Thunder upend Kings 108-102 OKLAHOMA CITY 10

SACRAMENTO, Calif.(AP) — Even with his vision a bit impaired
following a third-quarterelbow to the eye that required six
stitches, Russell Westbrook managed to take over the game in the
fourth quarter for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

While Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points and eight
rebounds, it was Westbrook making the difference when it counted
most, scoring 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to
helpOklahoma City beat the Sacramento Kings 108-102 on Sunday
night.

A point guard with speed and quickness, Westbrook left the court
early in the third quarter after taking an elbow to the right
eye by Kings forward Carl Landry. He was stitched up by the
Kings’ medical staff, and came out late in the third quarter and
quickly entered the game and scored four points.

With Durant shooting just 1 for 5 in the fourth, the burden fell
to Westbrook and he produced. Westbrook made4 of 8 shots, 5 of 6
freethrows, and added four rebounds and two assists. Not bad for
a guy, who said he had a slight problem seeing out of his right
eye.

“Icame out aggressive and was trying to help us pull out this
victory,” said Westbrook, who had eight rebounds and four
assists. “When it’s time for me to help my teammates out, I
will.”

Westbrook has becomean emerging offensive force in his second
season.

“He’s so quick, athletic and strong, and has a lot of moves,”
Durant said. “He does a great job of getting to the rim.”

The road victory was the seventh in nine games for the Thunder,
who are 3-1 against the Kings this season.

Oklahoma City had three technical fouls. Tyreke Evans hadone
technical for the Kings and Andres Nocioni picked up a flagrant
foul.

“We’re a young team and they’re a young team, we know those guys
over there,” said Durant, who picked up his second technical of
the season. “It was all competitive nature, nothing more than
that.”

Evans had 24 points and seven assists for the Kings and Landry
had 20 points and eight rebounds. Francisco Garcia scored 14
points and Jason Thompson added 11.

The Kings have lost two straight and three of four in falling to
15-15 this season at home.

Vowing to rebound better after a poor effort in Tuesday’s loss
at Oklahoma City, the Kings fared just as poorly. The Thunder
outrebounded them 45-33.

“We played them good, but they really killed us in the
rebounding,” Evans said. “They got us on the glass and were able
to get second opportunities. That’s what hurt us.”

James Harden scored all 14 of his points in the first half,
while Jeff Green added 12 points for the Thunder, who have won
two straight and five of six.

Garcia made a 3-pointer to pull the Kings within 106-102 with 39
seconds left.

After Beno Udrih’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 98-96, Durant
scored on a short baseline jumper and Nick Collison dunked off a
fastbreak to put the Thunder ahead 102-96 with 2:17 remaining.

The Thunder (38-24) are 14-3 since a loss at Cleveland on Jan.
23. Last season, Oklahoma City began the season 1-12 and
finished with 23 wins.

“We haven’t thought much about last year,” Thunder coach Scott
Brooks said. “We have a day-by-day mentality. It’s been a good
ride so far.”

With Durant coming out aggressive in the third quarter, the
Thunder built their lead to 11 points. But with Landry scoring
inside and Evans hitting from the perimeter, including a
3-pointer at the buzzer, the Kings closed the gap to 81-79
heading into the fourth.

“They are where we want to be and we want to get there sooner
than later,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said. “As long as we keep
striving to improve I think we have a really good nucleus here
and we keep bouncing back.”

Durant scored 16 points and Harden came off the bench for 14 to
help the Thunder lead 57-52 at the half. Landry scored 11 points
for the Kings.

Notes: Green drew a technical foul in the second quarter after
slamming the ball to the floor after picking up his third foul.
… The Kings gave Omri Casspi the night off, deactivating the
rookie, who was shooting 38 percent in his past seven games. …
Thompson came off the bench after missing the previous five
games with a lower-back injury suffered in a Feb. 23 fall
against Detroit.