Durant drops in career-high 51, Thunder trims Nuggets in OT

Feb 20, 2012, 6:54 GMT

By Paul Levine, dpa =

Los Angeles (dpa) - The Oklahoma City Thunder went to the explosive one-two punch of its heavyweights to register its latest decision.

Kevin Durant poured in a career-high and NBA season-best 51 points, while Russell Westbrook had seven of his 40 in overtime Sunday, leading the Thunder to a dramatic 124-118 victory against the visiting Denver Nuggets.

'I was just trying to get everything in the flow of the offence,' said Durant, the reigning two-time NBA scoring champ, who connected on 19-of-28 field goals, and five-of-six three-pointers. 'I just wanted to make strong moves and my teammates did a great job of finding me in good spots.'

The two All-Stars became the first duo to score 40 or more points in the same game, since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen turned the trick for the Chicago Bulls in 1996.

'Kevin and Russell with 51 and 40 points,' Thunder coach Scott Brooks said, 'It's an amazing performance we witnessed and Serge's triple-double.'

Serge Ibaka recorded his first career triple-double with 14 points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocks in the comeback victory as the Western Conference-leading Thunder improved to 24-7 and 12-1 at home.

Arron Afflalo led six players in double figures with 27 points while Andre Miller had 21 with 10 assists for the Nuggets, who have lost three in a row.

Denver led 111-106 with 43 seconds left in regulation but couldn't close it out. Instead, Durant drilled a three-pointer, and made a dunk with 4.4 ticks remaining to send the contest into overtime after Ty Lawson missed what would have been the game-winning jumper at the buzzer.

Westbrook's three-pointer to open the extra five minute session put the Thunder ahead by three before Durant went end-to-end for a layup and a 120-115 advantage with 57.1 seconds remaining.

Afflalo buried a three-pointer to make it a two-point game, but had his layup attempt blocked by Ibaka after Westbrook hit a mid-range jumper.

Durant sealed the win with two free throws as the hometown fans roared their approval.

Elsewhere: New York Knicks 104, Dallas Mavericks 97: Jeremy Lin had 28 points with a career-high 14 assists, newly signed J.R. Smith scored 15 in his New York debut and the Knicks rallied from a 12 down in the second half to beat the reigning Dallas Mavericks, for their eighth win in the last nine games.

German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 34 points for the Mavericks, whose season-high six-game winning streak ended.

Miami Heat 90, Orlando Magic 78: Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, LeBron James had 23 points with 11 rebounds and eight assists, carrying the surging Heat past the visiting Magic for its sixth straight victory.

Minnesota Timberwolves 92, Philadelphia 76ers 91: Kevin Love made the game-winning free throws with one-tenth of a second left, Spanish rookie Ricky Rubio scored a career-high 22 and the T-Wolves won their third in a row while sending the visiting Sixers to their season-high third straight loss.

Phoenix Suns 102, LA Lakers 90: Jared Dudley scored a season-high 25 points, Polish-native Marcin Gortat had 21 points with 15 rebounds and the Suns built a 23-point halftime cushion en route to snapping a four-game slide against the visiting Lakers.

Kobe Bryant tossed in 32 points while Spaniard Pau Gasol had 17 points and 12 boards for the Lakers, whose three-game winning streak came to an end.

Indiana Pacers 108, Charlotte Bobcats 73: Roy Hibbert led a balanced attack with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and the host Pacers sent the league-worst Bobcats to their 17th loss in 18 games.

Detroit Pistons 96, Boston Celtics 81: Greg Monroe had 17 points with 10 rebounds and the Pistons won for the seventh time in the last nine games after bouncing the visiting Celtics, who were without Kevin Garnett for personal reasons.

Cleveland Cavaliers 93, Sacramento Kings 92: Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, including the game-winning free throws with four-tenths of a second left, and the Cavaliers handed the visiting Kings their fifth straight loss.

Houston Rockets 101, Utah Jazz 85: Kyle Lowry scored 32 points, Argentine Luis Scola had 26 and the Rockets held off a late run to silence the visiting Jazz.

Milwaukee Bucks 92, New Jersey Nets 85: Turkish native Ersan Ilyasova had career highs of 29 points and an NBA season-high-tying 25 rebounds as the visiting Bucks broke a four-game slide while spoiling the season-debut of Nets centre Brook Lopez.

Deron Williams led the Nets with 26 points while Lopez finished with nine points and two rebounds after sitting out 32 games with a broken right foot.