Subject : 22.4 per cent (4th) PK: 4-4Season: 78.4 per cent (26th) Quote of the N
OKLAHOMA CITY -- In accepting his first MVP award, Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant made a point of sharing the honour with those who made it possible. Julian Draxler Jersey . In a soul-baring speech that lasted more than 25 minutes, Durant fought back tears several times while thanking each of his teammates, the coaches, support staff and team executives, and finally his family. The emotional outpouring culminated with a tribute to his mother, Wanda Pratt, and the sacrifices she made, the inspiration she provided while raising Durant and his brother in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. "You made us believe," Durant said to Pratt, who was at the ceremony in Edmond, Oklahoma. "Kept us off the street. Put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didnt eat, you made sure we ate. You sacrificed for us. Youre the real MVP." Durant explained that Pratt was a single mother with two boys, and though times were tough while growing up, Pratt always thought something better was ahead. Durant said to appreciate moments like these, he often looks back to gain perspective. "One of the best memories I had is when we moved into our first apartment," he said as tears streamed down Pratts face. "No bed, no furniture, and we just all sat in the living room and hugged each other, cause thats when we all thought we made it." Hes really made it now. The young man who said he was told he "wasnt supposed to be here" won the NBAs top individual honour Tuesday, receiving 119 first-place votes. Miamis LeBron James, who had won the last two MVP awards and four of the previous five, finished second with six first-place votes, and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers was third. Durant, 25, called it "surreal" and at one point, as he thanked his teammates, he stopped and said, "I dont know why Im crying so much." "Everything in my life, I had to take it," Durant said. "Theyre not going to give it to you out of sympathy. I wouldnt want it any other way. This was another case, if I wanted to win the MVP, I had to go take it. I felt that this was the year I did that." During a speech in which Durant revealed a humility and vulnerability rarely displayed by a professional athlete, he also drew some laughs. "I could walk in and have a terrible day and I could see Hasheem (Thabeet) smiling at me, at 7-foot-3 with small pants on," he said. "That would change my day." Durant mentioned qualities about each teammate, showing respect for the veterans who challenge him and the rookies who inspire him to do things the right way because they look up to him. "I go home and I think about that stuff, man," he said. "When youve got people behind you, you can do whatever." Durant won his fourth scoring crown in five years by averaging 32 points. The 6-foot-9 forward helped the Thunder go 59-23, second-best in the league, despite playing much of the season without three-time All-Star Russell Westbrook because of a nagging knee injury. "Hes basically put himself in front of everybody else in the league and shown that hes the best player in the world," Westbrook said at the end of the regular season. James agreed, saying Monday: "Much respect to him and he deserves it. He had a big-time MVP season." Durants run of 41 consecutive games this season with at least 25 points was the third-longest streak in NBA history. "It was a two-man race, and then toward the end, it was kind of a no-brainer," Griffin said. James averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting nearly 57 per cent from the field. Griffin averaged 24.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. Durant scored at least 40 points 14 times. He also averaged 7.4 rebounds and a career-high 5.5 assists while shooting 50 per cent from the field. While Westbrook was out after his most recent knee surgery, Durant averaged 35 points and 6.3 assists as the Thunder went 20-7 and remained among the leagues elite. Teammates and opponents say Durant became a more complete player this season. They praised him for improving his court vision, consistently making the extra pass and moving more efficiently without the ball. "I think we take it for granted," teammate Nick Collison said. "To be able to stay on for long periods of time -- have to cut hard, catch the ball in the right spot and defend on the other end -- is tough to do. To be able to show that shows that he has an edge to him. He doesnt take a night off." Though Durants consistency stood out this season, he had several exceptional games. He scored 48 points on Jan. 4 at Minnesota, then scored 48 again two games later at Utah. He scored a career-high 54 points in a home win against Golden State on Jan. 17 and two games later scored 46 at home in a victory against Portland. Two games after that, he had a triple-double -- 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists -- in a win at Philadelphia, and he followed that with 41 points in a victory over Atlanta. He scored 51 points at Toronto on March 21 in a staggering 53 minutes and hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left in double overtime. He capped it off in the season finale by scoring 21 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter against Detroit and winning the game with a dunk with 16.5 seconds left. The Thunder overcame a 10-point deficit in the quarter to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. "I put in so much work and so many people helped me," he said. "I feel like we all won it. Our equipment guy gave me a hug today and said, This is my first MVP, and I thought about that. And I said, Yeah, this is our first MVP. I couldnt have done it without the teammates, without the trainer. Everybody. We all just did this together." Kevin Grobkreutz Germany