Oklahoma City

The Oklahoma City Thunder haven't found any shortcuts as they try to climb to the top of the Western Conference. The Thunder's path through the postseason lined up so their first three opponents have been the only three teams to win the West since 1998. It started with the Dallas Mavericks, who were trying to defend their NBA title. Next up was the Los Angeles Lakers, who have won five championships since 2000. In the Western Conference finals, the Thunder will now face the four-time champion San Antonio Spurs.

Although the Sacramento Kings apologized yesterday for displaying negative images of Detroit during pregame introductions, the NBA has begun an investigation into the incident that could result in fines. Before the Pistons beat the Kings Tuesday night in Sacramento, fans were shown a montage of negative images of Detroit on the scoreboard above center court. They included abandoned buildings, boarded-up houses, burned cars and piles of construction rubble. Pistons players said they hadn't paid attention to the video display.

A group from Oklahoma City has agreed to buy the Seattle SuperSonics and the WNBA's Seattle Storm, the Sonics said yesterday. The Basketball Club of Seattle will sell the teams to the Professional Basketball Club LLC, headed by Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett, for $350 million. Bennett said at an afternoon news conference that whether the Sonics remain in Seattle for the long term would depend on whether the team can reach an agreement with the city to replace or renovate KeyArena.

Yesterday's final explosive assault on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City provided a certain closure to one of the most vengeful events in American history. Only 100 pounds of dynamite and eight seconds were required to complete the destruction of the ghostly structure and bring a measure of relief, not just to Oklahoma City residents, but to an entire nation still suffering the aftershocks of a singularly hideous act of governmental defiance. Much of the frustration of Americans stemmed from the blast that destroyed 167 lives and our comfortable but false sense of tranquility.

What's so nerve-racking about the Oklahoma City bombers is that they don't fit, they're outside the game, and the "message" that cost the lives of so many innocents remains hopelessly garbled. Most newspapers and commentators describe the alleged bombers as members of the "far right. " Far aright of what? I say. Does that make them anarchists? Or fascists? In whose tradition? In what context? For example, the bombers appear to be anti-government, so are they anarchists? Do they, as some commentators have suggested, fit into that old and recognizable American and European tradition that stretches back into the 19th century?

The La Salle Explorers didn't have an easy time getting to Oklahoma City, and they didn't have an easy time once they got there. James Anderson scored 28 points, Marshall Moses added 18 points, and Oklahoma State never trailed on its way to a 77-62 win last night at the All-College Classic. After La Salle (7-4) had cut a 16-point deficit in half, Anderson and Keiton Page led the Cowboys (10-1) on a 12-2 run to restore the cushion. Rodney Green scored 22 points to lead the Explorers, but his three-pointer to stop the Cowboys' surge was his team's only basket in the final 9 minutes.

Sometimes there is solace just in having the right words to use, in being able to call something exactly what it is. I would like to thank President Clinton for the phrase "evil cowards. " Evil cowards killed babies in the springtime. Evil cowards made death in Normal, Okla. A pickup truck, they say. Of course: so normal in Oklahoma. The cop with the beer gut, so normal, with an expression of anguish on his plain face, rushing the dying baby to a fireman. All those voices - in agony, in shock, in rage - all with that twanging, normal Oklahoma accent.

Five years ago today, April 19, 1995, at precisely 9:02 a.m. the bowels of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City erupted in a crimson fireball that left a hideous gash - nine stories high - in the structure's facade. The devastation had begun with a flash of energy that was immediately followed by a frightening and thunderous explosion. The building's frame buckled in the heat. High above the ground, shrapnel filled the air. Countless civilians, along with tiny knots of federal personnel, were instantly injured or killed, many tossed from their chairs as the blast rushed through the building's infrastructure ripping apart elevators, splintering windows and crushing vents with a staggering destructive force.

We are horrified by the bombing in Oklahoma City. Nevertheless, human beings are working with each other, comforting each other, rescuing each other. Such events do bring out our magnificent human qualities. We are concerned that many people allow their fear and anger to suggest in- kind responses - bombing the countries of origin of those responsible, for example. People were making wild assumptions as to identities and motives. We are appalled by the assumption that those responsible are, for example, Arab terrorists or Branch Davidians, and we condemn any actions taken against any individuals who fit those categories.

