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OKLAHOMA CITY -- This is what the Thunder had in mind when they picked up Caron Butler after the trade deadline. The forward scored 23 points to help Oklahoma City defeat the Denver Nuggets 117-96 on Monday night. He made 10 of 19 shots in 29 minutes as a reserve and posted his highest points total since joining the team. Kevin Durant, who had 27 points and eight assists, liked what the Thunder got from the 34-year-old Butler. "Thats what we want him to do," Durant said. "He was aggressive, and thats what we need him to do for the rest of the year." Butler said it felt good to get loose. "Im just getting into a rhythm," he said. "My teammates are doing a great job of finding me in flow, and Im starting to get a little more familiar with my game and understanding where I like the ball at." Reggie Jackson had 16 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Serge Ibaka added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder, who won their fourth straight. The Thunder sat point guard Russell Westbrook so he could rest his surgically repaired right knee. Westbrooks knee took a hit from Toronto guard Kyle Lowry on Friday, but tests showed no further damage was done. The Thunder have been resting Westbrook for one game of back-to-backs, and Oklahoma City plays at Dallas on Tuesday. As usual, other players filled in successfully. "You have a system thats functioning," Butler said. "The only thing guys got to do is plug into that system and play a certain style and way and give a certain type of effort, and things just continue to move forward." Jackson, who had struggled at times since Westbrook returned after the All-Star break, played one of his best games of the season. "Hes just playing free now," Durant said. "You can just tell hes not getting in his own way, you know, thinking too much mentally and hes just going out there and playing." Ty Lawson scored 25 points, Quincy Miller and Timofey Mozgov each scored 12 points, Kenneth Faried had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Randy Foye had 11 points and four assists for the Nuggets. Denver allowed the Thunder to shoot 51 per cent. "We didnt get into the ball defensively," Denver forward Darrell Arthur said. "Our communication was off." The Thunder matched their highest points total in a quarter this season, making six 3-pointers in the first to take a 41-24 lead. Oklahoma City kept the pressure on and led 72-58 at halftime. The Thunder shot 60 per cent from the field and had their highest points total in any half this season. Durant had 22 points and six assists in the first half while Ibaka scored 15. Only one Thunder player shot worse than 50 per cent in the first half. "They came out strong, and we gave them a lot of easy shots," Lawson said. "It felt like they werent working for anything. Everything was pretty much easy in the first half, I think." Oklahoma City made just six of 18 shots in the third quarter, but the Nuggets were an even worse 3-for-16, so the Thunder actually extended their lead to 90-73 by the end of the period. "We got stops on the first two possessions (of the third quarter), so we could have cut the lead down to 10," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. "Instead, we dont capitalize on those situations, and they come down and score after that and push it right back up to 18 or 20. It was just one of those kinds of nights." NOTES: Thunder C Kendrick Perkins (left groin strain) and G Thabo Sefolosha (left calf strain) are improving, but still are out. Both have missed about a month. ... Durant has scored 25 or more points in 35 consecutive games, the longest streak since Michael Jordan did it 40 consecutive times during the 1986-87 season. ... Nuggets F Wilson Chandler (left groin strain) and F Jan Vesely (left rib cage contusion) did not play. ... Thunder C Hasheem Thabeet missed the game for personal reasons. ... Oklahoma Citys Adams scored in double figures for just the third time this season. ... Thunder G Mustafa Shakur played for just the third time this season. He was NBA D-League Player of the Month in February while playing for the Tulsa 66ers. Nickell Robey Bills Jersey . Forte was injured on a run deep in Chicago territory midway through the first quarter, when Kansas Citys Derrick Johnson hit him in the knee. Dustin Hopkins Bills Jersey . They did take one chance on a free agent-to-be however, and it didnt pay off. Rory Kohlert, selected by the Redblacks in the expansion draft from Winnipeg, has signed as a free agent with the Blue Bombers. http://www.billsstoreonline.com/Black-66-Seantrel-...ns-Jers ey/ . