Kevin Durant scores 44 as Thunder sneak past Suns
Kevin Durant finished with 44 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a close victory over the Phoenix Suns, 137-134. Oklahoma City (16-17) gets one in the win column after losing to Dallas on Sunday.
Durant shot 13-23 (6-11 from three-point range) and 12-12 from the free throw line, in a strong performance. Serge Ibaka also chipped in for Oklahoma City, finishing with 15 points and seven rebounds. Eric Bledsoe had another big game for Phoenix in the loss, scoring 29 points on 10-19 shooting (2-4 on 3-point attempts), in addition to going 7-7 from the free throw line. He also tallied eight assists. Goran Dragic added 21 points and eight rebounds.
As dictated by the data, Oklahoma City controlled the offensive backboards in this contest, finishing with an OR% of 37.3%. They rank third in the league in that metric at 28.3%. The defense of Phoenix, on the other hand, is 27th in the NBA on the glass with a DR% of 72.5%.
This drops Phoenix (18-16) to 0-2 versus Oklahoma City on the season.
Coming up next, the Thunder take on the Washington Wizards, who are 22-9 on the year. The Suns meet the Philadelphia 76ers, currently 4-26 this season. The Suns have a 1-0 record against Philadelphia this season.
