OKLAHOMA CITY - Kevin Durant stood before his adoring home crowd, proudly holding his MVP trophy above his head during a pregame ceremony. He spent the next few hours showing how he earned it. Durant had 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-101 on Wednesday night to tie their Western Conference semifinal series at one game apiece. "We wanted to come back and respond," Durant said. "So, I think thats what fueled the team tonight. We just went out there and played extremely well and left it all out there, and came out with a good W." During his emotional MVP acceptance speech on Tuesday, Durant called teammate Russell Westbrook an MVP-calibre player. Westbrook backed up Durants words with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double in his past five playoff games. "I think Russ played harder than all of us combined," Clippers guard Chris Paul said. "He was all over the place." Thunder coach Scott Brooks took Durant out of the game with 1:21 remaining, costing him a shot at the triple-double. According to information provided to the Thunder by the Elias Sports Bureau, no pair of teammates has had triple-doubles in the same playoff game. Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha each scored 14 points for the Thunder, who shot 51 per cent from the field and outrebounded the Clippers 52-36. "It was the perfect storm," Clippers guard Jamal Crawford said. "They did everything they could to win, and they got everything they wanted tonight. That wasnt the Clippers team weve been and Im sure well get back on track." J.J. Redick scored 18 points, Paul had 17 points and 11 assists, and Blake Griffin added 15 points for the Clippers. Los Angeles made 15 of 29 3-pointers in Game 1, but just 9 of 27 in Game 2. The Clippers will host Game 3 Friday in Los Angeles. Durant scored 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the first quarter to help the Thunder take a 37-28 lead. Paul, who scored 17 points in the opening quarter of Game 1, went scoreless in the first quarter of Game 2 and watched most of the period from the bench with two fouls as the Thunder took control early. Oklahoma City got an offensive boost from an unlikely source in the third quarter — Sefolosha, a defensive stopper. He hit a mid-range jumper, then dunked after a steal by Westbrook to give the Thunder a 78-66 lead. Sefolosha dunked again, then got a steal that led to a 3-pointer by Westbrook and gave Oklahoma City a 90-73 advantage. Sefolosha, who had averaged just 3.7 points in the playoffs, scored 12 points in the quarter to help the Thunder take a 94-77 lead into the fourth. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he expected Durant and Westbrook to score, but not Sefolosha. "We can win if they (Durant and Westbrook) both have good offensive games," Rivers said. "What we cant do is then give them that plus everything else. And I thought thats what happened tonight." Westbrook clinched his triple-double with 1:21 remaining when he was credited with an assist after a pass to Sefolosha, who took two dribbles on his drive to the basket. Rivers said the Thunder were the aggressors. "Every single possession, you have to have great focus and you have to be locked in, and today we were not," he said. "I thought it was because of all the clutter today. Were upset at the officials, were upset at everything instead of turning our anger on the opponent and focus. Tonight we just didnt have it." Notes: A power surge took out much of the arenas lighting with 27.2 seconds left in the first half. The coaches agreed to finish out the half with the limited lighting. The power returned, but halftime was extended briefly to give the lights the necessary 15 minutes to return to full brightness. ... Rapper Jay-Z attended the game. ... 2K Sports has announced that Durant will be the lone player on the cover of NBA 2K15. He shared the cover of 2K13 with Griffin and Chicagos Derrick Rose. Miamis LeBron James was on the cover of 2K14. ... Commissioner Adam Silver presented Durant with the MVP trophy before the game. ... Thunder C Steven Adams was called for a technical foul with 9:17 remaining for falling on Paul after biting on a pump fake and knocking him into the Thunder bench. Crawford was issued a technical with 7:28 to play, and Paul was given one with 2:24 remaining. ... Severe weather affected the area, and fans were told to stay in the arena after the game to allow the weather to pass. Jace Sternberger Youth Jersey . He will play 10th-seeded Feliciano Lopez in Sundays final, after the Spanish left-hander defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7), 6-4. Paul Hornung Youth Jersey . Aaron Hill and Cliff Pennington hit home runs in the first inning for the Diamondbacks, who beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Jaire-Alexander-Jersey/ . Wheeler scored two goals, including the winner, as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 6-4 on Friday in a game that featured a seven-goal first period. Custom Green Bay Packers Jerseys .com) - Brad Stuart has yet to play a regular-season game for the Colorado Avalanche, but that didnt deter the club from signing the veteran defenseman to a two-year contract extension on Monday. Clay Matthews Jersey . -- Washingtons Bradley Beal seemed to make every shot he took in setting a career high with 37 points.LONDON - Arsenal dealt Manchester Citys Premier League title defence a blow on Sunday, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi lit up Spain with multi-goal scoring performances.Citys 2-0 home loss to Arsenal left it flagging five points behind leader Chelsea. It also ended second-place Citys 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions.Ronaldo scored twice to help Real Madrid win 3-0 at Getafe, before Messi bettered that with his 30th career hat trick for Barcelona as the Catalan club eased to a 4-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna.Heres a look at the top leagues around Europe:___ENGLANDArsenal finally ended its streak of poor away performances against top teams as Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud scored in each half at City.Cazorla converted a penalty in the 24th minute and then sent in a free kick that Giroud headed in for the second in the 66th.City dominated possession but Arsenal for once showed the kind of defensive fortitude that so often has been missing in big away games in recent years. Arsenal lost 6-3 at City last season.Arsenal climbed above Tottenham into fifth place, one point behind Manchester United.West Ham also gave its European ambitions a boost as a superb second-half display saw the Hammers beat struggling Hull 3-0. West Ham climbed above Liverpool into seventh.___SPAINReal stayed one point ahead of Barcelona as the Spanish league reached its halfway mark.Ronaldo took his league-leading tally to 28 goals. Messi trails his rival with 19.Defending champion Atletico Madrid did its part to stay in the title race and set up a promising second half of the season by beating bottom side Granada 2-0, remaining in third place, four points behind Real.Real still has a game in hand to be played next month against Sevilla, which remained in fourth by beating Malaga 2-0.After its exit from the Copa del Rey this week, Carlo Ancelottis team was under pressure to have a strong showing with only one win in four matches to start 2015 after finishing last year on a Spanish record 22-game win streak.Karim Benzema used a skilful change of foot to open a passing angle and set up Ronaldo to net in the 63rd.dddddddddddd James Rodriguez then crossed for Gareth Bale and Ronaldo to add goals in the 67th and 79th.Messi tormented Deportivo from kickoff, and Ivan Rakitic met his run with a lobbed pass over the defence that the Argentina forward headed home in the 10th. Messi chipped in his second in the 33rd before firing in his third in the 62nd.___ITALYCarlos Tevez scored twice to help Juventus beat Hellas Verona 4-0 and move five points clear at the top of Serie A.Paul Pogba and Tevez put the defending champion 2-0 up inside seven minutes. Verona goalkeeper Rafael kept the tide at bay until shortly after the hour mark when Roberto Pereyra and Tevez completed the scoring.Napoli beat Lazio 1-0 to leapfrog the Rome side into third spot in Serie A, while Sampdoria remained firmly in the race for the final Champions League spot with a 2-0 win at Parma.AC Milan had another disappointing result, losing 1-0 at home to relegation-threatened Atalanta.Fiorentinas Khouma Babacar scored a last-gasp goal that snatched a 2-1 win at Chievo Verona.Genoa came back three times to rescue a 3-3 draw against Sassuolo. Udinese drew 2-2 at home to Cagliari, and Torino won 3-2 at bottom club Cesena.___FRANCEMario Lemina and Andre-Pierre Gignac scored late as Marseille beat Guingamp 2-1 for its first win in a month while Paris Saint-Germain again struggled in a scrappy 4-2 defeat of bottom side Evian in the French league.After starting the new year with back to back losses and being knocked off the top of the standings by Lyon, Marseille was made to work by a well-organized Guingamp before Lemina headed home from close range six minutes from time to put the hosts in front.Gignac extended Marseilles lead from Dimitri Payets free kick five minutes later with another header. Claudio Beauvue pulled one back from the penalty spot after Rod Fanni was sent off in added time.Marseille moved within one point of Lyon while PSGs win lifted the defending champions to third in the standings — four points behind the leaders — after fourth-place Saint-Etienne was held to a goalless draw at Rennes. ' ' '