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Thunder try to continue mastery of Hornets

Feb 27, 2013 - 3:51 PM (Sports Network) - The Oklahoma City Thunder will put their seven-game winning streak against the New Orleans Hornets on the line Wednesday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder haven't lost to the Hornets since Jan. 24, 2011. In fact, Oklahoma City has taken 11 of the last 13 meetings between these two dating back to the 2009-2010 season.

The Thunder will have some personnel available to head coach Scott Brooks on Wednesday. Newly acquired Ronnie Brewer should be available as well as Derek Fisher, who signed a free-agent deal with the team on Monday.

"I thought the practice was good, the energy was great," Brooks said Tuesday. "Paying attention to detail was at a premium. I thought everyone did a good job. Derek, Ronnie, the two new guys and everybody. It was good. You could see the excitement the team had just to have a practice."

This is Fisher's second stint with the Thunder as he came midway through last season en route to the NBA Finals. It's also his second stint in the NBA this season. He played briefly for the Dallas Mavericks, then asked for his release when he got hurt, citing wanting to spend more time with his family.

"Being back on the practice floor was just great," Fisher said. "No matter how hard you work and how hard you push yourself, it's just different when you're going up against Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and a lot of the great players we have on this team."

The Thunder have won two in a row to snap a three-game losing streak. Both wins came at home and both were rather decisive. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves by 16 on Friday, then embarrassed the Chicago Bulls by 30 on Sunday.

After Wednesday's tilt with the Hornets, the Thunder play two critical road games. They meet the Denver Nuggets on Friday and Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

New Orleans dropped a tough one to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. The Hornets fell at home, 101-97, and had no answer for Deron Williams of the Nets.

A silver lining for Hornets fans is, despite losing four of their last five, New Orleans didn't stop competing after a 16-point halftime deficit. They won the second half 56-44.

"We just had so many mistakes tonight defensively in things that we know better," said Hornets coach Monty Williams. "But I love the way our guys compete. Even when we get down, the guys just continue to compete and play until there's no more time on the clock. That is something I am really proud of."

Greivis Vasquez paced the Hornets with 20 points. Robin Lopez lost the battle to his twin brother Brook, but still had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

Anthony Davis, the first overall pick in last summer's draft, left in the third quarter Tuesday night with an apparent left shoulder injury. His availability for Wednesday is unknown.