Animes A - M » Open.ATP president Chris Kermode last month described

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Detroit Pistons had Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Oklahoma City Thunder had Kevin Durant. Even on a career night for Caldwell-Pope, advantage Oklahoma City. Durant scored 42 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, and the Thunder secured the No. 2 playoff seed in the Western Conference, rallying from 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Pistons 112-111 Wednesday night. Oklahoma City (59-23) had lost two straight to put itself in the must-win situation in the regular-season finale to earn the No. 2 seed. Durant rallied the Thunder while recording his 14th 40-point game of the season. He drove for the go-ahead dunk with 16.5 seconds left and won a tip over Greg Monroe with 1.8 seconds to go after a scramble for a loose ball resulted in a jump ball in Detroits end. Detroits Brandon Jennings could only manage a 30-foot heave at the buzzer that banged off the rim. "We just figured it out," Durant said. "We got it done. It wasnt the best game. We didnt play well defensively. We didnt shoot the ball well offensively. But theres something about just getting it done, having that willpower, having that fight in you, no matter what. It was a tough game, we persevered and we got a good win." The Thunder extended their winning streak over Detroit (29-53) to nine games, dating to December 2008. Caldwell-Pope scored 30 points for the Pistons (29-53), while Monroe had 22, Kyle Singler added 20 and Andre Drummond recorded his ninth straight double-double to end the season for Detroit, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds. "Our guys played their hearts out, competed from the opening tip," Detroit coach John Loyer said. "I feel terrible for them because they deserved to win the game. They did anything we asked them to do tonight. Some guys stepped up and made some incredible shots and they put together 48 minutes of as good of basketball as we can play." Russell Westbrook added 22 points for Oklahoma City, which will play Memphis in the first round of the playoffs. It was the ability of Westbrook, and especially Durant, to attack the rim in the fourth quarter that made the difference. Durants fourth quarter left Loyer almost speechless. "Hes one of the top one or two players in the world," Loyer said. "Thats what he did." For much of Wednesday, the Thunder looked and played like a tired team. Oklahoma Citys late-season defensive issues were on full display, as the Pistons shot 50.6 per cent from the field and Caldwell-Pope joined other non-marquee players such as Jodie Meeks (Los Angeles Lakers), Gerald Green (Phoenix Suns) and Tyreke Evans (New Orleans Pelicans) in enjoying a career night against the Thunder. Oklahoma City trailed for most of the first half before taking a one-point lead twice in the third quarter. Detroit went on a 15-7 run and took an 87-79 lead on a basket by Jonas Jerebko with 5 seconds left in the quarter. Detroit led 94-84 with 10:13 left in the game after a basket by Monroe. But Durants offensive flurry cut into that gap and the Pistons didnt score a basket in the final 3:17 or at all after Jennings hit two of three free throws with 2:07 left. On the Pistons final possession, the ball found its way to Jerebko, but he lost the handle as Thunder players slapped at the ball and officials ended up calling a tie ball. Caldwell-Pope hit four 3-pointers in the first half -- making one over the outstretched arm of the 6-foot-10 Durant -- and eclipsed his previous career high of 15 points by the 5:27 mark of the second quarter. His next basket put the Pistons ahead 48-37 with 4:52 left in the first half and hushed the crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Durant, who was 2 of 8 from the field to that point, hit two free throws, then drained a 3-pointer to start a 17-7 run by Oklahoma City. Westbrook scored seven points in the final 2:41 and Durant drained an 18-foot jumper in the final second to pull the Thunder within 55-54. NOTES: Drummond set the Pistons record for highest field-goal percentage in a season, finishing at 62.3 per cent. Dennis Rodman had held the previous team record of 59.5 per cent, set during the 1988-89 season. ... Kendrick Perkins was called for a technical foul by official Tony Brothers with 8:01 left in the third quarter when he protested after picking up his fifth foul. ... The Thunder recorded their 130th straight regular-season sellout at Chesapeake Energy Arena, which seats 18,203 fans. Cheap Fake Nmd . - This is just the warm-up act for 18-year-old William Nylander. Cheap NMD R2 Trainers . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. http://www.nmdukonlinestore.com/ultra-boost-trainers-outlet-deals.html . