OKLAHOMA CITY -- The past three days have been pretty hectic for Russell Westbrook. The Oklahoma City guard handed out thanksgiving dinners at the Boys & Girls Club Tuesday, beat Houston with a viral-worth dunk Wednesday and then was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame by Michael Jordan Thursday.Its an unbelievable honor, man, Westbrook said before the ceremonies. Its something you dont take for granted. So definitely a blessing and something you wont forget. MJ took the time out of his day to come all the way to Oklahoma City to do this for me. its an honor. Im happy to have him here.Just another week in the life of the NBAs most unique talents.But, despite all of the off-court events and activities, Westbrook heads into Friday with his team still trying to find the success they had started the season with. The win over the Rockets broke the four-game losing streak, but it didnt answer the pressing questions that had arisen.If Houston hadnt gone ice cold from the field in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City could be riding a five-game slide heading into its contest with the Brooklyn Nets.I thought their effort was good the entire game. But they really did a great job defensively, scrambling, rotating and moving, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. Im not going to sit there and say that in the third and the fourth their shooting percentage from the 3-point line was all because of us, but I thought we did a better job defensively there in the second half than we did in the first half.One of the bright spots was the emergence of Victor Oladipo. He scored 29 points and was 5 of 7 from the 3-point line.Oklahoma City (7-5) needs a confident Oladipo on the perimeter to keep defenses honest and from crowding Westbrook.I worked my whole life on shooting and increasing my range and things like that, Oladipo said. So I just go out there and shoot with confidence because Im going to make some and miss some and at the end of the day, just go out and keep shooting with confidence.While the Thunder have been inconsistent, they have at least been competitive in almost all of their games. That cant be said for the Nets, who have a minus 4.5-point differential. That is tied for seventh worst in the NBA.It got even worse Monday night when Brooklyn was rolled over 127-95 by the Clippers. However, coach Kenny Atkinson sees the drubbing as a learning lesson.Its actually good for our guys to see a team like this, Atkinson told the NY Daily News. They can see how well they are playing and their cohesiveness. Theyve been together for a while and theyre executing well. They turned us over and got us out of our game.As bad as the Nets have played at times this season, scoring has not been the issue. They are fifth in the Eastern Conference at just over 106 points a game.But that hasnt helped Brooklyn when it goes on the road. The Nets have a 1-5 record away from home.The Thunder, on the other hand, are 5-3 at home. But have lost three of their last four at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Their three-game home losing streak came to an end Wednesday.On the importance of breaking the losing streak:It was huge for us. It was real important to me, Oladipo said. This organization is known for winning. Losing is unacceptable. We got to do whatever it takes in our power to continue to keep winning. Vapormax Flyknit 3 Sverige . Hey!" 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Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Aroldis Chapman may finally have some competition for the title of baseballs hardest-throwing pitcher.Of course, the Cuban left-hander raised the bar even higher over the past week.Chapman reached 105.1 mph on July 18, matching the fastest pitch since Major League Baseball started tracking speeds in 2008. Chapman -- whose stint with the New York Yankees ended Monday when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs -- threw 13 pitches of at least 104 mph from last Monday through Saturday. Nobody in baseball had reached that mark all season until then.Chapmans fastball has been in a class by itself -- to the point that MLB.com has a Chapman Filter on its Statcast leaderboard in case fans want to view the list of fastest pitches without him included. For the rest of this season, however, he might have some company. Mauricio Cabrera, a 22-year-old right-hander who made his major league debut for the Atlanta Braves in late June, reached 103.8 mph on July 18 against Cincinnati.The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Cabrera is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA in 12 appearances, although all that power has led to only seven strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. Through Sunday, Cabreras four-seam fastball averaged 100.7 mph, which was actually ahead of Chapmans average four-seamer of 100.5.MLB rolled out its Statcast system last year, and fans can look up leaderboards for pitch speeds and other interesting categories. The longest home run of the season belongs to Nomar Mazara of Texas (491 feet on May 25), and the highest exit velocity was 123.9 mph off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton on June 9.That figure didnt come on one of Stantons prodigious homers, by the way. It came on a double-play grounder.Seattles Nelson Cruz has the highest average exit velocity at 95.8 mph, and Philadelphia catcher Cameron Rupp is seecond at 95.dddddddddddd1. Rupps slugging percentage has jumped from .374 in 2015 to .487 this year.Here are a few other developments from around baseball:BUY OR SELL?The Aug. 1 deadline for trades without waivers is now a week away, and several teams are occupying that shaky middle ground where its hard to say how aggressive theyll be. Through Sunday, the Tigers, Yankees, Mariners, Royals and White Sox were all between four and 6 1/2 games of a wild card in the American League.In the NL, the situation seems a bit more clear cut, with almost every team either firmly in the hunt for a playoff spot or way behind. The only exception is probably Colorado, which is six games behind a wild card, but the Rockies have a ways to go before establishing themselves as contenders. Theyve gone 7-3 since the All-Star break against a schedule that included seven games against Atlanta and three against Tampa Bay.FANTASY FOCUSThe trade deadline often leads to significant upheaval among closer jobs as relievers get dealt. With Chapman traded, for example, look for save opportunities to start falling Andrew Millers way again in New York. (Thats assuming Miller isnt also dealt.)LINE OF THE WEEKHanley Ramirez homered three times for Boston in an 11-7 victory over San Francisco on Wednesday night. He actually had three home runs by the sixth inning but grounded out to the pitcher in the eighth.Ramirez has 13 homers on the season after going deep Saturday and Sunday. Hes also played in 90 of Bostons 96 games -- a significant fact since Ramirez hasnt played more than 128 games in a season since 2012.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '
