Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork. Derek Fisher Jersey .com) - The Oklahoma City Thunder remained hot with their main cogs back in the lineup. Russell Westbrook had 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and the Thunder routed the Phoenix Suns 112-88 on Sunday night. Kevin Durant posted 23 points and eight boards for the Thunder, who are 6-1 since he returned from offseason foot surgery, winning the last six. Gerald Green tallied 15 points and seven boards to lead Phoenix, which has lost five straight games. After Green hit a 3-pointer to get the Suns within 12-9 early in the first quarter, the Thunder went on a 9-3 run to create some distance. Westbrook netted the final five points during the flurry, including a three- point play to cap it and stake the Thunder to a 21-12 lead midway through the first. Reggie Jacksons jumper at the first-quarter buzzer helped the Thunder take a 41-29 cushion into the second. They opened the second on a 13-4 surge to take a commanding advantage. Kendrick Perkins hook shot concluded the burst and gave the Thunder a 54-33 lead. The Thunder led 70-48 at the break, 89-64 after three and cruised to the easy triumph in the fourth. Game Notes The Thunder held a commanding 63-40 rebounding edge and a 50-40 margin on points in the paint ... Oklahoma City was 30-of-34 from the foul line ... The Thunder shot 48.8 percent from the floor and held Phoenix to 34.3 percent from the field. Kyle Kuzma Jersey . - Young and old. Elgin Baylor Jersey . Mark Teahen scored the go-ahead run in the home seventh on an error by Scott Sizemore, who had knotted the game with a solo homer in the previous half- inning. Paul Konerko then hit an RBI single which proved to be the winning run.VANCOUVER - Martin Laurendeau and Canadas Davis Cup team have fond memories of the West Coast.Having spent years toiling at the international tennis tournaments regional level, Canada qualified for the World Group in 2012 and hosted France in first-round play.While the visitors won the tie 4-1 at the University of British Columbia, Laurendeau says the result was a watershed moment for a young Canadian team that included Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil.It was a very important turn for us in the sense that we got our feet wet into the World Group again, said Laurendeau. For our young guys, Vasek and Milos, it was really important they go through that as a learning curve and a reference.Canada went on to make it all the way to the World Group semifinal in 2013 for the first time ever after victories over Spain and Italy at UBC, and will look to recapture that energy in March when the country hosts Japan in World Group first-round action at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.Its reassuring for us to go to a place where weve had a lot of success, where we know the crowd is phenomenal, where we get a court that plays to our advantage and just have an opportunity to keep creating history, Laurendeau said at Wednesdays announcement. We had a good run last year and we want to do better, we want to go further, and were going to start with Japan.The tie that will take place from March 6 to 8 is a rematch of the countries 2014 first-round meeting last winter, which Japan won 4-1.Theres a great sense of familiarity coming back here, said Laurendeau, who was without Raonic and Pospisil in Tokyo because of injury. Players do like to go back to a place where theyve had some good successes. Its a bit comforting, in a way.As hosts, Canada has the opportunity to select the surface and the setup of the 5,000-seat venue, which is critical when taking into account big hitters like Raonic and Pospisil.This is a stadium that suits our team very well, said Laurendeau. We create the conditions of play that we want to create. Thats the No. 1 thing about Davis Cup and having Davis Cup at home — the balls, the court, the speed, the crowd.Right now we have power players. We have guys that have big serves and they hit the ball hard and like fast conditions so we have to make sure we at least have thatt and take it from there. Robert Horry Lakers Jersey. Canada, which lost to Serbia in the 2013 semis in Belgrade, is competing in the World Group for the fourth straight year. After losing to Japan last winter, Canada beat Colombia 3-2 in September in the World Group playoffs in Halifax to remain with the top 16 countries in the world. Although the players taking part in the Japan tie that includes four singles and one doubles match will be named at a later date, there should be plenty of firepower.Raonic, a 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., currently sits at No. 8 in the world rankings, while Japans Kei Nishikori is three spots better in fifth.Raonic lost to Nishikori three times in singles play in 2014, but did beat him in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.Weve got a lot of footage of him and Milos going at it, said Laurendeau. Were not going to win this Davis Cup by default or guys not showing up. We want to beat the best players in the world, we want to earn that title, and so we expect tough competition. Thats what drives the team.Barring injury, the rest of Canadas team should include Vancouvers Pospisil — a 24-year-old who was ranked as high as 25th this year and currently sits 53rd — along with 30-year-old Davis Cup veteran Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., and 42-year-old Daniel Nestor, the eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion from Toronto. We have a lot of depth, said Laurendeau. If our team is healthy I think we can really beat any team out there, especially in Canada.The countrys Davis Cup captain since 2004 and a member of the team during his playing days, the 50-year-old Laurendeau said the Canadians know they have yet to reach their full potential on the world stage.Were aware of history. We know what weve done and we know we can do better, he said. Making that semifinal run (in 2013) gave us a taste of what we can do and how we can get it to the next level.We know we can make semifinals or better. Thats one of our goals, to better that, and thats very exciting.Notes: Japan is 6-0 against Canada in Davis Cup play, but prior to the last meeting the countries hadnt played since 1938. ... UBC also announced Wednesday that tennis greats John McEnroe and Pete Sampras will take part in a PowerShares Series event in Vancouver on May 2.—Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter. ' ' '
