Kevin Durant had 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in his return from a shoulder injury to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to their seventh straight win, 103-91 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.
Durant was scratched against Boston on Friday with a sprained right shoulder. Against the Sixers, he was one of the first Thunder players to hit the court for pre-game warmups. He dunked several times, even hanging on the rim for several seconds after one, and was fit to play.
The 12-win Sixers trimmed Oklahoma City’s lead to four in the third quarter, before Durant keyed a 14-5 run to open a comfortable lead. The NBA’s leading scorer has reached at least 30 points in his past 10 games.
Serge Ibaka had 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder.
James Anderson led the Sixers with 19 points.
CLIPPERS 126, RAPTORS 118
In Toronto, Jamal Crawford had a season-high 37 points and 11 assists as Los Angeles overcame Terrence Ross’ 51 points to beat Toronto.
Ross matched Vince Carter’s franchise record set 14 years ago and nearly doubled his previous career high of 26 points against Portland on Jan. 2 last year.
The second-year guard shot 10 of 17 from three-point range and nine for 10 at the free-throw line. However, he missed his final foul shot with 4 seconds left, failing to top the 51 points Carter scored in a 103-102 win over Phoenix on Feb. 27, 2000.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Bulls 89, Bobcats 87
‧ Grizzlies 99, Rockets 81
‧ Nuggets 109, Pacers 96
‧ Blazers 115, Timberwolves 104
‧ Jazz 104, Wizards 101
‧ Hawks 112, Bucks 87
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Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
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