Durant leads Thunder past Clippers

Published January 13, 2015

Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Durant posted 28 points and dished out eight assists to guide the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 105-91 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.

Serge Ibaka added 17 points and Russell Westbrook scored 12 for Oklahoma City, which remained unbeaten at home after five games at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder, winners of three in a row, also got revenge for a 111-103 loss at Staples Center last Wednesday. They never trailed Thursday.

"I thought that was probably as well as we can execute a game plan," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "I feel good about how we played throughout the game but I thought we did really, really well in the second half."

Chris Paul extended his NBA-record streak with at least 10 points and 10 assists to start a season to 13 games. Paul had 17 points and 12 helpers, and the Clippers got 27 points and 10 rebounds from Blake Griffin. Jamal Crawford scored 18 for the Clippers, who have dropped two of their last three since a four-game winning streak.

They were coming off a 102-98 win at Minnesota on Wednesday.

"The way we played the last couple games with the ball movement and all that, that was all gone," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. "We never established any pace. We walked the ball up the floor.

"It may have something to do with last night's game, too. I don't know that. (But) it was disappointing."

Durant scored 12 points in the opening quarter to help OKC to a 28-22 edge after 12 minutes. Included the period was a game-opening 13-3 spurt.

Paul's bucket with 2:38 left in the half trimmed the margin to 45-39, but the Thunder claimed a 51-43 edge at the break. The difference was 81-72 going to the fourth.

Crawford's bank shot had the visitors within 81-75, but OKC countered with a 12-4 run to seal the outcome.

Game Notes

The last time the Thunder franchise started 5-0 at home came during the 2004-05 season, when they were 9-0 in Seattle ... DeAndre Jordan had 12 rebounds for the Clippers ... The Thunder went 4-of-19 from 3-point range ... Clippers forward Matt Barnes will undergo surgery to repair a retinal tear in his left eye.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/durant-leads-thunder-past-clippers