Associated Press
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Teams are finding out there’s little they can do to stop Kevin Durant.
Durant had 36 points to offset Tony Parker’s season-high 37, and Oklahoma City survived a testy 111-105 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night, their third win this season over the defending Western Conference champions.
Durant is averaging 38.1 points in his last 11 games, helping the Thunder reclaim the Western Conference’s record with a five-game winning streak and an 8-3 mark.
“Kevin did his thing down the stretch, it was pretty remarkable,” San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Reggie Jackson gave Durant all the help he needed, matching his season high with 27 points while handing out eight assists.
Durant and Jackson combined for 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting in a 35-point fourth quarter for Oklahoma City (33-10).
Jackson had 11 consecutive points early in the fourth, blowing past Parker for layups to give the Thunder a 94-89 lead with 8 minutes left.
“He has had great games against the Spurs,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “I can’t put my finger on it. We want him to play aggressive basketball on both ends of the floor. I thought he did a good job of finding spots on the floor that he can finish around the rim.”
Jackson averages 13.2 points, but has scored 23.7 points against the Spurs this season.
Durant bounced up and down excitedly after his second 3-pointer of the quarter gave Oklahoma City a 108-98 lead with 1 minute remaining.
“Durant hit some tough shots, he hit some big 3s down the stretch and it just got away from us,” Spurs veteran Tim Duncan said. “I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Duncan and Boris Diaw scored 14 points each, Marco Belinelli had 13 points and Manu Ginobili added 10 points. Duncan added 13 rebounds, but San Antonio (32-10) struggled to overcome the loss of their top defensive stopper, Kawhi Leonard.
Durant finished 12 for 22, but struggled to get his shot off against the snug defense of the 6-foot-7 Leonard, who has a 7-4 wingspan. Leonard left the game late in the first half after sustaining a non-displaced fracture in his right hand. His status is unknown, but a similar injury is expected to sideline Danny Green for a month.
“It’s tough, we’re dropping like flies right now,” Duncan said. “Losing Kawhi was huge, especially in a game like tonight.”
Durant scored 24 points after Leonard left the game with 3 minutes left in the first half.
“I felt early in the game the pick-and-roll was working,” Durant said. “I was able to go at the bigs a little bit and in the second half I missed some shots, too. They did a good job of just being physical. I think in the second half the defense was a little better.”
With Leonard out, the Spurs rotated Belinelli, Ginobili and 6-3 former Texas Longhorns teammate Cory Joseph on the 6-9 Durant. San Antonio even attempted a zone at one point to slow Durant to no avail.
“(He guarded Durant) just one time in the zone — he just shot over me,” Parker said. “He is on fire right now anyways. He played great tonight. You just have to give them credit.”
The Spurs used a physical defense against Durant with Leonard out, especially when Ginobili drew the assignment. The tough play angered Durant, who twice lowered his shoulder and dropped Ginobili. Both plays resulted in non-calls, which incensed Popovich.
The Spurs coach screamed at officials while Durant appeared to yell at Popovich. Popovich was assessed a technical foul, which Durant angrily sank with 1:12 to give Oklahoma City a 55-51 lead with 1:19 left in the first half.
Durant dismissed the heated emotion just as quickly as he did any psychological boost the Thunder will get from beating the rival Spurs three times.
“I’m sure those guys aren’t worried that we beat them three times,” Durant said. “We’re just going to keep plugging away.”
San Antonio is 1-9 against the West’s remaining top-five teams and the East’s best, Indiana, but they have bigger problems now. After remaining relatively healthy in reaching the NBA finals last season, the Spurs have been plagued by a rash of injuries in the past month.
Leonard joins starting center Tiago Splitter and former starter Green on the injured list. Parker is also still has a bruised shin that limits his mobility and long-range shooting forward Matt Bonner has to wear a mask after breaking his nose Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
“(Losing Leonard) is a big loss for us,” Parker said. “We are already down Tiago and Danny, but everyone goes through injuries and we have to deal with it. Other guys are going to have to step up, but we just have to keep playing.”
Parker had 20 points in the second half, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, Tony was great, but he needed some help for a little while and we just did not get it to him,” Duncan said.
There were four lead changes and six ties in the third quarter, but Oklahoma City never trailed in the fourth.
BULLS 98, CAVALIERS 87
CLEVELAND — D.J. Augustin scored 27 points in a start for Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson matched a career high with 26 filling in for Carlos Boozer as the Chicago Bulls improved to 7-2 since trading Luol Deng with a 98-87 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Augustin and Mike Dunleavy hit 3-pointers down the stretch to pace the Bulls, who at 21-20 moved over .500 for the first time since Nov. 22.
