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OKLAHOMA CITY - Kevin Durant stood before his adoring home crowd, proudly holding his MVP trophy above his head during a pregame ceremony. He spent the next few hours showing how he earned it. Durant had 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-101 on Wednesday night to tie their Western Conference semifinal series at one game apiece. "We wanted to come back and respond," Durant said. "So, I think thats what fueled the team tonight. We just went out there and played extremely well and left it all out there, and came out with a good W." During his emotional MVP acceptance speech on Tuesday, Durant called teammate Russell Westbrook an MVP-calibre player. Westbrook backed up Durants words with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double in his past five playoff games. "I think Russ played harder than all of us combined," Clippers guard Chris Paul said. "He was all over the place." Thunder coach Scott Brooks took Durant out of the game with 1:21 remaining, costing him a shot at the triple-double. According to information provided to the Thunder by the Elias Sports Bureau, no pair of teammates has had triple-doubles in the same playoff game. Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha each scored 14 points for the Thunder, who shot 51 per cent from the field and outrebounded the Clippers 52-36. "It was the perfect storm," Clippers guard Jamal Crawford said. "They did everything they could to win, and they got everything they wanted tonight. That wasnt the Clippers team weve been and Im sure well get back on track." J.J. Redick scored 18 points, Paul had 17 points and 11 assists, and Blake Griffin added 15 points for the Clippers. Los Angeles made 15 of 29 3-pointers in Game 1, but just 9 of 27 in Game 2. The Clippers will host Game 3 Friday in Los Angeles. Durant scored 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the first quarter to help the Thunder take a 37-28 lead. Paul, who scored 17 points in the opening quarter of Game 1, went scoreless in the first quarter of Game 2 and watched most of the period from the bench with two fouls as the Thunder took control early. Oklahoma City got an offensive boost from an unlikely source in the third quarter — Sefolosha, a defensive stopper. He hit a mid-range jumper, then dunked after a steal by Westbrook to give the Thunder a 78-66 lead. Sefolosha dunked again, then got a steal that led to a 3-pointer by Westbrook and gave Oklahoma City a 90-73 advantage. Sefolosha, who had averaged just 3.7 points in the playoffs, scored 12 points in the quarter to help the Thunder take a 94-77 lead into the fourth. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he expected Durant and Westbrook to score, but not Sefolosha. "We can win if they (Durant and Westbrook) both have good offensive games," Rivers said. "What we cant do is then give them that plus everything else. And I thought thats what happened tonight." Westbrook clinched his triple-double with 1:21 remaining when he was credited with an assist after a pass to Sefolosha, who took two dribbles on his drive to the basket. Rivers said the Thunder were the aggressors. "Every single possession, you have to have great focus and you have to be locked in, and today we were not," he said. "I thought it was because of all the clutter today. Were upset at the officials, were upset at everything instead of turning our anger on the opponent and focus. Tonight we just didnt have it." Notes: A power surge took out much of the arenas lighting with 27.2 seconds left in the first half. The coaches agreed to finish out the half with the limited lighting. The power returned, but halftime was extended briefly to give the lights the necessary 15 minutes to return to full brightness. ... Rapper Jay-Z attended the game. ... 2K Sports has announced that Durant will be the lone player on the cover of NBA 2K15. He shared the cover of 2K13 with Griffin and Chicagos Derrick Rose. Miamis LeBron James was on the cover of 2K14. ... Commissioner Adam Silver presented Durant with the MVP trophy before the game. ... Thunder C Steven Adams was called for a technical foul with 9:17 remaining for falling on Paul after biting on a pump fake and knocking him into the Thunder bench. Crawford was issued a technical with 7:28 to play, and Paul was given one with 2:24 remaining. ... Severe weather affected the area, and fans were told to stay in the arena after the game to allow the weather to pass. Sheldon Rankins Jersey . Lauzon rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries for the Vert et Or (2-3) while quarterback Jeremi Roch completed 19-of-32 passes for 251 yards and one interception. Alexandre Aube scored the other touchdown for Sherbrooke. A.J. Klein Jersey . Two-time Olympic bronze medallists Savchenko and Szolkowy received 79.02 points to finish ahead of world bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada, who had 77.01 points. http://www.officialneworleanssaintsfootb...