SAN ANTONIO -- Teams are finding out theres little they can do to stop Kevin Durant. Charles Woodson Jersey . Durant had 36 points to offset Tony Parkers season-high 37, and Oklahoma City survived a testy 111-105 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night, their third win this season over the defending Western Conference champions. Durant is averaging 38.1 points in his last 11 games, helping the Thunder reclaim the Western Conferences record with a five-game winning streak and an 8-3 mark. "Kevin did his thing down the stretch, it was pretty remarkable," San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. Reggie Jackson gave Durant all the help he needed, matching his season high with 27 points while handing out eight assists. Durant and Jackson combined for 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting in a 35-point fourth quarter for Oklahoma City (33-10). Jackson had 11 consecutive points early in the fourth, blowing past Parker for layups to give the Thunder a 94-89 lead with 8 minutes left. "He has had great games against the Spurs," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "I cant put my finger on it. We want him to play aggressive basketball on both ends of the floor. I thought he did a good job of finding spots on the floor that he can finish around the rim." Jackson averages 13.2 points, but has scored 23.7 points against the Spurs this season. Durant bounced up and down excitedly after his second 3-pointer of the quarter gave Oklahoma City a 108-98 lead with 1 minute remaining. "Durant hit some tough shots, he hit some big 3s down the stretch and it just got away from us," Spurs veteran Tim Duncan said. "I dont know how else to explain it." Duncan and Boris Diaw scored 14 points each, Marco Belinelli had 13 points and Manu Ginobili added 10 points. Duncan added 13 rebounds, but San Antonio (32-10) struggled to overcome the loss of their top defensive stopper, Kawhi Leonard. Durant finished 12 for 22, but struggled to get his shot off against the snug defence of the 6-foot-7 Leonard, who has a 7-4 wingspan. Leonard left the game late in the first half after sustaining a non-displaced fracture in his right hand. His status is unknown, but a similar injury is expected to sideline Danny Green for a month. "Its tough, were dropping like flies right now," Duncan said. "Losing Kawhi was huge, especially in a game like tonight." Durant scored 24 points after Leonard left the game with 3 minutes left in the first half. "I felt early in the game the pick-and-roll was working," Durant said. "I was able to go at the bigs a little bit and in the second half I missed some shots, too. They did a good job of just being physical. I think in the second half the defence was a little better." With Leonard out, the Spurs rotated Belinelli, Ginobili and 6-3 former Texas Longhorns teammate Cory Joseph on the 6-9 Durant. San Antonio even attempted a zone at one point to slow Durant to no avail. "(He guarded Durant) just one time in the zone -- he just shot over me," Parker said. "He is on fire right now anyways. He played great tonight. You just have to give them credit." The Spurs used a physical defence against Durant with Leonard out, especially when Ginobili drew the assignment. The tough play angered Durant, who twice lowered his shoulder and dropped Ginobili. Both plays resulted in non-calls, which incensed Popovich. The Spurs coach screamed at officials while Durant appeared to yell at Popovich. Popovich was assessed a technical foul, which Durant angrily sank with 1:12 to give Oklahoma City a 55-51 lead with 1:19 left in the first half. Durant dismissed the heated emotion just as quickly as he did any psychological boost the Thunder will get from beating the rival Spurs three times. "Im sure those guys arent worried that we beat them three times," Durant said. "Were just going to keep plugging away." San Antonio is 1-9 against the Wests remaining top-five teams and the Easts best, Indiana, but they have bigger problems now. After remaining relatively healthy in reaching the NBA finals last season, the Spurs have been plagued by a rash of injuries in the past month. Leonard joins starting centre Tiago Splitter and former starter Green on the injured list. Parker is also still has a bruised shin that limits his mobility and long-range shooting forward Matt Bonner has to wear a mask after breaking his nose Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers. "(Losing Leonard) is a big loss for us," Parker said. "We are already down Tiago and Danny, but everyone goes through injuries and we have to deal with it. Other guys are going to have to step up, but we just have to keep playing." Parker had 20 points in the second half, including 12 in the fourth quarter. "Offensively, Tony was great, but he needed some help for a little while and we just did not get it to him," Duncan said. There were four lead changes and six ties in the third quarter, but Oklahoma City never trailed in the fourth. NOTES: Splitter (sprained right shoulder) and Green (broken left index finger) both missed the game. ... Oklahoma City is 10-4 in back-to-back games, including a 4-3 record on the second night. They have swept three back-to-backs this season. San Antonio has a 54-22 record at home over Oklahoma City. ... Bonner, the Spurs fun-loving forward, is playing along with the ribbing he is getting about the mask he must wear to protect the broken nose he sustained Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Duncan, who owns a vehicle customization shop, offered a custom-paint job for the clear mask and Parker joked that Bonner could "scare Durant" with it. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News jokingly asked if the injury ends Bonners hopes of a modeling career once his NBA days are over. "I can still be a hand model," Bonner said. Tahir Whitehead Jersey . While plenty of statistics illustrate Torontos turnaround in the second year of manager Ryan Nelsens tenure, stopping goals is not one of them. Derek Carr Jersey . According to MMAFighting.com, MacDonald needs an x-ray on his right ankle and doctors clearance to fight or he will be subject to a mandatory medical suspension that will end on August 22, 2014. http://www.officialraidersnflauthenticshop.com/ . -- Jerry Rice Jr.Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - A glass half-full Baylor fan sees the Bears appearance in a New Years Day bowl game as an accomplishment. One with a half-empty mindset views it as a slight of the highest order. Regardless of their opinion, they will be tuning in to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1 to watch the fourth-ranked Bears take on the seventh-ranked Michigan State Spartans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. While Baylor is ranked No. 4 in the AP poll, the College Football Playoff committee saw it appropriate to rank Ohio State in the final spot in the CFP rankings, with the 11-1 Bears falling in at No. 5. Since the Big 12 does not have a championship game, the conference opted to name co-champs at the end of the regular season, with both Baylor and TCU each sharing the crown even though the former beat the latter. The only blemish on Baylors record came in a 41-27 loss at West Virginia on Oct. 18, a game that saw the Bears commit 18 penalties for 215 yards -- the most ever by a Big 12 team. They recovered to win their final five games, including a 38-27 win over nationally-ranked Kansas State in the finale. Still, it was not enough, and Baylors head coach took the high road rather than complain about the process. I certainly would have liked to be in (the final four), but it didnt work out that way so what am I going to do? You know, moan and wine, Art Briles lamented, Its a decision that was made that we have no control over, so we will live with it, its what we do. We are fighters, competitors, we will live to fight another day. Its what we are doing. Bryce Petty was one of those fighters and was a finalist for all of the major quarterback awards after guiding the No. 1 offense in the country, one that averaged 58.8 points and 581.3 yards per game. The senior ranked eighth in the country with 300.5 passing ypc and produced a sensational 26-to-6 touchdown- to-interception-ratio. Corey Coleman was Pettys No. 1 target and finished with 57 catches for 969 and 10 touchdowns in nine games. Antwan Goodley, K.D. Cannon and Jay Lee all had six TD receptions, while Shock Linwood ran for 102.2 ypc and 16 scores as a sophomore. The offense justifiably gets most of the headlines, but the Bears defense ranked first in the Big 12 against the run, allowing 107.7 ypg. That usually stems from teams needing to throw after falling in an early hole, and Baylor has been able to force 24 turnovers as a result. Bryce Hager led the way with 101 tackles, Orion Stewart intercepted four passes and Shawn Oakman had one of the best seasons in school history on the defensive line. Oakman needs one sack and two tackles for loss to set the BU record in both categories. He has posted 10 sacks and 18 TFLs so far. A win Thursday would give the Bearrs a school-record 12 victories and improve their postseason record to 11-10. Willie Brown Jersey. They lost in the Cotton Bowl in 1975 and 81 to Penn State and Alabama, respectively. Michigan State was also predicted to be in the title hunt, what with finishing the 2013 season with only one loss and a Rose Bowl win over Stanford. The Spartans though, dropped an early-season test at Oregon and later lost at home to Ohio State, which all but sealed their fate outside the CFP. MSU won three straight after the OSU loss to finish the season at a respectable 10-2, including a 7-1 mark in Big Ten play. Since the two setbacks were both to teams playing in the CFP, Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio figures his team is ready for another stiff test. Baylor would have, could have been in the top four in the country. Weve already played two of those top-four teams, so why not play another one, Dantonio said. When you go to a bowl game, youre always trying to move forward. You want to play the best team you can. Known for its hard-nosed defense coming into the season, the Spartans offense rose to the occasion nearly every week and set school single-season records for points (517), total offense (5,958 yards), offensive touchdowns (64), rushing touchdowns (40) and made point-after attempts (66). Jeremy Langford carried the load out of the backfield, rushing for 1,360 yards and school-record nine consecutive 100-yard games and counting. The senior accounted for 19 of a team-record 40 touchdowns on the ground. Connor Cook was no slouch under center, with the junior QB leading the Big Ten in passing (241.7 ypc) and ranking 14th in the FBS in passing efficiency (152.4). Half of his 22 touchdown passes went to wide receiver Tony Lippet, who totaled 60 receptions for 1,124 yards in his senior campaign. The defense took a slight step back this season but still ranked seventh in the FBS in total defense (293.5 ypg) and sixth in rushing defense (97.5 ypg). The opportunistic bunch forced 33 turnovers, which led to an FBS-best plus-20 turnover margin. Kurtis Drummond made second-team All American after leading the Spartans in tackles (65), interceptions (4) and pass breakups (11). Trae Wayne recorded three interceptions, while Shilique Calhoun anchored a line with 11 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. MSU has never appeared in the Cotton Bowl and is just 10-14 all-time in the postseason, though the Spartans have won their last three bowl games. They also hold an impressive 19-2-1 record against teams currently in the Big 12 and won their only previous matchup against Baylor way back in 1968. The Cotton Bowl was first played in 1937, and this is the first top-10 battle it has seen since 1994 when No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 7 Texas A&M. 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