ERST LESEN! » title on July 5 in northern England -- prob

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Thunder apparently can win ugly, too. The Thunder blew most of a 16-point lead in the final six minutes Sunday night against the Orlando Magic but hung on for a 101-98 win, the 12th in the row to start the season at home for Oklahoma City. The Thunder are the first team in the NBA to open the season with 12 straight home wins since the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008, according to STATS. The franchise last started 12-0 at home to open the 1993-94 season, when the team was located in Seattle. Kevin Durant had 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Russell Westbrook added 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Oklahoma City, which has won six straight overall and 14 of its last 15. The Thunder have beaten the Magic in five straight meetings. But Orlando made it interesting, taking advantage of miscues and missed shots by the Thunder to close the game on an 18-5 run. The Magics Glen Davis missed a potential tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds and Oklahoma Citys Serge Ibaka blocked a follow by Nikola Vucevic. "I thought our defence was just up and down throughout the night and then we didnt do a great job of executing down the stretch," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "Those are things that we have to continue to work on and do a much better job with that. I think we have been doing a great job of that up until tonight." The Thunders 12-game home winning streak matches their second-longest since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City. The Thunder won 14 in a row at Chesapeake Energy Arena from January-March 2012. Arron Afflalo scored 25 points and Vucevic had 13 points and 16 rebounds for his 11th double-double this season for Orlando. The Magic, losers in 11 of their 13 road games this season, proved an unlikely threat to Oklahoma Citys home dominance. "Just good defence by (the Thunder) on our last possession and give them credit for that," Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn said. "Overall, our guys really believed from beginning to end that we were going to win that game and thats a good start for us." Durant denied that the Thunder were complacent against Orlando. "They kept fighting to the end," he said. "We got some tough breaks, but we were glad we fought it out and got a win. They made a couple of runs but we were able to take the punch and keep pushing." A putback by Tobias Harris capped a 9-0 run by Orlando that tied the game at 45-45 with 3:38 left in the first half. After a timeout, Durant scored nine points in an 11-1 spurt by Oklahoma City and the Thunder led 56-49 at halftime. Orlando was within 67-62 after a 3-pointer by Jameer Nelson with 6:21 left in the third quarter, but Thabo Sefolosha had a follow dunk and a driving layup during a 16-7 run near the end of the quarter. Oklahoma City led 96-80 after a layup by Westbrook with 6:11 left. The Magic scored eight straight points and cut the margin to 96-88 on a basket by Victor Oladipo with 3:58 left. Durant answered by feeding Westbrook for a layup, then grabbed a rebound off a miss by Nelson and drove the length of the court for a layup with 3:10 left. That proved to be the Thunders final basket, as they missed their final five shots and turned the ball over twice after that. Oklahoma City finished with 13 turnovers. Nelson hit a 3-pointer - with Westbrook defending - with 31.9 seconds left to pull Orlando within 100-96 with 31.9 seconds to go. Westbrook turned the ball over moments later, leading to a basket by Maurice Harkless with 22.3 seconds left. Durant made 1 of 2 free throws with 13 seconds remaining to extend the Thunders lead to 101-98. Davis missed a 3-point attempt and Vucevic tried to tip the ball in. Vucevic initially was awarded a basket on a goaltending call against Ibaka with 1.3 seconds left. After a video review, officials overturned their call and ruled there should be a jump ball at centre court between Ibaka and Vucevic. The tip went to Harris, but his 3-point attempt came after the buzzer. "We had our chance to take it to overtime," Afflalo said. "It would have been great momentum for us. . It just didnt happen." NOTES: The Pacers can improve to 12-0 at home when they host Detroit on Monday night. ... Sefolosha returned to the starting lineup after missing three games due to a sprained knee. He finished with six points in 23:01. . Oklahoma City recorded its 100th straight sellout at Chesapeake Energy Arena, which seats 18,203. . Davis left the game holding his left shoulder with 2:06 left but returned in the final seconds. San Antonio Spurs Jerseys .Morse gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season and $8 million in 2016 under the agreement announced Wednesday. LaMarcus Aldridge Jersey . Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. https://www.spurslockerroom.com/Rudy-Gay-City-Edition-Jersey/ . - Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin is now a free agent. Sean Elliott Spurs Jersey . -- Slugger Jose Abreu, All-Star left-hander Chris Sale and closer Matt Lindstrom are on the disabled list. Pau Gasol Spurs Jersey . Their 9-19 record remains identical to the crosstown rivals in Brooklyn and trails both Toronto and Boston in the Atlantic Division. Raymond Felton, their declining point guard, is back on the sideline nursing his third injury of the season.GENEVA -- Tour de France champion Chris Froome wants an investigation into cyclings doping history to finally close an era dominated by Lance Armstrong. Almost 18 months after Armstrongs seven Tour wins were wiped from the record, an independent panel created by the new International Cycling Union leadership has begun work to discover the extent of the sports past problems. "I hope that anyone who does have anything to contribute would get involved." Froome told The Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday. The three-man Cycling Independent Reform Commission aims to investigate how doping happened from 1998-2013 and possible UCI complicity in helping Armstrong and his teams avoid scrutiny. "I am hoping that at the end of the day people will be able to say of it, Right, that was that era, we can now put that to bed and stop asking questions about it," Froome said. Armstrong and former UCI presidents Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid will be invited for confidential, closed-door interviews with the panel which is based at Lausanne, Switzerland. None of the trio has committed publicly to meeting with the panel, which is chaired by Swiss politician and prosecutor Dick Marty. Froome said the panel could engage "not just necessarily those three, but anyone really who is part of that era and can contribute to resolving it." "Its going to be more negative publicity for the sport. Thats never good," Froome acknowledged. The Team Sky leader, who made a winning return to racing last month at the Tour of Oman, said he had not heard much tallk about the commission among current riders, who must help restore the sports credibility.dddddddddddd "Theres a lot of really, really talented young riders coming through the system now that I believe in personally." Froome said. "These are going to be the guys carrying the torch going forward." Froome will be 29 when he is scheduled to start defending his Tour title on July 5 in northern England -- probably with 2012 winner Bradley Wiggins alongside him. "Im confident whoever is in there, we are going to have the strongest team possible," said Froome, whose frayed relationship with Wiggins was mended in the off-season. "He can do a lot of damage to the peloton. Hes one of the best climbers in the world and we know his time trialing ability." Froome expects to follow the path both he and Wiggins followed to Tour success, competing in -- and winning -- stage-race preparations at the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland and Criterium de Dauphine in France. "I think it would be crazy to really change things up too much," Froome said. "We found it has been a good system that has worked quite well for us." Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, on the sidelines of a Team Sky sponsors event, Froome said extra work being a Tour champion was "a bit of a juggling act" with his training program. Still, the Oman victory suggests he got the balance right. "It just backs up that I have had a really good winter preparation," Froome said. "Im where I need to be for the season coming up." ' ' '