shot free throws pretty well. This is a young group, and were going t

ATLANTA -- Russell Westbrook extended his streak of triple-doubles to six games, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 102-99 victory over the skidding Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.Westbrook scored 32 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and doled out 12 assists, giving him the NBAs longest streak of triple-doubles since Michael Jordan had seven in a row in 1989.Westbrooks run has sparked a six-game winning streak by the Thunder. Hes now reached double figures in all three categories in half of the Thunders 22 games.By contrast, Jordan had 15 triple-doubles for the entire 1988-89 season.Westbrook kept his streak alive with plenty of time to spare. Despite a poor start shooting, he already had 15 points and 11 rebounds when he picked up his 10th assist with 6:20 left in the third quarter.Scooping up a loose ball after a turnover by the Hawks, Westbrook led a 2-on-1 that ended with a pass to Victor Oladipo for a layup that gave the Thunder a 69-59 lead.Westbrook, who missed eight of his first nine shots, suddenly found his touch in the third quarter. He made five of his next seven shots, three of them beyond the arc, and finished with 16 points in the period as the Thunder stretched a one-point halftime lead to 83-69 heading to the fourth.Atlanta rallied down the stretch, but Westbrook closed it out for the Thunder. He finished with 27 second-half points to send the Hawks to their seventh straight loss and 10th defeat in the last 11 games.Its the longest losing streak for the Hawks since they dropped eight in a row in February 2014.Coach Mike Budenholzer decided to shake things up, sending Kyle Korver to the bench and putting Thabo Sefolosha in the starting lineup. The Hawks also were bolstered by the return of Paul Millsap, who had missed three straight games with a sore hip. He led five players in double figures with 24 points.It didnt matter. Westbrook made sure of that.Atlanta had a shot to send the game to overtime after Korver forced a jump ball.The Thunder clamped down defensively off the inbounds play, and Tim Hardaway Jr.s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer failed to hit the rim.MONSTER JAMOladipo wasnt afraid to take on Dwight Howard in the lane.During the second quarter, the 6-foot-4 Thunder guard drove the baseline and slammed one over Atlantas 6-11 center, rocking the rim and drawing gasps from the crowd.Oladipo savored the moment, pumping his fists, stomping his feet and posing briefly in the lane even as the Hawks took off the other way.RECRUITING DWIGHTBilly Donovan made a recruiting pitch to Howard while coaching at Florida.During his pregame chat with the media, the Oklahoma City coach recounted a visit to Howard and his father at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.Donovan quickly gave up any hope of getting Howard to attend college.All I had to do was watch one AAU game and then I stopped recruiting him immediately, he quipped.Howard, of course, went straight from high school to the NBA in the days before the rules required at least one year of college. He was the first overall pick of the Orlando Magic in 2004.UP NEXTThunder: Off until Friday, when they host the Houston Rockets.Hawks: Back in action Wednesday when the Miami Heat visit Philips Arena.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . China Jerseys Cheap . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. Wholesale China Jerseys . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. http://www.cheapchinajerseysauthentic.com/ . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. Cheap Stitched Jerseys From China . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Authentic Jerseys Wholesale . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. LAS VEGAS -- Marvin Menzies knew it would take some time to know what type of team he had at UNLV. He was new, the system was new and so were most of the players.The timeframe has been extended by a series of injuries before the season even started.Dwayne Morgan, Cheickna Dembele and Jovan Mooring all suffered injuries during preseason camp, leaving the Runnin Rebels short-handed in practice and unable to fully implement the style of play Menzies would like after taking over the storied program.If anything, you look for the silver lining: Better on the front end, Menzies said. But weve got enough bullets to start the battle. Hopefully we can get these guys back and catch some continuity when they get back.UNLV had a rough 2015-16 season, finishing 18-15 after coach Dave Rice was fired in January.The school flirted with Rick Pitino and Mick Cronin before hiring Chris Beard to run the program. Less than a week later, Beard was gone, leaving Las Vegas to become the head coach at Texas Tech, where he previously worked as an assistant.UNLV then turned back to Menzies, who had been in the running for the job the first go-round. The 55-year-old former UNLV assistant made a name for himself in nine seasons at New Mexico State, routinely pulling in strong recruiting classes while leading the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament five times.Menzies task at UNLV is to turn around a program thats been inconsistent despite a wealth of talent, missing the NCAA Tournament the past three seasons.Stephen Zimmerman, Patrick McCaw and Derrick Jones Jr., the best players from last years team, headed off to the NBA and several other players left the program, leaving Menzies a small window to build his roster almost from the ground up.The affable coach did well in a short timeframe,, adding five freshmen and five transfers who should at least make the Runnin Rebels competitive in the Mountain West.ddddddddddddThe fans can expect a team thats going to play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, Menzies said. Theyve got some things to prove about their individual work and collectively, their teamwork.A few more things to look for from the 2016-17 UNLV Runnin Rebels:NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: This new group of Runnin Rebels will get tested early and often in a difficult non-conference schedule. Following the opener against South Alabama on Nov. 11, UNLV will face No. 1 Duke, No. 5 Oregon and No. 2 Kansas in a span of 12 days. The Runnin Rebels also will play TCU and its new coach Jamie Dixon and has a potential match-up against Washington on Nov. 26.RETURNING PLAYERS: UNLV has just three returning scholarship players. Morgan is an athletic 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 5.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 22 games last season. Sophomore guard Jalen Poyser appeared in all 33 games last season, averaging 5.4 points. Senior forward Tyrell Green saw limited action last season, averaging 1.8 points in eight games.TRANSFERS: UNLVs transfers include three from junior college and two graduate transfers. Christian Jones, a 6-7 forward, averaged 8.4 points and 5.2 rebounds with St. Johns last season. San Francisco transfer Uche Ofoegbu averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 shots for the Dons last season. Mooring, a 6-2 guard from Chicago, should provide some scoring boost after averaging 26.6 points at South Suburban College, where he was the NJCAA Division II basketball player of the year and MVP of the national tournament. ' ' '