Oklahoma City Thunder top Denver Nuggets 106-89, in Game 2 – NBA Play-offs Update
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored a combined 72 points to help the Northwest Division champions Oklahoma City Thunder take a 106-89 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their first-round play-off series on Wednesday night.
Durant posted 23 points and Westbrook tallied 21 points for the Thunder, who led by as many as 26 points early in the second-quarter. James Harden added 18 points for Oklahoma City while Serge Ibaka finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kendrick Perkins
had 11 boards for the victors.
Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks was pleased with his side’s performance. He said after the game, “We’ve done it all year. You don’t win the games we’ve won just having one or two guys. I really believed those guys were going to step up and score some points.”
Ty Lawson posted 20 points, while Nene and Raymond Felton added 16 points for the Nuggets, who lost the contest with 4 of 16 from three and by missing 12 of 33 free throws. Nuggets could only get as close as 10 points in the fourth-quarter.
“We gave them too many minutes, too many possessions of they were totally in control,” Nuggets Head Coach George Karl said. “They were energized, they were more physical, and they were quicker, probably smarter… The hole was just too big. When it looked
like we could get it under 10, a 3-ball would go in or an offensive rebound would break our heart.”
The Thunder got the scoring started with 3-pointers from Durant and Westbrook, and owned a 31-15 advantage at the end of the first-quarter.
Harden made two three-pointers as the Thunder scored 12 of the first 14 points in the second-quarter to extend the margin to 26 points within the first sixteen minutes of the play.
Al Harrington finally made a 3-pointer to bring Denver to life and started a string of seven consecutive points for the Nuggets. Within five minutes, Denver cut its deficit to 14 points.
Harrington then hit another 3-pointer in a 9-0 run, and the Nuggets got as close as 12, 50-38, on a Lawson’s jumper with less than four minutes remaining in the half. However, Oklahoma City still held a healthy 59-44 lead at the break.
The Thunder made it 81-66 at the end of the third-quarter. The Nuggets then rallied to get as close as 86-76 on a Felton bucket with less than nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
But Denver had four consecutive empty possessions in the midst of Durant putting in two baskets off offensive boards. Westbrook scored two points from the foul line to make it 92-76 at the midway point. Nene then hit a pair of the free throws and a 3-pointer
that put the contest away.
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