Quick - what was the most-reported nightly news story of 1997? If you said the death of Princess Diana, you're wrong. It was actually the Oklahoma City bombing trials that earned the most minutes of coverage on the weekday network nightly newscasts - a total of 684 minutes. CBS gave the trials the most coverage, with 275 minutes, followed by NBC with 223 minutes and ABC with 186. The second most-covered story: still not Diana. Instead, networks gave 482 minutes to campaign finance abuse - 179 minutes from CBS, 154 from NBC, 149 from ABC. Diana was No. 3, with 343 minutes - 123 from CBS, 122 from NBC, 98 from ABC. Other stories that made the top 20: the stock market, the civil suit against O.J. Simpson, the weather (No. 7)

The Oklahoma City Thunder haven't found any shortcuts as they try to climb to the top of the Western Conference. The Thunder's path through the postseason lined up so their first three opponents have been the only three teams to win the West since 1998. It started with the Dallas Mavericks, who were trying to defend their NBA title. Next up was the Los Angeles Lakers, who have won five championships since 2000. In the Western Conference finals, the Thunder will now face the four-time champion San Antonio Spurs.

IT WAS like the Mayan calendar. The NBA knew exactly by what date it had to settle its differences with its players or face Armageddon for the 2011-12 season. That's why after weeks of no-contact between the two sides, a hastily called meeting in late November accomplished in 48 hours what couldn't be done in the previous 5 months. It wasn't a coincidence that the tentative agreement that effectively ended the NBA lockout was reached on Nov. 26, 2011. That left just enough time to get things in enough order to have the opening tipoff on Christmas Day. That timeline was the drop-dead date for resuscitation.

OJ. Mayo passed up one three-pointer with the Memphis Grizzlies' lead dwindling in the final minute. He wasn't going to do it again. Mayo scored 22 points, including a key three-pointer with 17 seconds left, and the Grizzlies prevented Oklahoma City from tying for the NBA's best record by beating the Thunder, 94-88, on Monday night. "It was a good look. I had my feet set," Mayo said. "I just wanted to knock it down. " One possession earlier, Mayo was in about the same spot and passed the ball to Zach Randolph, who had to force a three-point attempt that hit the backboard and didn't touch the rim for a shot-clock violation.

OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma judge on Wednesday struck down a state law that required women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound image placed in front of them and to listen to a detailed description of the fetus before the procedure. District Judge Bryan Dixon ruled that the 2010 statute passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature was an unconstitutional special law because it addressed only patients, physicians, and sonographers dealing with abortions and did not address them concerning other medical care.

OKLAHOMA CITY - President Obama's victory in Oklahoma's Democratic primary was far less emphatic than is typical for an incumbent president, and his poor showing in more than a dozen of the state's counties threatened to cost him a unanimous renomination. With all the state's 1,961 precincts reporting unofficial results from Tuesday's vote, Obama had 57 percent of the ballot. An antiabortion activist, Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, had 18 percent and under party rules could lay claim to at least one delegate.

DURING HIS All-Star Game MVP performance last week, Kevin Durant made Orlando's Amway Center his personal playground, scoring at will with a barrage of jump shots and easy open-floor baskets. The rims weren't quite as kind early on during the Oklahoma City forward's return trip, but he got reacquainted with them late and also got help from fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook to help the Thunder pull out a 105-102 victory over the Orlando Magic last night. Durant scored 38 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, and Westbrook added 29 points and 10 assists as Oklahoma City erased a 14-point deficit to battle back for the win. Durant's effort was two points better than his All-Star night and also included five three-pointers and a 9-for-9 night at the free-throw line - all in a game-high 42 minutes of action.

February gave the 76ers an extra day this year to try to decide just who they are, and even that wasn't enough. A month that began with a win over the Chicago Bulls and contained a lot of good and bad moments in between ended Wednesday night with a come-from-ahead loss to Oklahoma City in which the Sixers did everything but win the game. Unfortunately, that is the measure they use for the standings, and when it comes time to separate the very good teams from the ones still trying to get there.

THE CITY OF Seattle has been working behind the scenes for 8 months with a hedge-fund manager to bring an NBA team back to town - possibly as early as next fall if the Sacramento Kings fail to get a satisfactory deal for a new arena, newly released documents show. The city turned over the documents to the Seattle Times on Friday under a public records request. The documents included the agenda for a meeting between the parties on Dec. 13, with topics including "Review of Basic Deal Structure," "City Debt Capacity" and "Financing Issues.

The Los Angeles Clippers and free agent Kenyon Martin have agreed to a one-year deal, returning the veteran forward to the NBA after spending part of the season playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in China. Martin, 34, has averaged 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 11 NBA seasons, and last year with Denver averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds.   Cuban, Carlisle fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and coach Rick Carlisle have been fined by the NBA after they became upset with the officiating during Wednesday's 95-86 loss to Oklahoma City.

THE OKLAHOMA City Thunder signed All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook to a multiyear contract extension yesterday. Westbrook was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, meaning the Thunder would have had to match any offer he received from another team. Instead, they locked him up with a new deal 15 games into this season. Oklahoma City has the best record in the Western Conference, with Westbrook averaging 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds.