Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook showed why they’re considered one of the NBA’s best 1-2 punches Sunday, combining for an incredible 91 points in Oklahoma City’s 124-118 overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Hidden in the high-scoring affair (Durant scored a career-best 51 points and Westbrook dropped 40), Serge Ibaka also had a terrific game for the Thunder, capturing the first triple-double of his career with 14 points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocked shots.
Ibaka also had a hand in the most important play of the game, where he blocked a driving Arron Afflalo in overtime to eliminate the possibility of a Nuggets comeback.
The Thunder could easily have lost with the balanced scoring Denver displayed, but with the game winding down and Oklahoma City down by five, Durant first buried a three-pointer, then made a strong move for the game-tying dunk with 4.4 seconds left in regulation that led to overtime.
Durant would surpass the 50-point mark for the first time in his young career with two free throws late in overtime to seal the game.
Check out highlights from last night’s Thunder-Nuggets matchup below:
Following his team’s spectacular victory, Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks called Durant and Westbrook’s effort “amazing” and added “[Ibaka] cleaned up a lot of our mistakes and protected the basket…we gave everything we had.”
Oklahoma City (24-7) has now won nine in a row at home.
With their 91 point combined-performance, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant now rank third on the list of highest scoring games ever by a pair of NBA teammates.
via Sporting News
