Allgemeines » was bidding to follow 2015 winner In Gee Chun as players

LOS ANGELES -- Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder could have been excused for looking ahead to a momentous visit to Golden State and a reunion with Kevin Durant looming Thursday night.Instead, Westbrook added another gutsy performance to his incredible start to his first season as the main man.Westbrook hit a jumper with 18.7 seconds left to finish with 35 points, and the Thunder remained unbeaten with an 85-83 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.Westbrook added six rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who surged in the final minutes of a tight meeting between Western Conference contenders. Although he wasnt near a triple-double for the first time this season, the ferocious point guard carried the Thunder down the stretch, scoring their final six points and making a key hustle play in the last minute.Thats the only way I know how to get it, Westbrook said. Nothing was ever given to me growing up, and I always had to find ways to get it. ... I play every game like its my last. I play every game the same, always, like Ive been saying for years. Regardless of who we play, Im going to play the same way.Westbrook had triple-doubles in the Thunders last two games, and was one assist shy of another in their opener. He mostly concentrated on scoring in his hometown, delivering a spectacular dunk in the third quarter while going 14 for 30 in 31 minutes.Hes been great, Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said. Just being around him and seeing his commitment to his teammates, his leadership and his competitive fire rubbing off on his teammates, its been great to watch. What hes doing statistically is amazing, but as a coach, Ive been impressed with his leadership.Chris Paul had 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Clippers, who hit just one shot in a 5 1/2-minute span late in the fourth quarter. Blake Griffin scored 10 of his 14 points in the third quarter, but none in the fourth.The most frustrating part for me (is) the turnovers especially, said Paul, who made three of his five turnovers in the fourth quarter. My job is to orchestrate the offense, and I had some terrible turnovers down the stretch.TIP-INSThunder: Alex Abrines only played the final 12.3 seconds of the first half, but he hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to stake OKC to a 49-41 lead. ... Victor Oladipos nine points were the second-most by an Oklahoma City player.Clippers: LAs early-season struggles from the 3-point line continued in the first half when the Clippers went 3 for 14, including 1 for 7 by the starters. ... Marreese Speights had 14 points.BIG FINISHWestbrooks layup put the Thunder up 81-78 with 2:17 left, and he converted Jamal Crawfords turnover into a dunk 66 seconds later. J.J. Redick hit a 3-pointer to trim Oklahoma Citys lead to two points, but Westbrook hit a 17-footer to essentially seal it.RUSS BALLWestbrook averaged 38.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 11.7 assists in a spectacular three-game start to the Thunders post-Durant season. He became the first player since Magic Johnson in 1982 to start a season with triple-doubles in two of the first three gamesWestbrooks numbers were down against the Clippers in a defense-minded game featuring poor shooting by both sides. He had 16 points, four assists and two rebounds in the first half.NEW GUYJerami Grant made his Thunder debut one day after they acquired him from Philadelphia in a trade for Ersan Ilyasova and a protected draft pick. The third-year forward from Syracuse came off the bench in the second quarter and eventually finished with six points in 18 minutes.UP NEXTThunder: At Golden State on Thursday to complete a two-game California road trip.Clippers: A two-game road trip begins in Memphis on Friday night. Cheap Minnesota Wild Jerseys . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Cheap Wild Jerseys China . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.cheapwildjerseys.com/ . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Cheap Wild Jerseys . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. SAN MARTIN, Calif. -- Brittany Langs husband, Kevin Spann, walked into the media center with his wife at the U.S. Womens Open late Sunday afternoon, eager to borrow a reporters charger for his dying smartphone.I think Ive gotten about 600 texts, Spann said.It was the kind of day people would be discussing for a long time.This wasnt only because Lang, in a playoff with Anna Nordqvist, had finally pulled off the kind of achievement that she -- and many others -- long expected of the former Duke University star.For the USGAs second straight national championship, a rules infraction captured by the high-powered telephoto lens of a television camera figured prominently in the proceedings.In last months U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, a one-stroke penalty was assessed to Dustin Johnson after he was judged having caused his ball to move on a green in the final round. The penalty, controversial in that it wasnt given until after Johnson had completed the final round, ultimately was inconsequential because of his margin of victory.That was not the case at CordeValle, where a video replay showed that Nordqvist grounded her club in a fairway bunker on the second hole (the par-4 17th) of a three-hole aggregate playoff, her 5-iron seen by the Fox