Durant And Westbrook Too Much For Suns In Thunder’s 122-106 Win

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder are the top scoring duo in the NBA this season, averaging a combined 51.9 points per game.  On Monday night, on the road against the Suns, Durant and Westbrook combined for 61 points and the Thunder pulled away from a scrappy Phoenix team in the 4th quarter.

After Suns guard Archie Goodwin scored to narrow the Suns’ deficit to just six points with 3:14 left in the game, Durant nailed a 28-foot three point shot, to get the lead to 113-106 that sparked a 12-0 run to close out the game for OKC.

“Sometimes it only takes one shot for me, sometimes it doesn’t even take a shot,” Durant said. “I’m just always in a mode where I feel confident every shot I put up.”

Westbrook put up another great all-around performance finishing with 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.  His fadeaway jumper with 3:38 left in the first put the Thunder up 24-12 and on the way to a possible blowout.

In the second quarter however, the Suns found their offensive groove, scoring on their first 15 possessions of the quarter. Led by Mirza Teletovic and Alex Len, who combined to score 24 points in the quarter, led the charge off the bench for the Suns who outscored the Thunder by 9 in the second to tie the game at 57 going into halftime. Phoenix finally managed to take the lead back in the third, after only briefly leading in the opening quarter, and led 81-75 after rookie Devin Booker‘s bank shot with 2:38 to play.

The Thunder came storming back though with a 24-7 run that began at the end of the third and ran into the fourth to go up 99-88 with 8:48 left in the game.

Aside from Westbrook and Durant, the Thunder got nice contributions from shooting guard Dion Waiters (15 points, 4 assists, 3 steals), who continues to start for the injured Andre Roberson, center Enes Kanter (11 points and 8 rebounds), and rookie point guard Cameron Payne (11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists).

Markeiff Morris led the Suns with 23 points to go with 7 boards while Goodwin finished with 20 points,and 7 assists. Teletovic finished with 17 points and Len finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

The Thunder’s next game is at home against Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, February 11 at 8 pm.  The Suns will host the Golden State Warriors tomorrow, February 10 at 9 pm.

Article by Nick Vigliotti