Thunder roll past Kings; Lakers score
OKLAHOMA CITY—Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Serge Ibaka added 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Sacramento Kings, 113-103, on Friday night for their 10th straight victory.
It’s the franchise’s longest winning streak since November 1996, when it won 11 in a row as the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Kings didn’t go away easily though, closing to 103-98 after trailing by as many as 24 in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Thomas scored all 26 of his points in the final 13½ minutes, including hitting four three-pointers, a layup and a jumper during a 23-4 comeback attempt by Sacramento.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks had already emptied his bench, but ended up putting Russell Westbrook, Ibaka and Durant, who wrote Newtown, CT on one shoe as a tribute to the victims of the school shooting earlier in the day, back on court after the Kings had cut the deficit to 10.
The Kings kept coming and Jimmer Fredette’s three free throws with 3:21 left made it 103-98, but that’s as close as it got. Fredette couldn’t connect on a three-pointer or a drive to the basket, and Thomas also missed a triple as Oklahoma City survived a scare to close it out.
At Indianapolis, Paul George scored 28 points and George Hill had a triple-double to lead the Indiana Pacers past the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers, 95-85.
George scored 14 points during a third-quarter flurry that changed the game. Hibbert had 19 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.
Philadelphia played without guard Jrue Holiday, who sat out with a sprained left foot. Evan Turner scored 20 points and reserve Spencer Hawes had 18 for the 76ers.
In Orlando, Florida, JJ Redick had 16 points and Nikola Vucevic added 12 points and 17 rebounds to help the Orlando Magic hold on for a 99-85 rout of the Golden State Warriors.
The Magic led by as many as 20 before their lead was trimmed to 10 points late. But they connected on nine 3-pointers to help secure its first home win in five attempts.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 25 points and David Lee had 24 as the Warriors saw their five game win streak halted.
Nikola Pekovic scored a season-high 31 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves won their third straight game with a 113-102 triumph over the New Orleans Hornets and Andre Iguodala scored 20 points as the Denver Nuggets edged the Memphis Grizzlies, 99-94, for its fourth win in a row at home.
In other games Friday, Kobe Bryant scored 30 points in the LA Lakers’ 102-96 win over the luckless Washington Wizards, Monta Ellis scored a season-high 33 points as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 90-86 for its fourth consecutive victory and Linas Kleiza scored 20 points as the Toronto Raptors ended its six-game losing streak with a 95-74 thrashing of the Dallas Mavericks.
Also Friday, James Harden scored 21 points and Greg Smith added 20 to help the Houston Rockets to a 101-89 win over the Boston Celtics, Joe Johnson made a jumper from just inside the arc as time expired in the second overtime, giving the Brooklyn Nets a 107-105 victory over the Detroit Pistons and Jared Dudley had a season-high 22 points to help lead the Phoenix Suns past the Utah Jazz 99-84. AP
