Knicks 78 - 105 Thunder
Final
  for this game

Thunder hope to get a boost vs. Knicks

Nov 28, 2014 - 6:39 PM

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(SportsNetwork.com) - One team will be getting a superstar back and another will still be without one Friday night when the New York Knicks visit Chesapeake Energy Arena to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder will get at least one integral part back on Friday. All-Star guard Russell Westbrook will return to play versus the Knicks. He practiced all week after a broken hand has sidelined him for close to a month.

"It feels great. I am rested, happy to be back and to go out and try to get a win," said Westbrook.

Reigning MVP Kevin Durant also participated in practice this week, although he's not expected back until next week.

"This week, I don't know what day, they'll get evaluated and we'll go from there," head coach Scott Brooks told the Oklahoman. "They'll continue to go through this process and when they're ready -- 100 percent ready -- they'll play."

The third superstar surrounding these two teams is most likely out on Friday. Carmelo Anthony injured his back Monday night and missed Wednesday's overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

"I don't think it will be too long," Anthony told the New York Post. "I think the spasms will go away. But I'm not going to play with spasms."

Against Dallas, New York's J.R. Smith hit a jumper with less than a second remaining in regulation to force overtime. The Mavs won the extra session, 14-7, and earned a 109-102 victory.

Dallas used a 9-0 run and forced six Knicks turnovers to pull away in the extra session.

"We made some mistakes down the stretch you can't make on the road," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said.

Jose Calderon tallied 21 points, 10 boards and four assists for New York, which has dropped four of its last five games. Samuel Dalembert registered a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Smith finished with 15, Pablo Prigioni netted 12 and Amare Stoudemire chipped in 10.

Fisher played 125 games with the Thunder, including all of last season.

The Knicks return home Sunday to face the Miami Heat and will play three straight in Madison Square Garden.

Reggie Jackson poured in 22 points and Jeremy Lamb scored 21 off the bench in Oklahoma City's 97-82 home rout of the Utah Jazz Wednesday night.

Serge Ibaka registered 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Thunder, who snapped a six-game losing streak and gained just their fourth win in 16 tries this season.

"It was a good team win," said Brooks. "We've been close so many times and I told the guys we have a lot of things to be thankful for this week."

Anthony Morrow was the only other Thunder player in double figures with 12. The OKC bench outscored Utah's second unit, 44-3.

The Thunder head out on a three-game road trip, starting Tuesday in New Orleans.

The Thunder swept both meetings last season and are 11-3 in their last 14 against the Knicks. OKC has taken six of the last seven home matchups with New York.






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