
Kevin Durant, Thunder stay hot against Hornets
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Thunder have finished a stretch of beating up on the NBA's weaker teams.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points to lead the Thunder to their 11th win in 12 games, 78-69 over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night.
The victory improved the Thunder to 13-5, the best record in the West.
Russell Westbrook added 24 points and 6 assists to OKC effort. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Westbrook improved as the game went on. He was 3-for-4 in the fourth quarter.
He will have to continue to step up his game as the Thunder lost sixth-man James Harden to a lower back strain. Harden is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.
Lazar Hayward filled in for Harden and scored 8 points. Serge Ibaka had a great game on defense blocking 5 shots and grabbing 9 rebounds.
Oklahoma City led throughout, including by as many as 14 in the first half. The Hornets pulled to 62-65 with 9:07 left in the game, but Westbrook hit back-to-back shots and the Hornets never got closer than four the rest of the way.
Eric Gordon scored 22 points to lead New Orleans, no other Hornet managed to reach double-figures.
The Thunder will have a day off before starting a stretch of 4 games in 5 days. Three of the games are away from the Chesapeake Energy Arena, against Indiana, Toronto and Houston. The lone home game will come against the Sacramento Kings.
New Orleans Hornets at Oklahoma City Thunder | |||||
Dec 4, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
New Orleans (7-9) | 15 | 16 | 23 | 15 | 69 |
Oklahoma City (13-5) | 19 | 20 | 17 | 22 | 78 |
New Orleans Hornets | ||||||||||
STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
C. Kamam, PF | 28 | 3-12 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
T. Ariza, SF | 32 | 4-6 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
E. Okafor, C | 23 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
E. Gordon, SG | 41 | 7-21 | 2-5 | 6-6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
J. Jack, PG | 38 | 2-16 | 0-4 | 2-2 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
C. Landry, PF | 33 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 5-6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
M. Belinelli, SG | 16 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
J. Smith, PF | 6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
G. Vasquez, PG | 5 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
A, Aminu, SF | 20 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
X. Henry, SG | 3 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TEAM TOTALS | 23-76 | 3-14 | 20-24 | 40 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 69 |
Oklahoma City Thunder | ||||||||||
STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
S. Ibaka, PF | 32 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
K. Durant, SF | 40 | 11-26 | 1-7 | 3-4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
K. Perkins, C | 35 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
T. Sefolosha, SG | 33 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
R. Westbrook, PG | 38 | 7-16 | 0-0 | 10-12 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 24 |
BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
L. Hayward, SF | 10 | 3-4 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
N. Mohammed, C | 14 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
J. Harden, SG | 11 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
E. Maynor, PG | 15 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
N. Collison, PF | 18 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
TEAM TOTALS | 28-65 | 3-14 | 19-26 | 46 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 78 |
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