NEW YORK — Kevin Durant had 34 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:38 left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled out a 95-94 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
Russell Westbrook struggled over the final three quarters but finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists in the Thunder’s first trip to New York since Dec. 22, 2010. Durant also had eight boards and six assists.
Oklahoma City posted its third straight win, fighting off a spirited effort by a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star forward missed his second straight game with what the Knicks said is a stiff and sore right knee.
J.R. Smith scored a season-high 36 points for New York, but missed a turnaround jumper that would have won it as time ran out.
Neither team led by more than two points over the final 10 1/2 minutes. Durant scored 12 in the final period while Westbrook was shut out, hitting a pair from the line with 1:38 to play that made it 95-94.
Smith missed a 3-pointer but the Knicks had a final chance after Durant was off on a jumper with about 9 seconds to go. Smith got the ball in about the same spot where he had hit a winning jumper against Phoenix earlier this season, but his shot was long as the Knicks had their two game-winning streak snapped.
Anthony was hurt Monday in Cleveland, falling to the court without contact as he tried to catch a pass. Coach Mike Woodson said he is day to day and doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the Knicks said the same about Jeremy Lin last season and others in recent years, so their fans won’t relax until they see Anthony back on the floor.
He surely would like that to be sometime before the Knicks visit Denver next Wednesday for his long-awaited first trip back since the Nuggets traded him in February 2011.
In the meantime, the Knicks showed again they’ve got enough guys to compete without him — but not enough to beat a top team like the Thunder.
Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire each had 16 points for the Knicks, who were playing their fourth game in five nights against the rested and much more athletic Thunder.
Anthony’s injury prevented a matchup between the NBA’s top two scorers, his 28.2 points per game slightly behind the 28.6 Durant came in averaging as he tries to lead the league for the fourth straight season.
But it was still a loud crowd for the Thunder’s first game here in more than two years, since they weren’t scheduled for a game at Madison Square Garden in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.
“You missed it last year with the shortened season,” said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks, who played for the Knicks in the 1996-97 season. “It’s one of those things, especially for myself because I like coming here and seeing all the excitement, and that was one of the disappointing things of looking at least season’s schedule. We didn’t have a stop here in New York City.”
He said it would be exciting and he was right, mostly because of Smith’s big night.
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