Randy Foye scored a season-high 24 points as the Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-88 on Thursday for their fourth straight win after an eight-game losing streak.
It was the second time in two games that Foye, who hit six three-pointers, established a season high. He was coming off a 23-point effort in which he made seven threes in Denver’s victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
The Nuggets overcame Kevin Durant’s 30 points in beating the Thunder for the first time in three tries this season.
Photo: AFP
Evan Fournier had 19 points, while Ty Lawson added 16 points and 14 assists for Denver. Kenneth Faried grabbed 14 rebounds.
Reggie Jackson scored 13 and Derek Fisher 12 for the Thunder.
Quincy Miller, making his first career start, had nine points while playing in place of Wilson Chandler, who remains day-to-day after straining his left groin against Boston.
Photo: AFP
Serge Ibaka, who missed Tuesday night’s 112-101 loss at Utah because of flu-like symptoms, had eight points and 10 rebounds on his return.
The Thunder missed their first 10 shots from three-point range, before Jackson and Durant each connected from beyond the arc on successive possessions, pulling the Thunder to 72-59.
Denver answered with several threes over the next 6 minutes. Foye and Fournier hit two apiece, and Lawson converted a three-point play as the Nuggets extended their lead to 89-66 by the end of the third quarter.
Overall, the Nuggets outscored the Thunder 29-15 in the third to build a 23-point lead heading into the final period. Oklahoma City did not make a significant dent in Denver’s advantage the rest of the way.
Despite getting 24 points from Durant in the first half, the Thunder trailed 60-51.
After Durant made a pair of free throws to pull Oklahoma City to 50-47 with 2 minutes, 22 seconds left in the second quarter, the Nuggets closed with a 10-4 burst punctuated by Lawson’s three-pointer in the waning moments of the period.
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