Jersey . Shumenov hurt Santiago with a quick combination that backed him into the ropes. Shumenov quickly took advantage landing a number of power shots that forced the referee to jump in and stop the fight 44 seconds into the round. Mario Gotze Germany Jersey . Pushing the pace to earn free throws, getting inside for a layup, popping a mid-range jumper, he had done it all. And the Denver Nuggets were never able to answer.NEW YORK – Jonathan Bernier had one thing running through his mind amid an avalanche of shots in what was a wildly tilted second period for the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. "I thought Bernie stood on his head and gave us a chance to steal another point," said Randy Carlyle after the 2-1 shootout defeat, the teams 10th loss in the past 11 games on the road. Nudging a puck past the pads of rookie Cam Talbot, Nazem Kadri evened the score at one with less than two minutes to play in regulation. His efforts would have been for not if it wasnt for the sterling play of the 25-year-old between the pipes. The Rangers outshot the Leafs 22-5 in a penalty-filled second frame, firing 18 shots in a span of just 12 minutes. "We had a bit of a rough stretch there," Kadri said, "but thats why weve got great goaltenders. We werent worried because we know Bernie can hang in there and make some big stops for us. Obviously weve got to find a way to tone that down, but he gave us a chance to win the game." Toronto goaltending has been that kind of rock through hard times all season, the lone bit of solace amid continued spurts of inconsistency. The bookends of Mondays performance were solid for the Leafs, nearly undone though by a second frame under siege. "Im just trying to keep it close," said Bernier of the experience in the second. "I know were going to score one goal and Im just trying to do my job and go shot by shot." It was the fourth 40-plus save performance for Bernier in 22 starts this season. He now boasts a .929 save percentage on the year, good for seventh-best in the NHL. But the Quebec native wouldnt go so far to say hell stole a point for his team. In fact, he couldnt help but lament the two goals that snuck by in the shootout. "I didnt steal one," he said. "I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." Five Points 1. Bernier Shootout Struggles Bernier dropped to 3-8 lifetime in the shootout and 2-4 this season. His career .500 save percentage is amongst the worst of any active goaltender (tied for 68th in a class of 77). He was beaten on this night by Mats Zuccarello, who flipped a shot over his left shoulder, and Derek Stepan, who potted the eventual winner. "I thought the first two I was a little bit impatient," said Bernier. "Ive got to go get that extra point for my team." 2. Road Woes The road has offered nothing but misery for the Leafs since the start of November. With Mondays shootout defeat, theyve now dropped 10 of the last 11 games away from the ACC (1-6-4), outscored 36-20 in that span. Their lone victory in that stretch came on Dec. 7,, a 4-3 shootout triumph over the Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Michael Ballack World Cup Jersey. Now 6-8-4, the Leafs have the fourth-worst road mark in the Eastern Conference. 3. Means to Victory Saved often by the efforts of Bernier and James Reimer, the Leafs now sit 13-1-2 on the year when theyve yielded two goals or less. Conversely, their record is just 5-15-3 when theyve allowed three goals or more. 4. Christmas Break "This is the dog days of hockey when you get close to the 40-game mark," said Carlyle. And with a three-day break lying in wait for the holidays, he and the Leafs are just hoping to reset with an increasingly taxing second half ahead. "Its been a real hectic schedule here for the last three weeks, Ill tell you that," Carlyle said of a stretch which saw his team play 12 times in 23 days. "It seems like we play every second day and theres no relaxing time and then theres very limited practice time." With just one regulation victory in the past 18 games, theyll need to find a path towards improvement. "You just cant look at all the negatives," said Kadri, who scored his 11th goal of the year in defeat. "Youve got to look at the positives. I know thats a bit cliché, but its the right thing to do. You also point out the negatives and you go to the chalkboard and you work on it. But I think a few of those games weve played some of our better games of the year and still come out with losses. Thats just how this league works." 5. Lengthy Shift For one stretch in the Rangers dominant second frame, Dion Phaneuf was caught on the ice for a taxing two minutes and 56 seconds. New York fired five shots on goal before Peter Holland was finally whistled for roughing, the first of four penalties for the Leafs in the period. "Not very good," said Phaneuf, asked how he felt during the near-three minute shift. "When you get stuck out that long its tough. "I was trying to change obviously. I wouldve liked to not get stuck out there for that long, but its part of what happens. Sometimes teams are able to hem another team in and thats what happened tonight." Stats-Pack .929 – Save percentage for Jonathan Bernier this season, seventh-best in the NHL. 3-8 – Career record in the shootout for Bernier. 1 – Regulation victory for the Leafs since Nov. 19. 1-6-4 – Leafs record on the road in the past 11 games. 5-4 – Shootout record for the Leafs this season. 13-1-2 – Leafs record when yielding two goals or less this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 22.4 per cent (4th) PK: 4-4Season: 78.4 per cent (26th) Quote of the Night "I didnt steal one. I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." -Jonathan Bernier, following his 42-save performance. Up Next The Leafs are off three days for the Christmas break, returning to host Buffalo on Friday night. ' ' ' |
