Durant, Warriors Take Round 2 Against Westbrook, Thunder
The conversation of whether or not Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are, or ever have been, friends is now officially irrelevant. For the second time this season, Durant led his Warriors all over Westbrook's Thunder, 121-100, on Wednesday night. The leading scorer for the Warriors put up a season-high 40 points, outshining Westbrook's 21st triple-double of the year. The Thunder point guard finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists, after putting up 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting in the first matchup. Durant has now combined for 79 points on 28-for-40 shooting in the two games against OKC, both of which took place at Oracle Arena. He also finished with 12 rebounds Wednesday night. There was some controversy involving Zaza Pachulia' hard hit to the face of Westbrook, which he was assessed a flagrant one for. The Thunder star stated after the game that he will be looking for revenge.
Oklahoma Takes Out WVU in OT
The West Virginia Mountaineers came into the week virtually tied with Creighton at No. 7 in the rankings, but at No. 8 in the eyes of many, despite two tough losses this season. On Wednesday, the Mountaineers suffered their third tough loss in overtime, 89-87, at the hands of Oklahoma. Jordan Woodard hit the game-winning layup in the final seconds of the overtime period, while Kristian Doolittle scored six of his 12 points in OT for the Sooners. Woodard had missed four games with a leg injury, but in his second start back, he scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime, including his team's final six points. The Sooners have now won two in a row for the first time since November. The Mountaineers were riding high following a blowout of then No. 1 Baylor last week, but fell at home for the first time this season.
Pudge, Bagwell, Raines Elected to Baseball HOF
With much of the talk leading into the announcement of the 2017 class in the Baseball Hall of Fame being about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, three other names took the headlines Wednesday evening. Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez were all elected to the Hall of Fame. The likes of Vladmir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman both fell just short of the 75 percent mark that was needed. Bagwell finished at 86.2 percent, Raines at 86 percent, and Rodriguez got 76 percent. Bagwell was a four-time All-Star who picked up Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in his 15 seasons, finishing with 449 home runs. He was forced to retire at the age of 37 due to an arthritic right shoulder. Raines was a seven-time All-Star with the Montreal Expos, known by many as the second-greatest leadoff hitter in history, behind only Ricky Henderson. He ranks fifth all-time with 808 stolen bases, as his 84.7 percent stolen base rate is No. 1 in history. Rodriguez becomes the first catcher to make it his first time on the ballot, making 14 All-Star teams and winning 13 Gold Glove Awards with the Rangers and Tigers. He ranks first among catchers all-time with 2,844 hits, 1,354 runs, 572 doubles, and 2,543 games played.
The conversation of whether or not Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are, or ever have been, friends is now officially irrelevant. For the second time this season, Durant led his Warriors all over Westbrook's Thunder, 121-100, on Wednesday night. The leading scorer for the Warriors put up a season-high 40 points, outshining Westbrook's 21st triple-double of the year. The Thunder point guard finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists, after putting up 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting in the first matchup. Durant has now combined for 79 points on 28-for-40 shooting in the two games against OKC, both of which took place at Oracle Arena. He also finished with 12 rebounds Wednesday night. There was some controversy involving Zaza Pachulia' hard hit to the face of Westbrook, which he was assessed a flagrant one for. The Thunder star stated after the game that he will be looking for revenge.
Oklahoma Takes Out WVU in OT
The West Virginia Mountaineers came into the week virtually tied with Creighton at No. 7 in the rankings, but at No. 8 in the eyes of many, despite two tough losses this season. On Wednesday, the Mountaineers suffered their third tough loss in overtime, 89-87, at the hands of Oklahoma. Jordan Woodard hit the game-winning layup in the final seconds of the overtime period, while Kristian Doolittle scored six of his 12 points in OT for the Sooners. Woodard had missed four games with a leg injury, but in his second start back, he scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime, including his team's final six points. The Sooners have now won two in a row for the first time since November. The Mountaineers were riding high following a blowout of then No. 1 Baylor last week, but fell at home for the first time this season.
Pudge, Bagwell, Raines Elected to Baseball HOF
With much of the talk leading into the announcement of the 2017 class in the Baseball Hall of Fame being about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, three other names took the headlines Wednesday evening. Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez were all elected to the Hall of Fame. The likes of Vladmir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman both fell just short of the 75 percent mark that was needed. Bagwell finished at 86.2 percent, Raines at 86 percent, and Rodriguez got 76 percent. Bagwell was a four-time All-Star who picked up Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in his 15 seasons, finishing with 449 home runs. He was forced to retire at the age of 37 due to an arthritic right shoulder. Raines was a seven-time All-Star with the Montreal Expos, known by many as the second-greatest leadoff hitter in history, behind only Ricky Henderson. He ranks fifth all-time with 808 stolen bases, as his 84.7 percent stolen base rate is No. 1 in history. Rodriguez becomes the first catcher to make it his first time on the ballot, making 14 All-Star teams and winning 13 Gold Glove Awards with the Rangers and Tigers. He ranks first among catchers all-time with 2,844 hits, 1,354 runs, 572 doubles, and 2,543 games played.