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds. Seantrel Henderson Bills Jersey . -- Michael Phelps has competed in the second event of his comeback and failed to advance to the 50-meter freestyle final. Stephon Gilmore Bills Jersey . A year ago, as newly appointed general manager Masai Ujiri bided his time and sat out of a lacklustre 2013 draft, this scenario seemed highly improbable. The Raptors, like every other team in the association, had at least one eye on this years rookie crop, one of the most highly touted and eagerly anticipated ever to enter the league. CONCORD, N.C. -- Driving for an organization known for excellence, Brad Keselowski understands the expectations at Penske Racing. But when the defending Sprint Cup champion snapped a 37-race losing streak Saturday night, his team owner wasnt sure Keselowski knew exactly what it meant. "Brad, you dont realize that every driver in our stable now has won a race this year," said Roger Penske, who rattled off AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Blaney, Sam Hornish Jr., Joey Logano and IndyCar drivers Helio Castroneves and Will Power. "Id say this is a pretty good night for us." A pretty good night, indeed. After failing to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship this year, Keselowski grabbed his first win of the season and first since Sept. 30, 2012, at Dover, by passing Kasey Kahne with nine laps to go at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In doing so, Keselowski became the rare non-Chase driver to win a Chase race. The last to do so was Kahne in 2011 at Phoenix. "I never thought we couldnt," Keselowski said. "The perception is, and rightfully so, that the guys in the Chase are the cream of the crop ... and they should win races and probably sweep the Chase. But this is a very good team. Weve had what we need to be a championship team. We just havent put them all together." The No. 2 team might not have Saturday night if not for a caution with 27 laps remaining that changed the race dramatically as Jimmie Johnson, who led 130 laps, was seemingly on his way to an easy victory. A call for debris sent the leaders to pit road and ended Johnsons march to a record seventh Charlotte win. "There was a caution that shook things up," Johnson shrugged. Hendrick teammates Kahne and Jeff Gordon took only two tires and raced off pit road first, while everyone else took four tires and lined up behind them. Johnson came out in third, and should have been in good shape on four fresh tires. Instead, Johnson had a terrible re-start and fell back to seventh. Kahne pulled away and championship leader Matt Kenseth jumped from fourth to second. Then Keselowski, sixth on the restart, picked his way through traffic and worked his way past second. Keselowski was unsure all night if his car was as good as Kahne or Johnson. The four tires he got from crew chief Paul Wolfe gave him a chance to find out. "I never got to really race them until the end ... when Paul made the call to take four tires and I saw we were that close to the front, I knew we could get them," Keselowski said. His sights set on Kahne, who led a race-high 138 laps, Keselowski needed several attempts at the pass for the lead before he could make it stick. "I love hard raciing and there are a handful of guys who cant race hard and they freak out -- hes not one of them," Keselowski said about Kahne.dddddddddddd "Hes an excellent driver. He ran me hard but ran me clean and that is great racing. He did a hell of a job and deserves a lot of credit for it." Kahne finished second in a Chevrolet. "Tonight was a good battle. He had four tires and I had two, and I did all I could, and he just got by me and cleared me," Kahne said. Kenseth was third in a Toyota and maintained his lead in the standings. He goes to Talladega next week up four points over Johnson. "Im happy we finished third," said Kenseth, who was the lowest qualifying Chase driver at 20th. "I was so far behind because I qualified so poorly and needed all night to get back up there. Then at the very end they gave me a shot to win and Im slightly disappointed that I didnt take advantage of that opportunity." Johnson wound up fourth and said he had trouble when he tried to push teammate Kahne on the restart. "Evidently I was too close to him and in his way, and my car washed up a little bit," Johnson said. "A couple of guys were able to get inside of me. I just lost track position at that point, which was unfortunate. Once I got rolling again I was fine, but I lost too much at that point." Kyle Busch was fifth which should have been celebrated considering all he went through. He dropped as low as 35th when he had to make a second trip down pit road early in the race because of loose lug nuts, and he thought his engine was failing late in the race. "Its acting like its out of fuel, but Im sure its blowing up," he radioed. Busch, who went from third in the standings to fifth last week at Kansas, is 37 points behind Kenseth. "Fifth place sucks. They say you need top-fives to win a championship, but when youre getting beat by guys in front of you then were just not good enough," Busch said. "I dont know what to do to be better. Its frustrating, but you know, should be happy with a fifth, but were not." Kevin Harvick was sixth and followed by Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. Kyle Larson made his Sprint Cup Series debut driving a Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared car. He was impressive early, driving from 21st inside the top-12, and he lingered there alongside Juan Pablo Montoya, the driver hell replace next season for Ganassi. Larson eventually dropped to 16th, where he stayed until his engine lost a cylinder and eventually failed, sending him to the garage with 87 laps remaining. "I had a lot of fun tonight," said Larson, who finished 37th. ' ' '
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