UPDATE 2-NBA results

Jan 11 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the NBA games on Thursday (home team in CAPS)
INDIANA 81 NY Knicks 76
Dallas 117 SACRAMENTO 112 (OT)
PORTLAND 92 Miami 90

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NBA standings

Jan 11 (Infostrada Sports) - Standings from the NBA on Thursday
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. NY Knicks 23 12 .657 -
2. Brooklyn 20 15 .571 3
3. Boston 18 17 .514 5
4. Philadelphia 15 22 .405 9
5. Toronto 13 22 .371 10
CENTRAL DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Indiana 22 14 .611 -
2. Chicago 19 14 .576 1 1/2
3. Milwaukee 18 16 .529 3
4. Detroit 13 23 .361 9
5. Cleveland 9 28 .243 13 1/2
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Miami 23 11 .676 -
2. Atlanta 20 14 .588 3
3. Orlando 12 23 .343 11 1/2
4. Charlotte 9 25 .265 14
5. Washington 5 28 .152 17 1/2
WESTERN CONFERENCE
NORTHWEST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Oklahoma City 27 8 .771 -
2. Portland 20 15 .571 7
3. Denver 21 16 .568 7
4. Utah 19 18 .514 9
5. Minnesota 16 16 .500 9 1/2
PACIFIC DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. LA Clippers 28 8 .778 -
2. Golden State 22 12 .647 5
3. LA Lakers 15 20 .429 12 1/2
4. Sacramento 13 23 .361 15
5. Phoenix 12 25 .324 16 1/2
SOUTHWEST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. San Antonio 28 10 .737 -
2. Memphis 23 10 .697 2 1/2
3. Houston 21 15 .583 6
4. Dallas 14 23 .378 13 1/2
5. New Orleans 10 25 .286 16 1/2
SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 FIXTURES (GMT)
Charlotte at Toronto (0000)
Utah at Atlanta (0030)
Houston at Boston (0030)
Phoenix at Brooklyn (0030)
San Antonio at Memphis (0100)
Minnesota at New Orleans (0100)
Chicago at NY Knicks (0100)
Detroit at Milwaukee (0130)
Cleveland at Denver (0200)
Portland at Golden State (0330)
Oklahoma City at LA Lakers (0330)

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UPDATE 1-NBA-Heat evaporate in tight loss to Trail Blazers

* Trail Blazers win ninth straight game at home
* Heat slip to fifth defeat in eight games (Adds quotes, detail)
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Guard Wesley Matthews buried successive three-pointers to cap a stunning late rally as the Portland Trail Blazers stunned the NBA champion Miami Heat with a tense 92-90 win on Thursday.
Trailing 80-68 with just over eight minutes left, Portland finished with a rousing 24-10 run to record their fourth straight win and their ninth in a row at home, improving to 20-15 for the season.
Matthews' heroics put Portland ahead 91-90 and a LaMarcus Aldridge free throw then made it 92-90 with 10.4 seconds remaining.
Guard Mario Chalmers missed a late three-point attempt as the Heat slipped to their fifth defeat in their last eight games for an overall record of 23-11.
Nicolas Batum led the way for the Trail Blazers with 28 points, forward LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 20 points and 15 rebounds while Matthews finished with 18 points on seven-of-18 shooting.
"We got a lot of confidence and we are playing great at home right now," Williams told reporters after his step-back three-pointer with 26.9 seconds left put Portland a point in front.
"We are playing very well overall. We played against a great team ... and we knew they would make their run. We just got to stop the bleeding and we were able to do that."
Though Chris Bosh scored a game-high 29 points for Miami and Dwyane Wade weighed in with 18, the visitors paid the price after being outscored 29-22 in the final quarter.
JAMES STREAK ENDS
LeBron James was restricted to 15 points on six-of-16 shooting, ending a run of 54 games including the playoffs with at least 20 points dating back to last season
"It's a tough loss, no doubt about it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Our guys are disappointed about that. With seven minutes to go, we're taking control of the game and gaining some confidence in our defense.
"And then we slipped a little bit. But it's still a ballgame down to the end, and they made more plays."
Portland began the game brightly but James poured in a three-pointer to give slow-starting Miami a 21-18 lead after a closely contested opening quarter.
With the "Big Three" of James, Bosh and Wade all getting into double figures, the Heat upped the tempo and padded their advantage to 52-39 halftime.
Portland ended the third quarter on a 14-7 run to cut Miami's lead to 68-63 but the Heat appeared to have the game in control midway through the fourth before the home team took over in spectacular fashion.
"It's an understatement to say it's great to beat Miami," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "I gotta hand it to our guys for sticking with it.
"You keep competing, playing through and finding ways to win games. That's what we did tonight, and what we've been doing most of the season.

