Thunder 109, Pelicans 95: Kevin Durant tallied 29 points and eight rebounds and Russell Westbrook added 25 points and four steals as visiting Oklahoma City beat New Orleans for the ninth straight time and the 13th in the last 14 meetings.
Serge Ibaka collected 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who have won nine of their last 10. Reggie Jackson added 15 points off the bench and Oklahoma City scored 24 points off 16 New Orleans turnovers.
Ryan Anderson scored 18 points to lead the Pelicans, who have lost two straight following a three-game winning streak. Jrue Holiday added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Eric Gordon also scored 16 for New Orleans.
The Pelicans led by as many as 11 in the first quarter before Oklahoma City put together a 13-2 run to pull even. The Thunder took a 58-52 lead into the break - their largest lead to that point - after Westbrook and Jackson hit 3-pointers in the final 31 seconds of the half.
New Orleans was never closer than seven in the second half. The Pelicans pulled within 89-80 with 7:20 left in the game, but Jackson scored back-to-back buckets and Durant converted a three-point play to push it to a 16-point margin and the Thunder cruised from there.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Oklahoma City is an NBA-best 35-8 in games following a loss since the start of the 2011-12 season. … New Orleans G Tyreke Evans went to the locker room in the third quarter with a left ankle injury. … Anderson missed a free throw for the first time since last season's finale against Denver. He had made 31 straight.
Oklahoma City | New Orleans | |
Kevin Durant 29 | Scoring | Ryan Anderson 18 |
Kevin Durant 4 | Assists | Jrue Holiday 6 |
Serge Ibaka 13 | Rebounds | Jason Smith 12 |
Serge Ibaka 7 | Free Throws Made | Ryan Anderson 7 |
Russell Westbrook 4 | Steals | Jrue Holiday 4 |
Kevin Durant 3 | Blocks | Lou Amundson 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Oklahoma City | 109 | 50.6 | 7-21 | 24-30 | 20 | 41 | 11 | 9 | 14 |
New Orleans | 95 | 37.5 | 3-16 | 26-34 | 19 | 49 | 3 | 9 | 16 |