Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a pivotal 101-94 victory over the host Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
Russell Westbrook scored 18 points and James Harden added 13 as Oklahoma City (51-26) ended Denver’s six-game winning streak.
Ty Lawson scored 28 points to lead the Nuggets (47-30), who fell four games behind the Thunder in the Northwest Division with five games remaining.
The Thunder opened a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter with a 16-0 run after falling behind, 72-69, early in the period on a basket by Denver’s J.R. Smith.
Oklahoma City took lead at 73-72 on Serge Ibaka’s layup. Eric Maynor scored five points during the run and Durant scored the final four, including two free throws for an 85-72 advantage with 6:41 remaining.
The Nuggets rallied within 94-90 on Lawson’s basket and free throw with 30.5 seconds left but were unable to make it a one-possession game.
Kendrick Perkins had 14 rebounds and Ibaka had 11 boards as the Thunder had a 50-41 edge on the glass.
Danilo Gallinari scored 17 points and Kenyon Martin added 14 for Denver.
The Nuggets trailed by as many as 13 points in the opening quarter before closing the first half with a 14-5 run to pull within 48-47.
Oklahoma City | Denver | |
Kevin Durant 32 | Scoring | Ty Lawson 28 |
Russell Westbrook 6 | Assists | Ty Lawson 5 |
Kendrick Perkins 14 | Rebounds | Nene 8 |
Kevin Durant 11 | Free Throws Made | Ty Lawson 8 |
Thabo Sefolosha 2 | Steals | Kenyon Martin 2 |
Serge Ibaka 2 | Blocks | Wilson Chandler 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Oklahoma City | 101 | 44.3 | 4-18 | 27-35 | 16 | 50 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
Denver | 94 | 43.9 | 5-12 | 17-26 | 17 | 41 | 6 | 3 | 12 |