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Jones still Japan-bound despite arrest

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Major League Baseball player Andruw Jones's Christmas morning arrest on a battery charge will not endanger his move to Japan's Rakuten Eagles, the club's president said on Thursday.
The Curacao-born outfielder was taken into custody in an Atlanta suburb on Tuesday after police were called to his home following a domestic dispute with his wife.
"We received a report it was a domestic fight which escalated," Eagles president Yozo Tachibana told Japanese media of the former Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees slugger.
"Unless there is any more big surprises, we intend to go ahead as planned with his contract."
The 35-year-old Jones began his stellar MLB career at Atlanta and won 10 Gold Glove awards, cracking 434 home runs in MLB with five different clubs.
He joined Japan's Eagles, based in the country's quake-hit northeast, earlier this month on a one-year contract worth $3.5 million.

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Baseball: Matsui announces retirement from Major Leagues

(Reuters) - Hard-hitting Hideki Matsui, who set milestones for Japanese players in Major League Baseball, announced his retirement on Thursday, the organization's website reported.
The 38-year-old Matsui played 10 seasons in MLB, seven of them with the New York Yankees, producing the most home runs, runs batted in and walks by a Japanese player in the league.
A two-time All-Star with the Yankees, he was the first Japanese-born player to win World Series MVP honors in 2009, going 8-for-13 with three homers and eight runs batted in as the Yankees beat the Phillies for the title in 2009.
One of Japan's most dominant hitters with the Yomiuri Giants from 1993-2002, he joined the Yankees in 2003.
In 10 Major League seasons, he batted .282 with 760 runs batted in while playing with the Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays.
Nicknamed "Godzilla" for his powerful swing, Matsui belted 332 home runs in Japan and hit 175 more in the Major Leagues.
He spent his last season with the Rays, playing in 34 games and batting .147.
"This is a Hall of Fame-caliber player, based on the body of work that he's done," Rays manager Joe Maddon told reporters last summer.
"Had he done all of that in the United States, which he may have done had he started here sooner, you're definitely talking about a player of that kind of stature."
Matsui played 1,250 consecutive games to finish his Japanese career and did not miss a game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, playing 518 consecutive games.
He was a three-time MVP and nine-time All-Star in the Central League in Japan before signing with the Yankees.