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario. Wholesale Adidas NMD R2 .com) - Will Conant booted a 39-yard field goal as time expired and Air Force played spoiler with a 27-24 win over 21st- ranked Colorado State on Friday. Adidas Nmd Cheap Uk Sale . Moors, from Cambridge Ont., landed a double-twisting, double somersault in the layout position, en route to a score of 14.600 points in the womens floor exercise, more than a full point ahead of runner-up Pia Tolle of Germany.Theres no rest for Roger. Back near the top of the rankings, and fresh from his long-awaited Davis Cup triumph with Switzerland, Roger Federer is getting ready for the International Premier Tennis League that gets under way on Friday.Joining Federer in the franchise-based, short-format competition will be the top-ranked players in mens and womens tennis, with Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams also signed up to play.The IPTL will launch with a tournament at Manila this week. Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai are the other stops for the $ 1 million event that runs till Dec. 13.Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras are among the retired greats wholl feature in the tournament that will be contested by four teams — the Manila Mavericks, Singapore Slammers, Indian Aces and United Arab Emirates Royals.It is a revolutionary team tennis event breaking through the boundaries of traditional tennis formats, IPTL founder and former doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi said ahead of the tournament, which he hopes to convert to an eight-team league by 2020. But we need to be sustainable and we dont want to be too aggressive — we want to make sure that along the lines other people also see it as a viable business model.The format includes mens and womens singles, mens doubles, mixed doubles and legends singles matches. Essentially, its an exhibition with a competitive streak.Each fixture will consist of five one-set matches, which could be decided by a four-minute shootout at 5-5 rather than a traditional tiebreaker. There will be no advantage scores and the outcome will be decided by aggregating games won from all five matches rather than the match results.There will also be power points which will give players a chance to double up on a point in each match by nominated it before receiving serve. Other additions include time-outs.Williams, who won the season-ending WTA title in Singapore last month, said Im looking forward to coming back to Singapore and playing for the Singapore Slammers. I hope youll ... enjoy a new format of tennis..dddddddddddd.No. 9-ranked Marin Cilic said playing in Asia was part of the appeal.When Im in Asia, I always have good experiences and I always feel welcome, Cilic said. Asian fans are very faithful and I appreciate that a lot.Federer is an advocate of shorter formats in the game. Hell also be playing former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in another shortened, faster form of the game in Sydney ahead of the Australian Open.Players fought long and hard for more time off to rest and recuperate between seasons, and the official off-season now extends for more than a month on the mens and womens tours. So participation of the star players in the IPTL has raised some questions about scheduling and fatigue management.The 33-year-old Federer helped Switzerland clinch its first Davis Cup title last weekend in France, and the 17-time major winner will start his 2015 at the Brisbane International on Jan. 5, a key warm-up tournament to the Australian Open.ATP president Chris Kermode last month described the IPTL as just a series of glorified exhibitions.I actually dont have a problem with it, he told reporters in Shanghai. It isnt the ATPs business what the players did in the off-season, even if they criticize the duration of the tour and then jet away to play exhibition events when the curtain falls on the calendar.The IPTL is another addition to a growing list of franchise-based leagues run out of India following the massive success of crickets Twenty20 Indian Premier League.There is an Indian Soccer League involving players such as Nicolas Anelka, Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires and Luis Garcia, as well as similar competitions in field hockey and kabaddi.______________________Top players in the IPTL:Manila Mavericks: Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Maria Sharapova, Carlos Moya.Singapore Slammers: Serena Williams, Tomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter.Indian Aces: Roger Federer, Ana Ivanovic, Pete Sampras, Sania Mirza.UAE Royals: Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Caroline Wozniaki, Goran Ivanisevic. ' ' '