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SALT LAKE CITY -- Facing the leagues top scorer, Gordon Hayward did his best Kevin Durant impersonation. "You always bring it against the best. Hes an unbelievable player," Hayward said. Hayward scored a career-high 37 points, including Utahs final 17 points, to overcome Kevin Durants 48 points and lead the Jazz to a 112-101 win over Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. "Once you hit a couple of tough ones then the basket starts looking pretty big. You feel like you can almost throw up anything and it will go in," Hayward said. After the Thunder sliced a 24-point Jazz lead to 99-94, Hayward made five straight jumpers -- two of them 3-pointers -- as he personally outscored the Thunder 17-7 to clinch Utahs fourth straight home win. "How about Gordon! He was huge. I mean we needed every last basket he made for us," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. The Utah forward made 13 of 16 field goals and added 11 rebounds and seven assists to offset Durant, who matched this seasons NBA high scoring total that he set against the Timberwolves on Saturday. "I was in the zone a little bit tonight. Its finally good to be there. Its been a rough season shooting for me," said Hayward, who has been taking hundreds of shots late into the night at the practice facility during this home stand. Hayward said he noticed on film that hed been leaning back and fading away as he shot jumpers. He also felt he looked out of rhythm in his shooting motion. His accuracy had dropped below 40 per cent before three straight games of making at least half his attempts. "He got whatever he wanted. He was moving, cutting and getting everyone involved, and then it opened up for him," Durant said. Without Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, Durant took the ball nearly every possession in the fourth quarter. He missed all four final-period field-goal attempts but made 11 of 13 from the line in the final 12 minutes. Westbrook is out with a knee injury and Ibaka didnt dress because of flu-like symptoms. Derrick Favours had 15 and Marvin Williams scored 12 to help snap the Thunders eight-game road winning streak, two off the franchise record of 10 straight. Richard Jefferson, Enes Kanter and Trey Burke all had 10 points. The Jazz easily drove the lane for draw-and-kicks, which led to a bevy of open jump shots. The Thunder looked visibly winded, playing at 4,250 feet above sea level at the tail end of a three-game-in-four-night stretch. Favours capped an 11-2 run with a jumper to give the Jazz their largest lead at 84-60. The margin is Utahs second largest of the season, just behind a 28-point lead the Jazz had in Sacramento in a 122-101 win on Dec. 11. But Durant kept attacking and the Jazz started missing after shooting well above 60 per cent for much of the game. Utah finished at 58.8 per cent and the team with the worst record in the Western Conference beat the top club in the conference. The atmosphere turned testy in the fourth quarter when the Thunder fought back. Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks got a technical for crossing midcourt to protest a call with 10:16 to play. Moments later, official Zach Zarba prohibited a Jazz fan from throwing a ball in the air behind the basket while Durant shot free throws. Then Kanter was whistled for another technical with 9:19 remaining. The Thunder used a 7-0 surge -- all on free throws -- to draw within 92-82. Oklahoma Citys comeback strangled the free-flowing Jazz offence for a time. Eight turnovers in the fourth quarter allowed the Thunder to trim the lead to 99-94 after Durants two foul shots with 4:50 left. "We fought. We fought, but we cant play just one quarter every game. We made too many mental mistakes and they capitalized on them," Durant said. Ibaka, a 6-foot-10 forward, had not missed a game this season and is averaging career highs in points (14.1) and rebounds (8.7). "We were missing one of the best presences at the rim, if not the best, in the league," Reggie Jackson said. "He cleans up a lot of our mistakes." Outside of Durant, only Jackson reached double-figures in scoring with 20 and the Thunder shot 17.6 per cent from outside the arc (6 of 34). Jackson started for an injured Westbrook in all three matchups with the Jazz this season, and the Thunder won the first two. Oklahoma City had taken four straight and 10 of 12 in the series before Tuesday night. "When you give a team confidence, it changes the whole game," Durant said. Six of the Thunders eight losses have been by eight or fewer points, and this one seemed destined to be just the second blowout defeat before Oklahoma Citys comeback. Down the stretch, Hayward looked a bit like Durant with floating jumpers, long 3s and drives to the hoop. "G had a phenomenal game. We rode him to the win," Burks said. NOTES: The Jazz waived forward Mike Harris on Tuesday. He appeared in 20 games this season, averaging 4.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game. ... Utahs Andris Biedrins also didnt dress because of flu-like symptoms. ... The Thunder sent forward Ryan Gomes to Boston and acquired two second-round draft picks from Memphis in a three-team deal. . After trying to guard Durant much of the game, Williams fouled out with 4:51 to play. . The Thunder dropped to 15-1 this season when Jackson scores above his season average of 12.8. cheap world cup jerseys . Four years after winning gold on home ice in Vancouver, the Canadians will get a chance to make it two in a row Sunday against Sweden after beating the United States 1-0 in the Olympic semifinals Friday at Bolshoy Ice Dome. cheap soccer jerseys for sale . - Percy Harvins debut with the Seattle Seahawks will have to wait at least another week. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseys.us.com/ . But otherwise the Toronto Raptors players and staff are standing behind their starting centre after he was charged with drunk driving. cheap soccer jerseys from china .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. wholesale soccer jerseys . Sean Monahan scored two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Flames snapped a two-game losing skid with a 2-1 victory over the Oilers in a game between two of the NHLs current lesser lights.Four days after being praised as a hero for helping Russia win its first gold at the Sochi Olympics, Evgeni Plushenko was taking criticism Friday for dropping out of the mens figure skating. Plushenkos strong performance in the team event brought wide accolades for his determination to overcome injury. But on Thursday he withdrew before the mens short program, complaining of severe spinal pain during the warmup. Plushenko was Russias only men singles skater in Sochi. He won the slot in a closed exhibition skate that cut out Maxim Kovtun, who beat him in the Russian nationals. Among his critics was longtime rival Alexei Yagudin, the 2002 Olympic gold medalist. He told the R-Sport news agency he supports "people who go to the end." "I think Zhenya will understand my words," he said, using the familiar version of Plushenkos name. "We always competed through the pain." The choice of Plushenko as the sole Russian man was debatable. Although he was the dominant skater the past 15 years, with an Olympic gold and two silvers before coming to Sochi, he is 31-years-old and underwent back surgery a year ago. When he was selected, advocates argued his long international experience made him a stronger choice than the 18-year-old Kovtun. Decision comes under fire But that came under sharp questioning Friday. "Youu should go when its time," Ruslan Nugmatullin, a former Russian national soccer goalkeeper said on Twitter.dddddddddddd "Kovtun earned the right to participate in Sochi2014." Alexei Urmanov, the 1994 Olympic gold-medal winner, suggested that Plushenkos hubris backfired. "Its on the conscience of Zhenya, the team and the federation," he was quoted by R-Sport. To some politicians, Plushenkos withdrawal was a blow to Russias national pride. "Perform through the pain for the honor of the country," Igor Lebedev, a parliament member from the nationalist Liberal Democrats, said on Twitter. Elena Vaitsekhovskaya, the figure skating correspondent for Russias Sport-Express newspaper, seemed weary not only of the intrigue behind Plushenkos selection but also of the appearances of his flamboyant wife, Yana Rudkovskaya, in the mixed zone to support him. "All of this was reminiscent of an incompetently directed stage show," she wrote. "It became harder and harder to sympathize with the athlete." "The one-man show in Sochi has concluded. Real sport has begun," she said in the newspapers Friday edition. But more complaints may still come. "After Sochi, the federation will have to answer for its choice," nationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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