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Giants rule American sports in 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a country driven by the mantra 'bigger is always better', it was fitting that Giants dominated America's professional championships in 2012.
Two of the four major leagues were won by teams with the supersized moniker, with the New York Giants capturing the National Football League's Super Bowl and the San Francisco Giants landing Major League Baseball's World Series.
The Los Angeles Kings finally lived up their regal nickname when they won National Hockey League's Stanley Cup for the first time while LeBron James silenced his critics by winning a first National Basketball Association title with the Miami Heat.
The New York Giants set the tone for a year of comebacks when they reclaimed the greatest prize in North American sports with a nail-biting 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Indianapolis.
Inspired by their dynamic quarterback Eli Manning, named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second time in four years, the Giants stole victory with a last-minute touchdown from Ahmad Bradshaw.
"The greatest feeling in professional sports is to win the Super Bowl," said 65-year-old Tom Coughlin after becoming the oldest coach to land the prize.
What made their victory remarkable was the Giants had looked to have no hope of even competing for the title after losing four consecutive games late in the regular season, putting them in danger of missing the playoffs.
They needed to win their last two games to make the playoffs and then won four straight to claim the Super Bowl in early February and cap a fairytale run that captivated America's biggest city.
For the Patriots, losing to fierce rival New York in the championship game for the second time in four years was unpalatable.
"You don't feel good after you lose this game," said New England head coach Bill Belichick.
WILD RIDE
San Francisco, led by MVP-winning catcher Buster Posey, also endured a wild ride through the playoffs before winning the World Series in late October for the second time in three seasons.
The team won six elimination games, three against the Cincinnati Reds and another three against the St Louis Cardinals, before sweeping the talent-packed Detroit Tigers in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.
"It just so happens we got kind of hot and scored some runs at the right time," said Matt Cain who pitched the first perfect game in Giants history during the regular season.
Cain was not the only who achieved a rare feat in 2012 with Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera becoming the first player in 45 years to win the Triple Crown, leading the American League in batting average, home runs and runs batted in (RBI).
The Venezuelan-born slugger had a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBI and was the 15th player to accomplish the feat, and the first since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
'LOWEST MOMENTS'
The Kings also timed their run to perfection after scraping into the playoffs as the Western Conference's lowest-ranked team and going on to win the first Stanley Cup in the franchise's 45-year existence.
They upset the top three seeded teams, the Vancouver Canucks, the St Louis Blues and the Phoenix Coyotes, to win the Conference before beating the battle-hardened New Jersey Devils 4-2 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals.
"At our lowest moments the biggest thing is nobody ever turned on someone else, everybody stuck with it," said goaltender Jonathan Quick, named MVP in the finals in June.
"You just can't say enough about the resiliency that it took to get through those times during the season and still make the playoffs."
After losing the first three games of the series, the Devils clawed their way back with two straight wins but that momentum was swiftly undone by a game-changing penalty that led to three first-period goals in less than four minutes as the Kings cruised to victory.
For hockey fans it was the last real action they would see for the immediate future with a labor dispute between owners and players indefinitely delaying the start of the 2012-13 season.
Despite his incredible talent and athleticism, James has been derided by American sports fans since he walked out on his hometown team two years ago to join the Miami Heat.
His rationale for deserting Cleveland, a city battered by unemployment, high taxes, lousy weather and poor sports teams, was that he wanted to win a championship to help cement his place among the game's greats.
But in 2012 James proved that in a sport played by giants, he towers above everyone else, cleaning up the four biggest team and individual honors in the sport.
In addition to winning his first NBA title against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was named MVP during the regular season for the third time.
James also won the MVP award for the finals in June and a gold medal with the United States at the London Olympics in August. Only Michael Jordan, the player LeBron is constantly compared with, has completed the same grand slam.
"It was definitely a journey," James said. "I can finally say I'm a champion and I did it the right way. I didn't shortcut anything.
"I put a lot of hard work and dedication in it and hard work pays off. It's a great moment."

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Baseball-Jones still Japan-bound despite arrest

TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Former Major League Baseball player Andruw Jones's Christmas morning arrest on a battery charge will not endanger his move to Japan's Rakuten Eagles, the club's president said on Thursday.
The Curacao-born outfielder was taken into custody in an Atlanta suburb on Tuesday after police were called to his home following a domestic dispute with his wife.
"We received a report it was a domestic fight which escalated," Eagles president Yozo Tachibana told Japanese media of the former Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees slugger.
"Unless there is any more big surprises, we intend to go ahead as planned with his contract."
The 35-year-old Jones began his stellar MLB career at Atlanta and won 10 Gold Glove awards, cracking 434 home runs in MLB with five different clubs.
He joined Japan's Eagles, based in the country's quake-hit northeast, earlier this month on a one-year contract worth $3.5 million.

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Jones still Japan-bound despite arrest

 Former Major League Baseball player Andruw Jones's Christmas morning arrest on a battery charge will not endanger his move to Japan's Rakuten Eagles, the club's president said on Thursday.
The Curacao-born outfielder was taken into custody in an Atlanta suburb on Tuesday after police were called to his home following a domestic dispute with his wife.
"We received a report it was a domestic fight which escalated," Eagles president Yozo Tachibana told Japanese media of the former Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees slugger.
"Unless there is any more big surprises, we intend to go ahead as planned with his contract."
The 35-year-old Jones began his stellar MLB career at Atlanta and won 10 Gold Glove awards, cracking 434 home runs in MLB with five different clubs.
He joined Japan's Eagles, based in the country's quake-hit northeast, earlier this month on a one-year contract worth $3.5 million.