television camera to have touched the sand as she began her backswing.The two-stroke penalty turned Nordqvists 4 into a double-bogey 6 when the Swede was informed of the violation by USGA rules official Mark Newell after she played her third shot on the third playoff hole, the par-5 18th. Nordqvist bogeyed the hole, losing the playoff to Lang by three strokes after they finished 72 holes at 6-under 282, two shots ahead of third-round leader Lydia Ko, Eun Hee Ji, Sung Hyun Park and Amy Yang.Ive always dreamed of winning the U.S. Open, and I feel I have extremely underachieved as a golfer, said Lang, who had won one previous title in her 11-year LPGA career. I feel like Im so capable of doing so much more than Ive done. And this is just a little start to boost me.Nordqvist, who won the 2009 McDonalds LPGA Championship and five other events, including the ShopRite LPGA Classic this year, charged to the forefront of the final-round plot by shooting the best score of the day, a 5-under 67. She was classy in defeat, accepting the ruling but wishing that she had been told sooner about the violation.I was just focusing on hitting my shots and apparently I touched the sand, Nordqvist said. It wasnt on purpose, and just one of those things. I have to deal with the consequences. Unfortunately, it happened but its not the end of the world. I wish the USGA would have told me a little bit earlier. I dont know if it would have changed the outcome, but it certainly would have changed my aggressiveness into the 18th pin.John Bodenhamer, the USGAs senior managing director of competitions, championships and governance, said he received a call from someone at Fox asking if there was a rules issue with Nordqvists bunker shot as he watched play on the green of the second playoff hole. A USGA staff member watching the live broadcast hadnt observed any possible infraction.At that time we decided that we would, nonetheless, proactively go up to the compound and left right away, because we wanted to just put your own eyeballs on it, make sure it was conclusive, and we just wanted to see it and understand it, Bodenhamer said. So in just a couple of minutes, we went up tto the compound and we had a look at [the close-up footage].dddddddddddd We concluded that it was a breach. We quickly consulted with our committee and decided that we would inform Anna immediately. We immediately notified the referee, who, as quickly as he could, notified Anna and Brittany.Lang wasnt sure what to think when Newell approached her on the third playoff hole.I actually thought he was giving me a penalty, and so I was definitely relieved when I heard it wasnt me, Lang said. You know, Anna is such a great player, its so unfortunate to have something like that happen. But, you know, shes a classy girl, and I think the USGA handled it well. Im thankful they told me before my wedge shot so I could take a little bit more club. I think the USGA did the best they could do.At 30, Lang is the oldest winner of the championship since Annika Sorenstam. For the early going of the final round, it appeared that Ko, 19, was marching toward her third title in the last four majors and would continue the youthful trend. Then she stumbled uncharacteristically, going 5-over-par in a seven-hole stretch starting at No. 8, en route to a closing 75.Kos biggest mistake came on the par-5 ninth hole, where she attempted to carry a water hazard on her second shot from the left rough. Hitting a 25-degree hybrid, which she hits 175 yards from a clean lie, she wasnt able to get the ball 116 yards over the creek from what turned out to be a tougher spot than she thought.We were in a similar place yesterday and got over no problem, said Kos caddie, Jason Hamilton. The lie was a little bit more juicy today, but I still thought we could get plenty of club on it. The reward was there. If you get it over, youre getting on the green in three shots instead of laying up. Hindsights always 20-20 shoulda, woulda, coulda. She put up a good fight. Shell learn from this and be a better player for it.Said Ko: I should have judged it to be that thick in there. And I think the easiest thing was for me to just lay up short of [the hazard]. It kind of happened at the wrong time, but I should have just moved on better, hopefully forget about it. But I think it was kind of looming in the back of my mind.Park, 22, was bidding to follow 2015 winner In Gee Chun as players from the Korean womens tour to have success in their first Open. She came to the 72nd hole with a chance to get in the playoff with a birdie. Trying to reach the green in two, though, she hit into a greenside water hazard.Shes the real deal, theres no doubt about that, caddie Jeff King said of the long-hitting Park. Youll see her again.And after Langs winning performance, she is likely to be heard from again too. It was unfortunate that she was called Bethany during the awards ceremony -- USGA president Diane Murphy later issued an apology for the mistake -- but her name will be spelled correctly on the trophy, where it will reside with many greats of the womens game.You never want to win with a penalty or something like that happening especially to Anna, who is a friend of mine and a great player and a classy girl, Lang said. Its unfortunate, but its part of the game and it happened that way. I still had to play pretty damn good golf to get up there. So, Im really proud of myself.There was no reason to feel any other way. ' ' '