Durant Leads Thunder to First Playoff Win

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant was struggling through another tough shooting night against the Los Angeles Lakers, hitting just one of his first seven shots and just four of his first 16 when he stood in the team huddle and knew what he had to do.

So Durant went out and set a career high in rebounds with 19, played stout defense against Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter and still managed to score 29 points in leading his Thunder to a thrilling come-from-behind 101-96 win over the Lakers. Bryant was held to just four points in the fourth quarter on 2-for-10 shooting. He had helped torch the Thunder on Tuesday night in L.A. with 15 points down the stretch of Game 2. Bryant had been guarded by defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha most of the game with Jeff Green and James Harden also taking turns. But seeing Durant come out on him for the final 12 minutes was not something the Lakers' superstar was expecting. He still managed to lead the Lakers in scoring with 24 points on 10-for-29 shooting. But Bryant, for one of the few times in his career, did not have a single free-throw attempt.

Durant's 29 points led all scorers, while his sidekick Westbrook added 27, grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists. OKC limited Los Angeles to just 46 second-half points, 21 in the fourth quarter when the Lakers were just 8-for-20. Also Oklahoma City outrebounded the Lakers 53-39 and doubled them on the offensive glass, 14-7. The Thunder also ran on the Lakers, outscoring them 23-7 on the break.

In addition to Bryant's 24, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol each added 17 with Gasol pulling down 15 rebounds.

Trail Blazers Steal one in PHX

The Portland Trail Blazers won in impressive fashion with a 105-100 victory.

The Suns need to discover somebody who can cover Andre Miller. The Trail Blazers got off to a rousing start in their best-of-seven first-round series Sunday night by shutting down Stoudemire and the Suns on the way to a 105-100 surprising lost. The Blazers became the only one of the eight lower-seeded teams in the NBA playoffs to win their first playoff game.

They won Sunday thanks to Marcus Camby's defense on Stoudemire and the Suns' failure to cover Andre Miller. He shot 10-for-17 for 31 points, including an incredible 10-for-10 on free throws. In addition to his outstanding defense, Camby had 17 rebounds and three blocks. Camby made him work and didn't give him anything easy.

For the Suns, Nash had 25 points and nine assists. Stoudemire shot a modest 8-for-19 for 18 points. The Suns have had trouble scoring against the Blazers this season. They'd only averaged 98 points against them (compared to their league-leading 110 points per game overall).

The Blazers gave the Suns two chances in the closing moments of the game. The first was when Camby missed an easy break-away dunk in the final minute. Then Jared Dudley had a 3-pointer from the left corner that would have cut the Blazers' lead to one point. But he missed. The second was after Richardson hit a 3-pointer cut it to 103-100 with 12.5 seconds left, Bayless missed two free throws. That gave Nash one last 3-pointer from 28 feet up top to tie the game. He was well short, and the Blazers finally closed it out.

Bulls Best Raptors For Final Spot In Playoffs

Clearly the Chicago Bulls wanted this game more than the Toronto Raptors. Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose led the Bulls to a 104-88 victory over the Toronto Raptors, breaking a tie as they moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race with two games remaining for each team. Noah was brilliant, finishing with 18 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists as his energy fueled his teammates in the second half, not giving them the option of letting up. Noah was active from the opening tip until he was pulled with less than two minutes remaining. Toronto struggled from the floor, shooting just 41 percent for the game for the game. Sonny Weems and Andrea Bargnani scored 18 points apiece for the Raptors, but neither could find a steady rhythm. After saying all season that he needs the ball in his hands to be effective, Hedo Turkoglu had the ball and made the most of it, finishing with nine assists to go with a career-high 19 rebounds, but they didn't matter as the Raptors lost their opportunity to take full control of their playoff destiny. The Bulls outscored Toronto 26-17 in the third and went into the fourth ahead by 19. The Raptors trailed by as many as 25 in the final quarter.

The Cavaliers Achieve 60th Win

The Cleveland Cavs completely dominated the Atlanta Hawks in a 93-88 victory. In all three meetings this season, the Cavs played their best ball in the fourth quarter and the Hawks played their worst. The Cavs also totally dominated in the loose ball and rebounding departments, grabbing a whopping 55 boards to the Hawks' 36. LeBron James scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He was particularly outstanding in the fourth, coming up with his usual collection of game-changing plays and highlight-reel moments. As important was Mo Williams who is starting to pick it up when the Cavs need him most. The Cavs have won 17 of their previous 19 overall, including 10 in a row at home. They also became the 18th team in league history to win at least 60 games in back-to-back seasons.