Thunder rolls, Mavs lose at home

It was a close game and in keeping with game 1, very exciting to watch. The Oklahoma City Thunder took game 2 of the NBA Western Conference finals Thursday night with a 106-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks, in Dallas.

As usual, Kevin Durant led the way with 24 points, but it was the Thunder's bench that truly won the game. Backup guard James Harden had 23 and the other backup guard, Eric Maynor chipped in 13, as the bench guys did the dirty work, hounding Mavs snipers Jason Terry and J.J Barea.

The series, which we fully expect to go seven games, moves up the highway 3-hours or so to Oklahoma City on Saturday night (hmmm...wonder why they don't get 5-days off like the Bulls and Heat).

Your highlights from SI.com/NBA.com:



Here's a full report from Damon Fontenot of newsok.com.

College Basketball: Pac 10 Predictions

UCLA rules the west coast and Ben Howland has another great team returning to Westwood. Arizona State could make life hell for the Bruins though.

Best Team In The Pac-10: UCLA Bruins
UCLA has the brand name, gets all the top 5 star talent out west and has a brilliant head coach in Ben Howland. Darren Collison returned for his senior season and is a playmaker and a shut down defender. The Bruins may have lost Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook and Richard Mbah a Moute to the NBA but don't worry, UCLA has the goods to go back to the Final Four.

Best Player In The Pac-10: James Harden - Arizona State
It would be easy to pick Collison but Harden is the real deal. He can shoot, defend, drive the hoop and finish plus draw fouls. Enjoy him Sun Devil fans, Harden won't be around much longer. NBA millions beckon.

Team That Could Surprise: Washington State Cougars
Wazzou lost 3 key starters but this team still has some veteran leaders. Most importantly, Tony Bennett is an outstanding coach and will find ways to get 20 wins and a upper division finish in the Pac-10

Who Goes Dancing: UCLA, Arizona State, Southern California, Washington State

Who Plays For Number 66: Washington, California, Arizona

Pac-10 Notes: Former Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery has moved to the other side of the tracks taking over at California. Bears fans have embraced their former enemy. Stanford has a new head coach to, former Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins, he doesn't have the Lopez twins around. It might be a long year on the farm.

Pac-10 Predictions

1. UCLA
2. Arizona State
3. Southern California
4. Washington State
5. Washington
6. California
7. Arizona
8. Oregon
9. Stanford
10. Oregon State

Photo Courtesy: AP