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ADVISORY-Reuters yearenders to move from 0200 GMT

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Reuters will repeat a series of sports yearenders from earlier this month at 0200 GMT on Friday.
Overall yearender
American professional sport
Asian review
Best quotes of the year
Timeline
London Olympics
Soccer
Tennis
Golf
Cricket
Rugby
Cycling
Motor racing
Major league baseball
Basketball
NFL
Ice Hockey

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Baseball: Matsui announces retirement from Major Leagues

Hard-hitting Hideki Matsui, who set milestones for Japanese players in Major League Baseball, announced his retirement on Thursday, the organization's website reported.
The 38-year-old Matsui played 10 seasons in MLB, seven of them with the New York Yankees, producing the most home runs, runs batted in and walks by a Japanese player in the league.
A two-time All-Star with the Yankees, he was the first Japanese-born player to win World Series MVP honors in 2009, going 8-for-13 with three homers and eight runs batted in as the Yankees beat the Phillies for the title in 2009.
One of Japan's most dominant hitters with the Yomiuri Giants from 1993-2002, he joined the Yankees in 2003.
In 10 Major League seasons, he batted .282 with 760 runs batted in while playing with the Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays.
Nicknamed "Godzilla" for his powerful swing, Matsui belted 332 home runs in Japan and hit 175 more in the Major Leagues.
He spent his last season with the Rays, playing in 34 games and batting .147.
"This is a Hall of Fame-caliber player, based on the body of work that he's done," Rays manager Joe Maddon told reporters last summer.
"Had he done all of that in the United States, which he may have done had he started here sooner, you're definitely talking about a player of that kind of stature."
Matsui played 1,250 consecutive games to finish his Japanese career and did not miss a game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, playing 518 consecutive games.
He was a three-time MVP and nine-time All-Star in the Central League in Japan before signing with the Yankees.

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YEARENDER-Olympics sparkle at height of magical British summer

LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - London defied Britain's wettest summer for 100 years, potential transport and security chaos and a depressed economy to stage a marvellous 2012 Olympics during a magical year for British sport.
Over the past century Britons have become resigned to watching the rest of the world beat them at games they had either invented or codified at the height of the island nation's imperial splendour.
This year, to their fans' surprise and delight, British teams and athletes surpassed themselves across a range of sports, including third place in the Olympic medals' table behind the world's two great economic powers the United States and China.
Englishman Bradley Wiggins, who looks like a throwback to the English beat groups of the swinging sixties with his mop of hair and straggling sideburns, became the first Briton to win the Tour de France prior to taking a fourth Olympic gold medal.
After finishing runner-up in four grand slam finals during a vintage era for men's tennis, Scotland's Andy Murray finally made the breakthrough as the first British male in 76 years to win one of the big four titles with victory over Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open.
And Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, winner of four PGA titles including the PGA championship by a record eight strokes, was awarded the annual Jack Nicklaus award for player-of-the-year. At the age of 23 he was the youngest recipient since Tiger Woods in 1997.
At the heart of the year's sporting action, London staged the summer Olympics for the third time to unanimous acclaim throughout the world.
Under the assured stewardship of organising committee chairman Seb Coe, as adroit in the convoluted realm of sports politics as he had been on the track while winning two Olympic 1,500 metres titles, the London organisation was impeccable.
Transport, one of the biggest worries in a cramped and crowded city, worked smoothly with enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowds flocking to venues sprinkled among some of London's more celebrated landmarks.
Rain fell nearly every day during the early part of a gloomy summer before an overdue burst of hot sunshine in the week leading up to the Games in late July. Thereafter the weather reverted to a more familiar English blend of the good, the bad and the indifferent without causing any serious disruptions.
Even the admission by a private security firm a fortnight before the 16-day festival that it could not supply enough guards proved an unexpected bonus.
Thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen stepped into the breach and their disciplined professionalism and unfailing good humour further boosted the feel good factor.
The day after a quirky but compelling opening ceremony fusing historical and cultural glories with quintessentially British eccentricity, Michael Phelps took to the pool.
Winner of a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps faltered initially, finishing fourth in the 400 metres individual medley behind fellow-American Ryan Lochte.
By the end of the opening week, the American through sheer willpower was back to his best, finishing his competitive career with 18 gold medals from four Games. They included four golds in London and 22 medals overall to make him the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history ahead of former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who collected 18.
FINEST HOUR
While Phelps was gracing an Olympic pool for the last time on the middle Saturday of the Games, the nearby Olympic stadium erupted during Britain's finest Olympic hour.
Reflecting the face of modern multi-cultural Britain, Somali immigrant Mo Farah won the 10,000 metres and the daughter of a Jamaican father and English mother Jessica Ennis finished first in the heptathlon. Greg Rutherford, the great-grandson of an England soccer international, won the long jump.
Usain Bolt, who had made a mockery of the world 100 and 200 metres records in Beijing, shrugged off doubts about his form, fitness and the threat of training partner Yohan Blake, who had beaten him twice at the Jamaican trials, to become the first man to retain both Olympic titles.
Jamaica swept the 200 medals and Bolt finished a triumphant week for his tiny Caribbean nation by anchoring the 4x100 relay team to a world record and establish beyond any doubt that he is the greatest sprinter to step on to a track.
Kenya's David Rudisha provided the most spectacular individual performance on the track, spread-eagling the field to break his own world 800 metres record without the benefit of pacemakers.
Chelsea kicked off the British sporting summer with an unexpected triumph in the Champions League final, defeating Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena to win the European club title for the first time.
After the west London club had eliminated favourites Barcelona in the semi-finals with a scrupulously disciplined defensive display, Didier Drogba levelled the scores in the 88th minute of the final with a header before converting the final spot kick in the penalty shootout.
ARMSTRONG SCANDAL
Wiggins, who had survived the worst life could throw at him, triumphed in the most brutal and demanding of the European road cycling classics.
Abandoned at the age of two by his alcoholic Australian father, himself a professional cyclist who was found dead of head injuries on a street in 2008, Wiggins fought his way out of a council estate with gritty determination and drive.
His victory in the Tour, possibly the greatest individual British sporting achievement of the year and followed by a fourth Olympic gold, was accompanied by unwelcome if not unexpected baggage.
Given the sport in general and the Tour in particular are notoriously drug-tainted, Wiggins was forced to endure a barrage of questions about doping during and after the race.
"If I doped I would potentially stand to lose everything," he responded. "My reputation, my livelihood, my marriage, my family, my house... my Olympic titles, my world titles."
The questions, to Wiggins and his rivals, will not go away soon.
Later in the year, American Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency published a report accusing him of being involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen". Armstrong continued to deny ever taking drugs but elected not to contest the charges, which the sporting authorities took as an effective admission of guilt.
Murray's breakthrough came after he avenged his Wimbledon final defeat to Roger Federer to beat the Swiss master in the Olympic final.
Serena Williams collected gold in the singles and doubles during a winning streak when she added the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles to her trophy cabinet.
POULTER LEADS FIGHTBACK
McIlroy also played a full part in the year's most remarkable comeback. After confusion over a tee time, he needed a police escort in his haste to reach the Medinah course on the final day of the biennial Ryder Cup between Europe and the United States when the hosts needed only 4-1/2 points from 12 singles matches to win.
Instead, the Americans conceded 8-1/2 points to the Europeans who won 14-1/2 to 13-1/2. McIlroy prevailed over the previously undefeated Keegan Bradley and German Martin Kaymer sank a five-foot putt on the 18th green to secure the 14 points Europe needed to retain the trophy.
Englishman Ian Poulter, who like the late Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie before him reserves his best for the Ryder Cup, turned around Europe's fortunes by earning one of two points in the fourballs on Saturday. Poulter, possessor of one of the more startling wardrobes in a sport not noted for sartorial restraint, was one of eight players to win on Sunday to finish with a 4-0 record overall.
Although another Briton, Jenson Button, won the final Grand Prix of the season in Sao Paulo nobody could deny Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who at the age of 25 became Formula One's youngest triple world champion.
The German was last on the opening lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix but fought back in a damaged car to finish sixth.
One arena where a British national team performed much as it always does at major tournaments was in the national game of soccer.
For once, under a new coach Roy Hodgson, expectations were not exaggeratedly high for England before the European championships jointly hosted by Ukraine and Poland and losing on penalties to Italy in the quarter-finals was greeted with a resigned shrug rather than outraged indignation.
Spain, the country who took 44 years to win a major tournament, became the first to win three in a row, retaining the European title after triumphing in the 2010 World Cup.
They destroyed Italy 4-0 in the final and their endlessly inventive midfielder Andres Iniesta was named player of the tournament.
Iniesta's Barcelona team mate Lionel Messi was carried off in a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious knee injury after colliding with Benfica goalkeeper in a Champions League group match on Dec. 5.
Four days later the Argentine scored both goals in a 2-1 La Liga win over Real Betis to overhaul German Gerd Mueller's previous record of 85 goals in a calendar year set in 1972. Both goals were set up by Iniesta.
Pele's record of 75 scored in 1958 was already well behind him and, at the age of 25, Messi is in exalted company.
"Leo is supernatural. He doesn't have limits," marvelled Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
Britain's golden year lingered into December, with yet further cause for celebration through sports developed in Victorian public schools whose passion for organised games inspired Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics.
England, 12/1 outsiders before the match, thrashed world rugby union champions New Zealand 38-21 at Twickenham to bring an abrupt halt to increasingly fevered speculation that the current All Blacks team are the best side ever to play the game.
Then the England cricket side, humiliated in the first test of a four-match series in India, bounced back with captain Alastair Cook leading by example to win the next two by convincing margins.
The last test was drawn and England sealed the series 2-1, their first test series victory in India since 1985 and India's first home series defeat in eight years.

