Thunder holds off late charge to beat Celtics

By Paul Levine Feb 23, 2012, 8:22 GMT

Los Angeles - Boston Celtics pride came up short.

Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, Kevin Durant had 28 and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off a late charge to beat the visiting Celtics 119-104 on Wednesday night for their 11th straight home win.

'We knew this team was going to keep fighting us. Giving up is not in their character,' Durant said. 'We knew they were going to make a run. That's what happens in this league. But I think we did a good job of staying composed and pulling it out.'

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

Kevin Garnett had 23 points with 13 rebounds, Paul Pierce also scored 23 while Ray Allen contributed 21 for Boston, who have lost five in a row.

'The guys just wouldn't give up,' Pierce said. 'We gave ourselves a chance there in the last three minutes but we just couldn't get over the hump.'

The Celtics played without All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo, who was completing a two-game suspension.

After trailing by as many as 27 in the third quarter, the Celtics stormed to within 108-102 on Pierce's free throw with three minutes 31 seconds left.

'Those guys have a lot of pride, they have the heart of a champion,' Thunder coach Scott Brooks said of Garnett, Pierce and Allen. 'They've been to the NBA Finals a few times and they were not going to fall down and watch us score easy buckets.'

Durant, however, stepped up with a pair of jumpers off the glass and two free throws during an 11-2 closing run to complete a sweep of the two-game season series.

'We got complacent and they got into attack mode,' said Thunder Royal Ivey who scored eight points. 'We were playing on our heels but we closed it out and got the win.'

Elsewhere:

New York Knicks 99, Atlanta Hawks 82: Jeremy Lin had 17 points with nine assists, Carmelo Anthony scored 15 and the Knicks rolled to their ninth win in the last 11 games after crushing the visiting Hawks.

Chicago Bulls 110, Milwaukee Buck 91: Carlos Boozer scored 20 points, while Joakim Noah recorded his first career-triple double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, leading the Bulls past the visiting Bucks for the seventh straight time.

LA Lakers 96, Dallas Mavericks 91: Spaniard Pau Gasol scored 24 points, Andrew Bynum had 19 points with 14 rebounds and the visiting LA Lakers edged the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks for their fifth win in six games. Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, losers for the second time in the last nine outings.

LA Clippers 103, Denver Nuggets 95: Chris Paul scored a season-high 36 points, fellow-All-Star starter Blake Griffin added 27 with 12 rebounds, and the Clippers closed on a 12-3 run to send the Nuggets to their ninth loss in 12 games. The Nuggets played without injured starters Nene, Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson.

Orlando Magic 108, New Jersey Nets 91: Dwight Howard had 20 points with 17 rebounds, and the visiting Magic knocked off the Nets for the ninth straight time.

Indiana Pacers 102, Charlotte Bobcats 88: Tyler Hansbrough scored a season-high 22 points as the visiting Pacers handed the league-worst Bobcats their 18th loss in 19 games.

Houston Rockets 93, Philadelphia 76ers 87: Argentina's Luis Scola had 19 points with 10 rebounds, Kyle Lowry had a pair of key three-point plays down the stretch, and the Rockets sent the visiting Sixers to their season-high fifth straight loss.

Toronto Raptors 103, Detroit Pistons 93: DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Spaniard Jose Calderon dished out 15 assists and the Raptors bounced the visiting Pistons despite Greg Monroe's 30-point, 14-rebound effort.

Minnesota Timberwolves 100, Utah Jazz 98: JJ Barea scored 22 points and Luke Ridnour hit the game-winning runner at the buzzer as the T-Wolves rallied from 18 down in the fourth quarter to stun the visiting Jazz.

New Orleans Hornets 89, Cleveland Cavaliers 84: Chris Kaman had 21 points with 13 rebounds, Marco Belinelli scored 19 and the visiting Hornets held off the Cavaliers.

Sacramento Kings 115, Washington Wizards 107: Marcus Thornton scored 22 points, DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points with 16 rebounds and the visiting Kings overcame a season-high 32 points from the Wizards' Jordan Crawford to stop a six-game skid.

Golden State Warriors 106, Phoenix Suns 104: Monta Ellis scored 26 points, including the game-winning jumper with one second left, and the Warriors ended a 13-game slide at Phoenix with their first victory since March 8, 2005.