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Sports

Thunder put away Kings 102-87 for 5th straight win

Associated Press
Published | Updated

OKLAHOMA CITY – Kevin Durant scored 24 points, Serge Ibaka added 12 points and 10 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a trio of fourth-quarter spurts to put away the Sacramento Kings 102-87 on Friday night.

The pesky Kings, who have an NBA-worst five wins, stayed within single digits most of the night and trailed 83-77 midway through the fourth. Then, the Thunder had two separate runs of eight straight points to put the game away.

Russell Westbrook had 21 points, Nick Collison had 12 points and eight rebounds and Jeff Green had 11 points and nine rebounds as Oklahoma City won its fifth in a row.

Tyreke Evans scored 22 points and DeMarcus Cousins and Beno Udrih added 19 apiece for Sacramento, which has lost 18 of its last 20 games. Cousins, the No. 5 overall pick in this year's draft, also had a career-high 16 rebounds.

Collison and Green had putbacks on consecutive possessions, then Green grabbed an offensive rebound that led to Collison's layup as the Thunder pieced together a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter to take their biggest lead of the game.

Collison's layup with 8:47 left put Oklahoma City ahead 83-68 after Sacramento had managed to stay within 10 for the entire first three quarters.

Jason Thompson had a two-handed putback dunk and Udrih hit a 3-pointer as the Kings mounted their own 9-0 response, but Oklahoma City answered right back with eight straight points to go up 91-77 after another Collison layup that was set up by Green.

Durant scored six during another 8-0 run and his driving dunk made it 99-81 in the final 2 minutes.

Sacramento stayed close early on and had a one-point lead after the first quarter, but then Eric Maynor sparked a run of 12 straight points by Oklahoma City's bench that put the Thunder ahead to stay.

Maynor had assists on all five baskets during the stretch, finished by back-to-back dunks by Green and Collison. D.J. White's layup made it 35-25 with 7:22 left before halftime.

The Kings' backcourt led a comeback and Evans' three-point play got the deficit down to 49-46 before Oklahoma City got back-to-back baskets to close the half with a seven-point edge.

NOTES: Coach Scott Brooks said the Thunder's first weeklong stretch at home since mid-November has provided enough practice time to address offensive and defensive issues and produce some improved play. But he's giving his players Saturday off. "At this time of the year, you're always thinking about, 'I've got to shop for my family and friends,'" Brooks said. "So, tomorrow is their day to do that." ... G Jermaine Taylor, acquired in a trade Wednesday from Houston, was inactive for his first game with Sacramento. ... Thompson missed the final few minutes of the game while getting stitches to fix a cut on his right ring finger.