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Barea, Wolves snap Thunder's 12-game streak

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder have been blowing the doors off the rest of the Western Conference in these first two months, playing with the swagger born of their run to the NBA Finals last season.
J.J. Barea and the Minnesota Timberwolves tried to send a message on Thursday night that a second straight trip isn't going to come easy.
Playing with the tenacity that made him so important to the Mavericks' run to the title two years ago, Barea scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Timberwolves snap Oklahoma City's 12-game winning streak with a 99-93 victory over the Thunder.
Kevin Love had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and Nikola Pekovic had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota. But it was Barea who was the key, scoring 12 straight at one point for the Wolves to hold off the team with the best record in the league.
"It's important," coach Rick Adelman said of beating the best in the West. "But I would like to see us get to a point where this is not a big deal. It's a big game against the best team, but this is something we can do."
Kevin Durant had 33 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Thunder, who had not lost a game since Nov. 23 at Boston.
"It's not the end of the world. A lot of people said the world is going to end today, tomorrow, but it's not the end of the world," Durant quipped. "We lost to a good team (Thursday). They came out and played extremely hard and they beat us. We're 21-5 and we've just got to go back and work."
That it was Barea, and not the Olympian Love or the sensation Ricky Rubio who was chiefly responsible was the biggest surprise of all.
Barea didn't join the Timberwolves until training camp had already started last season, then languished through the first injury plagued year of his career. Finally healthy, he's getting back to the super pest that helped the Dallas Mavericks to the title two years ago.
With the Thunder charging early in the fourth quarter, the smallest guy on the court played the biggest.
After Durant's two free throws cut Minnesota's lead to 80-77, Barea hit two 3s and scored on a putback under the rim amid the tall trees, an 8-0 run by himself that gave the Wolves a little breathing room. His long 3 with 5:26 to play made it 92-81, and the Wolves held on.
"I love it," Barea said. "We just needed a little bit more tonight, a little energy and I'm glad I was able to provide that for us tonight."
Barea was also a nuisance on defense, drawing an offensive foul on Durant with 2:24 to play. The normally super-cool Durant uncharacteristically lost his composure, picking up a technical foul for arguing the call as well.
"Seems like him and Kevin Love don't miss against us," Durant said of Barea, who tormented them in the Western Conference finals in 2011 and had a triple-double in a double-overtime loss to the Thunder last season. "Seems like every team has that guy and I think those are the guys against us. Next time we've just got to do a better job."
Serge Ibaka had 14 points and nine rebounds, but Westbrook missed 19 shots and turned the ball over eight times in an off night.
Alexey Shved had 12 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for the Wolves, who are trying to claw their way back to respectability after years at the bottom of the Western Conference.
With a nucleus of Love, Rubio and Pekovic, there is optimism here for the first time in a long time.
The Thunder stormed into Target Center riding the longest winning streak since the team moved to Oklahoma City, bullying opponents by an average of 14.2 points per game as they warm up for a run at a second straight finals appearance.
Rubio was playing his third game since being activated from a torn ACL in his left knee that had kept him out since March 9. He had a scintillating debut last Saturday, throwing no-look passes between his legs and looking as if he'd never left. But it's been slower going in the ensuing two games. He was a non-factor in a loss in Orlando on Monday and had trouble getting going again against the Thunder.
His handle wasn't nearly as sticky as usual and he was thwarted every time he tried to penetrate, then could be seen wincing in pain after an awkward landing on a shot in the second quarter. Adelman immediately pulled him, but Rubio was able to return in the second half.
"We battled, we fought. I'm proud of our guys," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "We had a great streak, a great month going. But we lost to a very good team. We knew sooner or later they were going to get hot. They got hot tonight."
NOTES: Kevin Martin did not play for the Thunder because of a right thigh contusion. ... The Timberwolves waived G/F Josh Howard on Thursday after an MRI revealed a torn ACL in his right knee. ... The Thunder lost for the first time in six tries on the second night of a back to back.

