OKLAHOMA CITY – Kevin Durant scored 20 points in his most extensive playing time of the preseason, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 97-89 win against CSKA Moscow on Thursday night.
Durant did all of his scoring in the first half, hitting eight of his 10 shots and going 4 for 5 from 3-point range. He didn't attempt a shot while playing 15 minutes in the second half and finished with seven assists and seven of Oklahoma City's 25 turnovers.
Two nights after CSKA Moscow led the Miami Heat in the third quarter, the Euroleague powerhouse never led in the second of its three exhibition games against NBA teams this week.
Jeff Green and Serge Ibaka each added 15 points for the Thunder.
Dmitry Sokolov led CSKA Moscow with 18 points, Ramunas Siskauskas scored 17 and Andrey Vorontsevich made all three of his 3-point attempts for 13 points. All three came off the bench.
Oklahoma City was without starters Nenad Krstic (index finger surgery) and Thabo Sefolosha (jammed pinkie finger) plus reserve center Nick Collison (left knee bone bruise).
Thunder coach Scott Brooks talked before the game about judging Durant's performance this season on his assists and turnovers, expecting him to have no trouble scoring. While Durant was becoming the NBA's youngest scoring champion ever, Durant also committed the third-most turnovers in the league — behind only Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.
In Oklahoma City's first of only two games on its home floor this preseason, the All-Star had mixed results.
The Thunder went ahead to stay with an 11-0 run late in the first quarter, punctuated by Green's two-handed dunk on a fast break that made it 18-7.
CSKA Moscow got as close as three at the start of the second quarter and was within 51-45 after Andrey Vorontsevich's 3-pointer with 1:41 to go before halftime.
Durant answered with a 3-pointer and a steal that led to a right-handed jam before Green finished the 7-0 run with a two-handed reverse dunk, after he'd collected the loose ball from Russell Westbrook's missed dunk try.
Oklahoma City extended its lead to 70-53 after Ibaka's layup finished a run of eight straight points.
CSKA Moscow made a late 9-0 run and got within 93-87 before reserve Tweety Carter sealed it with back-to-back baskets for Oklahoma City.
NOTES: Krstic and Collison have missed all four preseason games for the Thunder. "You would like to have your guys and have them healthy, but more importantly just get them healthy, get them right whenever that is," Brooks said. "Hopefully it is the first game, or hopefully it's sooner than that." ... The Thunder plan to donate $16,962 to the Folds of Honor Foundation, a Tulsa-based charity that provides college scholarships to the spouses and children of military service members disabled or killed in the line of duty.
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