Kevin-square help Oklahoma City Thunder crush New Orleans Hornets 110-95: NBA Recap
Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin starred as the Oklahoma City Thunder eased past the New Orleans Hornets 110-95 at the New Orleans Arena on Friday night. Thunder, who came into this game after losing to Grizzlies the other night, were all over the Hornets right from the word go.
Durant scored 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds while K-Mart came off the bench to add 27 points, Russell Westbrook had a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists while Serge Ibaka chipped in with 15 points for the Thunder, who went 7-3 after the victory.
The Hornets had no answer for the hot shooting Thunder who shot 54.1 percent from the floor and 48.3 percent from the three point range.
The Hornets did not get ahead even once in the entire game. Ryan Anderson led the Hornets with 15 points and 7 rebounds while Robin Lopez chipped in with 12 points on the night.
Thabo Sefolosha fired a three pointer early in the first period to put the Thunder up 7-0. They never surrendered the lead after that and were up 15-6 after a layup by Ibaka. Al-Farooq Aminu’s jumper cut the deficit down to 10-17 for the Hornets before a quick 7-0 burst by OKC put them up by 24-10. They continued to pull away and were leading 36-18 by the end of the period.
Ryan Anderson started the second period with a 3 pointer, but Thunder kept extending their advantage and were leading the Hornets 43-25 after Martin nailed one in from downtown. Later on, Kevin Durant dropped down a three pointer to cement Thunder’s authority as they went up 50-27. The three times NBA shooting champion scored 18 points in the first half alone and he dunked one 36.9 seconds from halftime, as the Thunder went into halftime holding a comfortable 66-37 point lead.
The Thunder scored the first five points in the third period as they went up 71-37 before the Hornets responded with a 6-0 run to slash the deficit down to 43-71. Durant and company did not let them get close and Thunder were up 85-58 after a jumper by Westbrook.
The Hornets did manage to outscore the Thunder by two this period as they went into the final quarter trailing 67-94. But, the damage had already been done by the Thunder in the first half.
The Hornets kicked off the final period with a 10-4 run capped by an Anderson three-pointer to cut the deficit down to 77-98. Later on, two Robin Lopez free throws for the Hornets reduced the Thunder lead to 82-103 and it was the closest they got.
A Jeremy Lamp jumper put the Thunder up 110-88 with about 2 minutes left in the regulation. Hornets ended the game with a 7-0 run but the Thunder still won comfortably by 110-95.
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