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Timberwolves end Thunder's 12-games winning streak

(Reuters) - The Minnesota Timberwolves, boosted by a brilliant fourth quarter from diminutive guard J.J. Barea, got a welcome shot of confidence with a 99-93 win over Oklahoma City on Thursday to snap the Thunder's winning streak at 12 games.
The uplifting win for the T-Wolves, coming off a pair of losses on a California road trip, snapped their own 12-game losing streak against Oklahoma City.
The NBA-leading Thunder battled back after trailing by 14 to move within a point at 76-75 early in the fourth before Barea took over.
Sinking long three-pointers and scrambling under the hoop, Barea scored 10 points in a 12-2 run that restored Minnesota's double-digit lead at 88-77 and then helped the T-Wolves hold off the Thunder the rest of the way.
"The fourth quarter for us has kind of been our Achilles heel this whole season, but we fought through and J.J. Barea was awesome tonight," said Minnesota's All Star forward Kevin Love.
The loss dropped Oklahoma, last year's losing NBA Finalists, to 21-5 while Minnesota improved to 13-11, seven games behind the Thunder in the Western Conference's Northwest Division.
Love led Minnesota with 28 points and 11 rebounds, and center Nikola Pekovic of Montenegro had 24 points and 10 boards, while Puerto Rico's Barea came off the bench to score 18 points.
Three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant paced the Thunder with 33 points, and Russell Westbrook added 30, but Oklahoma City's reserves contributed just seven points in all.
"This is a big win here against one of the top teams in the league," said Love, a team mate of Durant and Westbrook on the U.S. basketball team that won gold at the London Olympics.
"We learned we can fight through and beat any team in the league if we're playing well.
"Soon as guys really get in shape, get back healthy, and Ricky (Rubio) starts playing the way he's capable of playing and gets back from that injury, we're going to be a lot better team."
Spanish guard Rubio, working his way back from a serious knee injury, played 18 minutes without scoring for Minnesota but handed out three assists and had three rebounds.
The Timberwolves used brisk ball movement to spring Pekovic for easy layups and set up Love for open looks beyond the three-point arc as they went on a 19-6 run for a 25-11 lead in the first quarter.
Oklahoma City closed within seven points in the second quarter and got within five after intermission but Minnesota responded each time to restore a cushion, with Barea doing the job in the fourth quarter.
Next up for the Thunder will be a Christmas Day rematch against NBA champions Miami.

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Cheap New York Knicks Tickets: The New York Knicks Have Been Playing Great Basketball This Season, and Whiztix.com Helps Users Get The Best Deals Possible on Tickets

Tickets to see the New York Knicks are a hot commodity in New York City this season. Whiztix.com, a ticket comparison site, can help get the best deals possible on seats.

