Thunder 116, Bobcats 94
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kevin Durant had 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds in just 24 minutes as the Oklahoma City Thunder won their fourth straight by routing the Charlotte Bobcats 116-94 on Friday night.
The Thunder shot 56.8 percent from the field and were 12 of 24 from 3-point range, leading by as many as 29 in a performance that was almost as dominant as a 114-69 win over the Bobcats in Oklahoma City on Nov. 26.
The Thunder trailed 29-28 after one quarter, then opened the second quarter with a 19-0 run and went on to lead 64-50 at halftime and 90-66 after three quarters. The biggest lead came at 90-61, and Durant was done for the night shortly thereafter.
Oklahoma City, 46-16, is now 21-1 when shooting better than 50 percent from the field this season.
The Thunder also got 13 points each from Derek Fisher and Thabo Sefolosha, 12 points and seven rebounds from Serge Ibaka and 11 points each from Russell Westbrook and Kevin Martin.
The Bobcats, 13-49, lost their ninth straight and have now lost 17 of their last 19.
Gerald Henderson led the Bobcats with 21 points, including 17 in the first half. Ben Gordon scored 19, and Kemba Walker scored 11.
Oklahoma City's 19-0 run to start the second quarter came mostly with Durant and Westbrook on the bench resting. Fisher had two 3-pointers and a layup in the spurt and Martin added another 3-pointer. Charlotte didn't get its first points of the quarter until a Josh McRoberts layup made it 47-31 OKC with 6:27 left in the half.
Oklahoma City wound up shooting 62.2 percent from the field in the half and hit 6 of 10 3-pointers.
Notes: The Bobcats expect guard Ramon Sessions to miss 2-4 weeks after suffering an MCL sprain of his left knee in a 99-78 loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday. Sessions won't require surgery, however. ... The Thunder came into Friday's game leading the Northwest Division by five games over Denver, with the third-best record in the NBA behind San Antonio and Miami. ... Friday night's game capped a brief two-game Eastern trip for the Thunder. They won at New York 95-94 on Thursday night. ... Durant leads the NBA in scoring at 28.7 points per game and is in search for his fourth consecutive NBA scoring title. He had 34 at New York on Thursday. ... Westbrook entered Friday night's game sixth in the league in scoring at 23.6. ... Westbrook played Friday night despite tweaking his ankle early in the New York game. ... The Thunder led the Bobcats 64-24 at halftime when the teams met in Oklahoma City earlier this year, so no starter played more than 26 minutes. Charlotte shot 29.1 percent from the field in that game and had just one player score in double figures, Jeffery Taylor with 10. Durant led Oklahoma City with 18. ... The Bobcats were 7-5 when they went to Oklahoma City, and entering Friday night's game had gone 6-42 in the time since. ... The Thunder leads the NBA in free-throw percentage as a team at .832, and Durant is second individually at .907. Golden State's Stephen Curry leads the league at .910. ... The Bobcats will play at Washington on Saturday night. ... The Thunder will return home to face Boston on Sunday.