-womens.Airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said that all departing flights were back on schedule. However, arriving flights were still trying to catch up.Super Bowl Sunday got off to an inconvenient start for hundreds of passengers trying to get to Phoenix for the game. Taysom Hill Jersey . Its not intended to be some magical formula and doesnt apply any context, like, for example, taking injuries into account. This remedial statistical method has gone 9-5 in picks through the first three rounds. Josh Hill Jersey . Earnshaw, 31, most recently spent time on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv from Welsh club Cardiff City, which plays in Englands second-tier League Championship. Earnshaw began his career with Cardiff Citys youth program and turned professional in 1998.TSN Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun have the latest on Ryan Keslers situation in Vancouver, the coaching vacancies around the league, if the first overall pick will move, and more. How does Jim Bennings selection as GM in Vancouver, and who he selects as head coach, affect the Ryan Kesler situation? Darren Dreger: Ryan Kesler hasnt changed his mind. He wants a fresh start and to move on from Vancouver; he met with Benning earlier this week to talk about that. Its believed that Kesler still has six teams on his list that hes willing to be traded to. And we think that Philadelphia and Anaheim are among those. Pierre LeBrun: The asking price remains high, as it should for a guy that only has a $5 million cap hit for two more years. The Canucks dont just want futures here, they want a player that can help them now, preferably a centre. Bob McKenzie: With Kesler on the marketplace right now, thats bad news for the Ottawa Senators, who have been trying to trade Jason Spezza, preferably before the draft. With Kesler out there, thats a centre that most teams will target before they go after Spezza. LeBrun: It might get even more interesting if Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau are on the market. Right now thats not the case but the Sharks have made it known theyre rebuilding. What does that mean for a veteran like Thornton – does he want to be on a rebuilding team? That remains to be seen. Why Jim Rutherford in Pittsburgh? And who might he hire to replace the fired Dan Bylsma? McKenzie: They like Rutherfords experience and they also like the fact that at this point in his career Rutherford is happy to take a 2-3 year transition phase and be able to turn the reigns over to an assistant like Jason Botterill, Bill Guerin or Tom Fitzgerald. In terms of who the coach will be, Ill say this: if Paul Maurice hadnt signed on long-term with the Winnipeg Jets, those two – the Lone Ranger and Tonto – might have ridden again, with Rutherford obviously having an affinity for Maurice. I think whoever he gets, it has got to be a guy who has some cache, whos got a name, and whos been a head coach. Because when that guy walks into that dressing room, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni p;Malkin have got to sit up and take notice.dddddddddddd Give me an update on the other three coaching vacancies. Dreger: Dale Tallon has interviewed as many as 10 candidates for the vacancy in Florida. Hes hoping to get the list down to 5-6 as early as next week and start the process of second interviews. LeBrun: With Rutherfords old team in Carolina, Ron Francis were told has interviewed close to 10 candidates and hes not done. He wants a crack at Ulf Samuelsson, his old teammate, on the New York Rangers staff. He has to wait for the Stanley Cup Final to end. Bill Peters is another candidate; hes interviewed Jacques Martin; and maybe John Stevens from the Los Angeles Kings is in the mix as well. McKenzie: Theres been no news coming out of Vancouver on the coaching front for an obvious reason. We believe the top candidates are still coaching and not available to be interviewed. Thatd be Stevens with the Kings, and Willie Desjardins, whos currently coaching in the American Hockey League Championship and is another strong candidate in Vancouver. The first overall draft pick has only been traded four times. Will it be a fifth this year? Dreger: Its definitely in play and I know the Panthers have at least one solid offer, but the expectation is things will heat up in the days ahead. Is Martin Brodeur prepared to leave New Jersey? LeBrun: I spoke to Brodeur today and he said mentally hes ready to leave New Jersey. He hasnt totally closed the door on the Devils – he says “Ill be a Devil for life” – but he will go to July 1 and see if theres a fit. Hes ready to play one more year and hes ready to play in another uniform. McKenzie: And theres another free agent we should keep our eye on who most people havent heard of: a 22-year-old Czech by the name of Jiri Sekac. He went through the NHL Drafts and never got picked up. He was once cut by the Peterborough Petes but he had a strong year in the KHL playing for the Prague team. Right now he has more than a dozen firm offers on a max entry-level deal for two years. Hes expected over the next couple of days to make up his mind as to which team. This is a guy who is in great demand. Hes a 62, 190 pound left winger who many believe is ready to step in NHL-ready. 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