Ardsley, New York (PRWEB) December 21, 2012
It was believed the Knicks would be a playoff team this season, but no one believed they would have the best record in the eastern conference, especially with Amar’e Stoudemire hurt. The Knicks are off to one of the best starts in franchise history, and Madison Square Garden is rocking with excitement. Tickets to the game this season have been very popular, and fans cannot wait to go cheer Carmelo and the team on. The place to check out for the best deals on New York Knicks tickets is Whiztix.com. The website is a free to use ticket search engine which helps compare multiple event ticket selling sites. All tickets are guaranteed from their respected sites. The site utilizes a simple process to search for specific Knicks game tickets.
New York Knicks tickets are available for every home, and away game. Fans from all over the globe can see the Knicks play and cheer their favorite team to victory. The Knicks have a total of 41 away games giving fans from across the country and globe 41 times to see their team play at other locations besides Madison Square Garden. Knicks fans from California can watch the Knicks take on the Clippers, March 17, 2013 at the Staples Center. The Knicks also play the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena in Miami April 2, 2013 in a showdown that can determine the seeding for the NBA playoffs.
Other cities the Knicks will be visiting between December and April include Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento, Orlando, Indiana, Detroit, Boston Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Minnesota, Toronto, Cleveland, San Francisco, Denver, Portland, Salt Lake city, Miami, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Chicago, and Charlotte. Tickets to these games have been selling fast and will continue to do so, because the Knicks have been playing great basketball.

Tickets to Knicks home games at Madison Square Garden are sold out, and extremely hard to obtain for reasonable prices. Even though the Knicks sell out, Whiztix can help save the day. Whiztix helps users search many resale sites at once, to find the cheapest or best deals on seats at the game. For example tickets can still be had for $120 per seat for most of the upcoming games. Madison Square Garden “The World’s Most Famous Arena” is one of the best venues to watch an event and becomes electrifying when the Knicks play. The Knicks have the best home court record in the NBA under Coach Mike Woodson. The Knicks step up their play at the Garden, making MSG one of the hardest places to play in the NBA. Carmelo Anthony and the rest of the Knicks players have been playing great team basketball, passing looking for the open man, along with great team defensive.

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Thursday's Scoreboard

Thursday's Games
NBA
Minnesota 99 Oklahoma City 93
Miami 110 Dallas 95
Portland 101 Denver 93
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AHL
Lake Erie 4 Houston 3
Peoria 5 Charlotte 4 (SO)
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U.S. College Football
Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego
Brigham Young 23 San Diego State 6

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NBA standings

Dec 21 (Infostrada Sports) - Standings from the NBA on Thursday

EASTERN CONFERENCE

ATLANTIC DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. NY Knicks 19 6 .760 -

2. Brooklyn 13 12 .520 6

3. Boston 13 12 .520 6

4. Philadelphia 12 14 .462 7 1/2

5. Toronto 8 19 .296 12

CENTRAL DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Chicago 14 10 .583 -

2. Milwaukee 13 11 .542 1

3. Indiana 14 12 .538 1

4. Detroit 7 21 .250 9

5. Cleveland 5 22 .185 10 1/2

SOUTHEAST DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Miami 17 6 .739 -

2. Atlanta 15 8 .652 2

3. Orlando 12 13 .480 6

4. Charlotte 7 18 .280 11

5. Washington 3 20 .130 14

WESTERN CONFERENCE

NORTHWEST DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Oklahoma City 21 5 .808 -

2. Minnesota 13 11 .542 7

3. Denver 14 13 .519 7 1/2

4. Utah 14 13 .519 7 1/2

5. Portland 12 12 .500 8

PACIFIC DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. LA Clippers 19 6 .760 -

2. Golden State 17 9 .654 2 1/2

3. LA Lakers 12 14 .462 7 1/2

4. Phoenix 11 15 .423 8 1/2

5. Sacramento 8 17 .320 11

SOUTHWEST DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Memphis 17 6 .739 -

2. San Antonio 19 8 .704 -

3. Houston 13 12 .520 5

4. Dallas 12 14 .462 6 1/2

5. New Orleans 5 20 .200 13

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22 FIXTURES (GMT)

Atlanta at Philadelphia (0000)

Orlando at Toronto (0000)

Milwaukee at Boston (0030)

Indiana at Cleveland (0030)

Washington at Detroit (0030)

Chicago at NY Knicks (0030)

Dallas at Memphis (0100)

New Orleans at San Antonio (0130)

Charlotte at Golden State (0330)

Sacramento at LA Clippers (0330)

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