Anthony Morrow scored 14 off the bench while Serge Ibaka tallied 13 points, six rebounds and six blocks for the Thunder, who have won two straight. Dion Waiters started in place of Durant (toe) and scored 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting as Oklahoma City snapped a three-game skid against New Orleans.
Anthony Davis collected 23 points and eight rebounds while Ryan Anderson added 19 points off the bench as the Pelicans lost for only the second time in their last eight games. Tyreke Evans struggled to 11 points on 5-of-20 shooting and Quincy Pondexter added 10 points off the bench.
New Orleans led by as many as 11 early in the third quarter before a 9-0 burst helped the Thunder close the gap and eventually regain the lead. The lead changed hands 10 times in the fourth quarter and Anderson's 3-pointer with 5:39 left made it 91-89, but the Pelicans didn't score again as Oklahoma City recorded the final 13 points.
The largest lead by either team in the first half was six, which came when Davis' bucket capped a 6-0 spurt to make it 49-43 with 2:20 left in the half. The Pelicans duplicated the six-point spread at the intermission when Pondexter made a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 57-51.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Westbrook's 19 points in the first quarter marked his most in a quarter in his career. … Westbrook has scored 20 or more points in six straight games against the Pelicans. … The teams will wrap up the home-and-home set Friday in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City | New Orleans | |
Russell Westbrook 45 | Scoring | Anthony Davis 23 |
Russell Westbrook 6 | Assists | Tyreke Evans 7 |
Steven Adams 10 | Rebounds | Anthony Davis 9 |
Russell Westbrook 7 | Free Throws Made | Anthony Davis 5 |
Dion Waiters 2 | Steals | Ryan Anderson 2 |
Serge Ibaka 7 | Blocks | Alexis Ajinca 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Oklahoma City | 102 | 52.9 | 5-15 | 7-11 | 21 | 48 | 11 | 3 | 15 |
New Orleans | 91 | 38.1 | 7-25 | 10-13 | 23 | 48 | 3 | 7 | 11 |