ints in his return. ... Hayward, who leads Utah in scoring at 17.1 points per game, is day to da | Forum

MILWAUKEE -- Jolted by a two-game losing streak, the Oklahoma City Thunder turned to Serge Ibaka and their defence to stop the slide. Saucony Jazz Original Dames . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. "Serges performance was outstanding, the way he was blocking and altering shots and his rebounds," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "His 15 and 20 was one of his best games. Hes standing out as a guy that can get 10 rebounds a night and hes been pretty consistent. Thats what makes you a very good pro, that consistency." Russell Westbrook scored 26 points and Kevin Durant added 24 for the Thunder, who were coming off back-to-back road losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. O.J. Mayo scored 22 points for the Bucks, losers of five straight who continue to play short-handed because of injuries. Milwaukee played good enough defence to keep it close, but had too many offensive lulls. The Bucks shot 22.2 per cent in the fourth quarter. "We didnt make shots, but defensively, we were really good," Durant said. "They hit some 3s, which they do, but we contested them all night. Overall, defensively we played well." Bucks coach Larry Drew says his team gets into trouble when it stops moving the ball on offence -- lapses that allowed the Thunders defence to pounce. "When you play against a team like OKC, (when) you keep the ball on one side of the floor, they load up that side of the floor," Drew said. "You become very easy to guard, because they do such a good job in their rotations. Its very obvious. When we hit those bad spells, that basketball stops moving and it doesnt jump around." At least some of that credit goes to Ibaka. "Hes a physical player," Bucks forward Ekpe Udoh said. "Hes athletic, gets off his feet. . Hes talented. Hit a couple of shots on me." The Thunder also welcomed back centre Kendrick Perkins, who was away from the team for two games following his grandfathers death. Before the game, Brooks emphasized Perkins critical role on defence -- particularly on pick-and-rolls. Oklahoma City took control with an 11-4 run to end the third quarter -- playing with reserves for much of that stretch -- and led 72-65 going into the fourth. Milwaukee was held scoreless for more than four minutes to start the fourth, but went on a quick 8-0 run, cutting the lead to 77-73 on a 3-pointer by Mayo with 6:10 remaining. But Westbrook hit a jumper, Ibaka swatted away a putback attempt by Udoh, and Ibaka hit a shot on the other end to give the Thunder an 81-73 lead with 4:28 left. The Bucks continue to struggle with injuries -- although they werent as short-handed on Saturday as they were in a loss at Orlando on Wednesday, when they had only eight healthy players. "We know Milwaukee is banged up right now, but we wanted to come in and play a solid defensive game and I thought we did," Brooks said. "We made them take tough shots. We did a good job defensively." Mayo sees better things coming for the Bucks when they get healthy. "Well be a lot better for sure," he said. "Heck yeah, man. As we get more and more healthy, more of the seasoned guys back in, itll strengthen our first unit." Milwaukee went into halftime with the score tied at 40, holding Oklahoma City to 31.3 per cent shooting from the floor in the first half. Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo provided several highlights in the first half for Milwaukee, including a flying dunk on an alley-oop from Luke Ridnour, two blocked shots and a handful of other deflections. NOTES: Drew said he does not have a timeline for the return of forward Ersan Ilyasova, who continues to sit out with a sore right ankle. ... Drew was optimistic that Caron Butler (left shoulder) and Brandon Knight (right hamstring) would return soon. ... Durant recovered from a cold start, shooting 3 for 10 from the floor in the first half. Saucony Jazz Original Heren . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. Saucony Sneakers Nederland .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. http://www.sauconysneakerssale.nl/ . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday.SALT LAKE CITY -- Alec Burks didnt feel like he needed to be Gordon Hayward. He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Derrick Favors added 19 points and 15 rebounds while Trey Burke had 18 points for the Jazz, who won their fifth game in the last six home starts. Burks was filling in for Gordon Hayward, who sat out his second consecutive game after scoring a career-high 37 points -- including the last 17 -- in a win over Oklahoma City last Tuesday. The swingman strained his left hip flexor late in the game and his absence was apparent as Cleveland snapped Utahs four-game home winning streak on Friday, 113-102. But Burks made his presence felt from the start and had 17 in the first half to help the Jazz run out to a 67-53 lead, the highest first-half total for the Jazz this season. "I was just trying to get to the rim and put some pressure on them," Burks said. His teammates noticed his determination to get into the lane and that led to other open shots. "He came out and established himself from the get-go. He put a ton of pressure on their defence to collapse and try and stop him from scoring," Marvin Williams said. Ty Lawson had 23 points and J.J. Hickson scored 21 but the Nuggets trailed by as many as 24 points as they saw their improbable five-game winning streak come to an end. Burks wowed the crowd with a number of athletic drives to the hoop and several of his forays ended in a basket and a free throw. The Nuggets threw a number of defenders at the slippery Jazz guard but none could stay in front of him. "Some of the shots, I dont know how they went in. Alec said he missed a bunch of layups and I told him, You made a bunch of crazy layups." Richard Jefferson said. "His ability to finish in traffic and his size and the way he can handle the ball is unique." The third-year guard helped the Jazz score a season-high 64 points in the paint and kept his defenders oon their heels. Saucony Shadow 6000. "With more opportunity, I am a wiser player now," Burks said. "I know now what everybodys going to do now, how they are going to play defence against me." It was Burks most potent offensive performance since he posted his previous career-best of 31 points in Miami on Dec. 16. But that was in a blowout loss. Burks made 13 of his 19 field goal attempts as the Jazz shot nearly 56 per cent against the Nuggets, who seemed to be one step behind the Utah offence all night. "Defence for the most part tonight was non-existent," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. Favours powerful dunk sparked a 10-2 surge to push the advantage to 77-57, the second time in three games the Jazz have led by more than 20 after achieving that wide margin only once the rest of the season. The lead reached 89-65 after Jefferson made a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. The 118 points Utah tallied was the second-most the Jazz have scored all season, just under the 122 they scored in a runaway win in Sacramento on Dec. 11. "They had a lot of solutions," said Evan Fournier, who had 16 points for Denver. The Nuggets got a taste of their own medicine after they averaged 119.6 points a contest during their five-game win streak. But the energy and defence and accuracy that aided the Nuggets roll were absent against Utah. "We made a ton of mistakes tonight, letting the ball get to the middle and allowing them to penetrate our paint," Shaw said. The Nuggets were 21 of 34 from the line and several misses prevented them from cutting the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter. Notes: In addition to long-term injuries to Danilo Gallinari (left knee) and JaVale McGee (left leg), the Nuggets were without reserve forwards Darrell Arthur (left groin) and Anthony Randolph (left ankle). Fellow reserve Wilson Chandler has been battling a left hip strain and missed Denvers previous two games but scored 12 points in his return. ... Hayward, who leads Utah in scoring at 17.1 points per game, is day to day and planned to accompany the team on its upcoming three-game road trip starting Wednesday in San Antonio. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys' ' '