Deng went just 2 of 11 from the field in his first game against Chicago. The Bulls dealt the two-time All-Star forward to Cleveland on Jan. 6 for future draft picks.
Kyrie Irving scored 26 to lead Cleveland, which has dropped the first two games of a five-game homestand.
SUNS 124, PACERS 100
PHOENIX — Gerald Green scored 23 points against his former team, leading six Phoenix players in double figures, and the Suns snapped Indiana’s five-game winning streak by handing the Pacers their most one-sided loss of the season.
Indiana, owner of the NBA’s best record (33-8) and the league leader in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, gave up the most points it has all season.
Goran Dragic scored 21, Markieff Morris 20, P.J. Tucker 13, Miles Plumlee 11 and Channing Frye 10 for the Suns.
Paul George scored 26, George Hill 16 and David West 13 for Indiana.
HAWKS 112, MAGIC 109
ORLANDO, Fla. — Paul Millsap had 24 points, Jeff Teague added 23 and the Hawks hung on to beat the Magic.
Atlanta opened a 19-point lead in the third quarter, but lost it the fourth before coming back to hit six free throws in the final 40 seconds for the win.
Victor Oladipo led Orlando with 24 points. Tobias Harris had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson finished with 17 points.
The Magic have lost 12 of 13, and fell to 1-14 this season without starting center Nik Vucevic, who continues to recover from a concussion.
RAPTORS 93, MAVERICKS 85
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 40 points, Greivis Vasquez had 17 and the Raptors snapped a two-game skid by beating the Mavericks.
Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who overcame a 21-point, first-quarter deficit.
Monta Ellis had 21 points and Jose Calderon and Brandan Wright each had 13 for Dallas, but the Mavericks hurt themselves with 21 turnovers, including nine in the fourth quarter.
Dallas played without forward Dirk Nowitzki, who got the night off to rest as the Mavericks played for the 11th time in 18 days.
BOBCATS 95, CLIPPERS 91
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Al Jefferson had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bobcats to their first win over the Clippers in their last seven tries.
The veteran center was 12 of 23 from the field as the Bobcats won for the third time in their last four home games.
Gerald Henderson scored 13 points and put the Bobcats ahead for good with 22.5 seconds left with a dunk off Ramon Sessions’ air ball.
Blake Griffin was dominant early on and finished with 27 points, but was 0 for 4 from the field in the fourth quarter. Jamal Crawford had 20 points for the Clippers, who fell to 11-12 on the road.
CELTICS 113, WIZARDS 111, OT
WASHINGTON — Gerald Wallace made a driving layup with 2.5 seconds remaining in overtime and the undermanned Celtics broke a 10-game road losing streak with a win over the Wizards, who wilted yet again in their long and laborious quest to get above .500.
Jeff Green scored a season-high 39 points, including career highs in 3-pointers attempted (16) and made (8), and rookie Phil Pressey added a career-high 20 points for Boston. The Celtics played without Rajon Rando, Avery Bradley and Jerryd Bayless and blew a 19-point first-half lead before winning for only the second time in 14 games.
John Wall had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double for the Wizards, who haven’t won a game to move above .500 since Halloween 2009.
76ERS 110, KNICKS 106
NEW YORK — Evan Turner scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading the 76ers to a victory over New York that snapped a three-game skid and sent the Knicks to a fifth straight loss.
Michael Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young each added 19 points for the 76ers, who won for just the second time in nine games. James Anderson finished with 18 points.
Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points after a slow start for the Knicks, who were at least competitive after losing the previous four by a combined 75 points.
ROCKETS 119, KINGS 98
HOUSTON — Dwight Howard and James Harden combined for 50 points in just three quarters to help the Rockets cruise to their third straight win.
Howard had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Harden added 24 points with nine assists before the pair went to the bench for the fourth quarter.
The Rockets took the lead midway through the first quarter and didn’t trail again. The Kings struggled after losing top scorers Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins to injuries before halftime.
Gay, who tied a career high with 41 points on Tuesday night, injured his left Achilles tendon in the first quarter and Cousins sprained his left ankle in the second.
Derrick Williams scored 22 points with 11 rebounds and Isaiah Thomas added 20 points for the Kings.
BUCKS 104, PISTONS 101
MILWAUKEE — Caron Butler scored 30 points and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter for a victory over Detroit that snapped a nine-game losing streak.
Brandon Knight added 16 points against the team that traded him in the offseason and backup center Miroslav Raduljica had eight points and eight rebounds.
The Bucks trailed 76-63 in the third quarter, largely due to Brandon Jennings, who finished with 30 points.
Josh Smith missed two foul shots with about 5 seconds left, and Rodney Stuckey missed a desperation 3 at the buzzer to tie.