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OKLAHOMA CITY - Thunder general manager Sam Presti is aware of coach Scott Brooks critics. An NBA Finals appearance in 2012 fueled expectations, so when San Antonio beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City this season to close out the Western Conference finals, it didnt go over well with some locals in this era of winning coaches getting fired. Naysayers also believe Brooks offensive strategy gives point guard Russell Westbrook too much freedom at the expense of MVP Kevin Durant. Presti did his best to squelch the talk on Thursday. After all, he said, the Thunder finished with the second-best record in the NBA this season, despite numerous injuries to key players. "Scotty, I think, did an excellent job," Presti said. "I understand, we all have a tendency to look at the last game and the last series. I respect it. Thats part of sports. I cant do that." Brooks took over for P.J. Carlesimo during the 2008-09 season and led the team to a 22-47 record. The team has won at least 61 per cent of its games each season since. Brooks has a 293-170 record with the Thunder. "Hes stacking successful seasons on top of each other, increasing our odds to take a really unique amount of time that weve been successful and extend it to a very, very unique amount of time," Presti said. Durant said this week that he feels Brooks is the man to keep things moving. "Thats our guy," Durant said. "Im riding with him." Brooks has praised Westbrook while often publicly pointing out his three-time All-Stars need to find a balance between shooting and passing when he attacks. Westbrook also spoke highly of Brooks this week. "Hes done a great job of having confidence in me personally," Westbrook said. "Theres times when things have gone south and hes the only one that always — regardless of what happened — always had my back. Regardless if people were saying I was doing this or doing that, I was being selfish, he always was the first person to step up and have my back and support me regardless of whats going on." Brooks will have plenty to work with. Durant is signed through 2015-16, and Westbrook and defensive ace Serge Ibaka are signed through 2016-17. Backup centre Steven Adams figures to be a prominent part of the future. The 20-year-old from New Zealand improved dramatically late in the regular season while Kendrick Perkins was out with an injury, then continued to get better in the playoffs. Presti sees Adams talent, but says he has work ahead. Perkins is still a solid defender, but his offensive limitations allow defences to pay more attention to Durant and Westbrook. When Presti was asked about the amnesty clause, which allows a team to waive one player without his salary counting against the cap or luxury tax, he hesitated before offering perspective. He said though Adams was solid against the Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio, Perkins played a key role in the grueling seven-game series against Memphis. Presti said he wouldnt consider waiving or trading Perkins unless it could help the team strategically long term. Shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha is an unrestricted free agent who lost his starting job during the playoffs. Caron Butler, a mid-season pickup, is an unrestricted free agent. He had his moments, but was out of the rotation by the end of the playoffs. The team has the option to keep Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 backup centre. Thabeet played little, even while Perkins was injured. Presti was non-committal in each case. Presti seemed uncertain what unrestricted free agent Derek Fisher will do, but said he will be successful whatever he decides. The 39-year-old guard has been connected to the New York Knicks head coaching job. "We have absolutely no reason to expect Derek to keep us informed of his plans," Presti said. "The only thing we have a right to do is to support him because hes left an impact here in a positive way." __ Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP Michael Jordan Jersey Swingman . PETERSBURG, Fla. Tom Brady Jersey Nike . "Its embarrassing what were doing here," leading scorer Phil Kessel said Wednesday. The most recent failed season came with even more pain than the six that preceded it. There was no hint of an impending implosion when the Leafs came roaring out of the all-star break with back-to-back games against Pittsburgh -- a 5-4 shootout loss followed by a 1-0 win the next night. https://www.sportsstarsjerseys.com/michael-jordan-jersey/. Ben Street scored twice for the Heat (17-5-1), who won their fourth game in a row and 13th in their last 14 outings. Brett Bulmer scored the lone goal for the Wild (6-11-0), who dropped their sixth straight contest. Tom Brady Jersey . Louis Blues, having added Ryan Miller and Steve Ott from Buffalo, remain the No. Michael Jordan Jersey Chicago Bulls .Just like old times.Only this time, just one got to enjoy a victory.James return to Miami as an opponent was a success — for the Heat, that is. Wade scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half, Luol Deng had 25 points and dogged James defensively all night, and the Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 in a hyped Christmas matchup Thursday.LAS VEGAS -- The World squad is off to an impressive start at the Continental Cup curling tournament, taking a 2-1 lead over North America after Thursdays opening draw. Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Muirhead stole three in the fourth end and two more in fifth to earn the full point in the team standings. "It was a great start, we played really well and the ice conditions are fantastic," Muirhead said. "We had a really solid game out there and to get the first points on the board for Team World was good." The teams will meet again, possibly this week and certainly in Sochi. "You forget that Sochi is only a couple of weeks away and Jennifers going to be there but it doesnt really cross your mind," Muirhead said. "We play Jennifer a lot during the season and every game is just as tough. It makes it no different to any other game if we play her here or at the Winter Olympics or at any (World Curling) Tour event." Norways Thomas Ulsrud gave World another point with a 7-4 win over Winnipegs Jeff Stoughton. Ulsrud, who is also bound for Sochi, picked up three points in the fourth end to open up the game.dddddddddddd "I think we played pretty solid out there," said Ulsrud, the silver medallist at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. "Weve been practising pretty hard in preparation for the Olympics. "Its good to get a good start for Team World. This is a big event for us. We get to play the Canadian Olympic (Brad Jacobs) team and the U.S. Olympic team (John Shuster), so were looking forward to that, it will be good practice. Hopefully we can send a message to them; I just hope they dont crush us." The U.S. Olympic womens team salvaged a point for North America as Erika Brown defeated Japans Satsuki Fujisawa 5-3. "It was a great big win. Its fun to play in front of 4-5,000 people and to play well," Brown said. "I could sense that things werent going so well on the other sheets so Im happy we got a point today (for North America)." A total of 60 points are available through the four days of competition, with the first team reaching 30.5 points earning the Continental Cup title. The tournament continued later Thursday with a round of mixed doubles. ' ' '

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