OKLAHOMA CITY — With two starters missing, Denver was supposed to be easy pickings for the best team in the Western Conference. But as George Karl-coached teams tend to do, Denver came into Oklahoma City’s house and put up a fight.
Thunder’s Kevin Durant wasn’t going to let the Nuggets escape with a win. The NBA’s reigning scoring champ tallied a career-high 51 points to lead the Thunder to a 124-118 overtime victory at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
“As a player those are the type of games you want to be involved in,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “The fans were terrific. I thought the fans gave us the spark that was needed throughout the game. Unfortunately, somebody had to lose. We gave everything we had.”
Despite missing Nene and Danilo Gallinari, the Nuggets (17-15) believed they let the game get away from them.
“The game of basketball can be really mean to you,” Karl said. “Tonight, we did our job and did it very well. We fought through so many things that we could have given up at the end of the game.” In overtime, Durant gave the Thunder a 118-115 advantage after sinking a pair of free throws. On consecutive trips, the Thunder came up with defensive stops to get the ball back. Instead of running the clock down, they put up dagger shots that were off target until Durant scored on a finger roll.
The Nuggets’ Andre Miller hit a three before Russell Westbrook answered with a jumper to put the Thunder up 122-118 with 26 seconds left.
Arron Affalo attempted to cut the Thunder’s lead in half when he drove to the lane. But Serge Ibaka picked up his 11th blocked shot.
Durant sealed the game with his 50 and 51st points of the night when he hit two free throws as the fans chanted “MVP.” As soon as the game ended, he ran over to hug his mom before celebrating with his team.
“It’s always good to play playoff style intensity in the regular season,” Brooks said. “It’s always good to play tough games. We’ve had quite a few of them. It’s always good to play games that come down to the last five minutes. That’s how you improve.”
Durant wasn’t the only story of then night for Oklahoma City (17-15). Westbrook posted 40 points to go along with nine assists and only two turnovers. But it was Ibaka’s stat line that stood out. His 14 points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocked shots comprised his first career triple-double.
“Serge cleaned up a lot of our mistakes,” Brooks said. “That’s what all of our bigs do. Serge is protecting the basket as well as I’ve seen anyone protect it. To have three games of double digits in blocked shots, I don’t know if that’s happened in a season. It’s pretty impressive.”
Durant was feeling it early and often. He dropped 12 points in the first quarter and was the only player in double figures. But it was Westbrook’s rim-shaking two-handed dunk that brought the crowd to its feet and showed there were no ill-affects to the sprained ankle he suffered Friday.
Yet, the Nuggets held a 58-53 lead at halftime.
With the game tied in the fourth, Westbrook missed a jumper. Denver’s Ty Lawson came down and drained a 3-pointer to put Denver up 109-106 with 54 seconds left on the clock.
After a timeout, Durant tried to answer with a running jump shot, but it rimmed out. Al Harrington put Denver up by five with two free throws.
Durant hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left. Lawson missed a long jump shot and the Thunder got the ball back, down two with seven seconds left in the game.
Harden passed it to Durant from out of bounds. Instead of settling for a jumper, he drove to the basket and threw down a two handed dunk to tie the game at 111-111 and send it into overtime.
“That’s another step in Kevin’s growth,” Brook said. “I was telling him in the timeout, he had an opportunity to attack. Don’t settle. He took advantage of it and attacked the rim.”
Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@normantranscript.com
