, the thief only took Bradley’s gigantic wheels."
• J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas take a straw poll of NBA players and find that James Harden is the NBA's biggest hipster. Beard density seems to be a disproportionate factor in the criteria.
• Trey Kerby lies on a bed and says funny stuff to the HoopSpeak Live crew.
• Metta World Peace and Devin Ebanks will be serving ice pops in a solar-powered food truck.
• One way to address the financial ills of smart-market teams is to live in a world where the NBA derives the majority of the league's broadcast revenue from the international market. Graydon Gordian, Andrew McNeill and I discuss this, market parity, the sleeping giant that is the San Francisco market, "Party Down" and making the NBA more like the Premier League at the 4-Down Podcast.
• Thad Young has a conversation with Tom Sunnergren of Philadunkia. Young has no idea whether Andre Iguodala will be back with the Sixers: "I’m not sure. He’s not sure either. It’s hard to tell with the lockout, so we pretty much are just playing it by ear and just trying to work out the situation at hand." Young says Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA and that Dirk Nowitzki is the player he admires the most.
• When he was 4 years old, Sundiata Gaines was the victim of a stray bullet while he was standing outside a photocopy store. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News has the story (Hat Tip: Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don't Lie).
• The Bobcats have a logjam at the forward spot, particularly with Bismack Biyombo arriving on the scene. How do you distribute the minutes? Can Tyrus Thomas claim them?
• Another primer on what decertification means, this one from Tulane law professor Gabe Feldman.