Westbrook, Durant lead Thunder past Celtics

Feb 23, 2012, 7:04 GMT

Los Angeles - Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, Kevin Durant added six of his 28 during an 11-2 closing run and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off a late charge to beat the visiting Boston Celtics 119-104 on Wednesday night for their 11th straight home win.

James Hardin and Daequan Cook netted 17 points apiece for the Thunder, which matched idle Miami for the best mark in the league at 26-7, including 14-1 at home.

Kevin Garnett had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Paul Pierce also scored 23 while Ray Allen contributed 21 for the Celtics, who lost their fifth in a row but not before slicing a 27-point third-quarter deficit to six late in the game.

Boston played without All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo, who was serving the second of a two-game suspension.

Jeremy Lin had 17 points with nine assists, Carmelo Anthony scored 15 and the New York Knicks rolled to their ninth win in the last 11 games after crushing the visiting Atlanta Hawks, 99-92.

Carlos Boozer scored 20 points, while Joakim Noah posted his first career-triple double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, leading the Chicago Bulls past the visiting Milwaukee Bucks for the seventh straight time, 111-91.

Spaniard Pau Gasol scored 24 points, while Andrew Bynum had 19 points with 14 rebounds and the visiting LA Lakers edged past the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, 96-91.

German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, who lost for just the second time in the last nine games.

Elsewhere: the LA Clippers dropped the visiting Denver Nuggets 103-95; the Toronto Raptors topped the visiting Detroit Pistons 103-93; the visiting Indiana Pacers bounced the Charlotte Bobcats 102-88; the visiting New Orleans Hornets held off the Cleveland Cavaliers 89-84; the visiting Orlando Magic routed the New Jersey Nets 108-91.

Also, the Houston Rockets slipped past the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 93-87.the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied past the visiting Utah Jazz 100-98; the visiting Golden State Warriors shaded the Phoenix Suns 106-104 and the visiting Sacramento Kings overcame the Washington Wizards 115-107.