Russell Westbrook scored 48 points and Kevin Durant poured in 43 to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 139-136 victory over the Orlando Magic in a double-overtime NBA thriller on Friday.
Westbrook and former NBA Most Valuable Player Durant combined to score nine of Oklahoma city’s 13 points in the second overtime to seal the win in Orlando.
“Sometimes, you just have to let the big dogs run,” said Durant, who missed 55 games last season with ankle and foot injuries.
Photo: AP
“That was fun out there tonight. Russell was almost superhuman,” Durant said.
In a roller-coaster of a contest, the Thunder erased an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter, then led through most of both overtimes.
Westbrook banked in a 38-foot desperation shot with 0.7 seconds left in regulation to force the first extra period with the score tied at 117-117 after Orlando guard Victor Oladipo connected on a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds to play that made it 117-114 for the Magic.
Photo: AP
Durant had knotted the score at 114-114 with a three-pointer after the Magic had led the entire game.
In the first overtime Oladipo — who had a triple-double of 21 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists — sank a game-tying three as time expired to force the second extra session.
The Magic came up empty on two attempts to tie the score in the waning seconds of the second overtime, when Durant blocked three-point attempts by Evan Fournier and Oladipo.
Although the Thunder had their rhythym disrupted by 21 turnovers in regulation, Durant and Westbrook would not be denied.
Westbrook added 11 rebounds and eight assists and Durant finished with 12 rebounds.
Serge Ibaka had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder and reserve forward Enes Kanter had 10 points, including nine in the final period, when he sparked a late Thunder rally.
Forward Tobias Harris led the Magic with 30 points. Center Nikola Vucevic contributed 26 and Fournier scored 22.
However, Orlando coach Scott Skiles said his team did not stay poised in the toughest moments.
“When it got tight, you could see Russell starting to pick it up,” Skiles said.
“And we had trouble even handling the ball. We just got away from what we were doing. We played well enough to win this game, but when it’s time to make big plays, we didn’t make them,” he said.
ROCKETS 92, WARRIORS 112
Stephen Curry scored 25 points as Golden State beat Houston in a rematch of the Western Conference finals.
Curry listened to the crowd frequently rain down “MVP! MVP!” chants on Rockets guard James Harden, but Curry outscored him 25-16 and got the win again, just as he did in the real MVP vote and in the Warriors’ five-game victory that sent them to the NBA Finals.
The reigning champions improved to 2-0 and the Rockets fell to 0-2.
Harden struggled with his shot for a second straight game. The MVP runner-up finished four of 18, including one of 10 from three-point range, but added seven rebounds and five assists.
Dwight Howard had nine points and seven rebounds for Houston in his first game after serving a one-game suspension for getting a fourth flagrant foul in the post-season.
CAVALIERS 102, HEAT 92
LeBron James scored 29 points, while Kevin Love added 24 points and 14 rebounds as Cleveland beat Miami in the Cavaliers’ home opener.
Dwyane Wade led Miami with 25 points, while Chris Bosh had 16. James, Wade and Bosh played in the same regular-season game for the first time since they were teammates in Miami.
James, who said he planned on playing in all 82 games, showed no signs of the back troubles that sidelined him in training camp. He had five rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes.
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Pistons 98, Bulls 94, OT
‧ Timberwolves 95, Nuggets 78
‧ Spurs 102, Nets 75
‧ Hawks 97, Hornets 94
‧ Kings 132, Lakers 114
‧ Wizards 118, Bucks 113
‧ Raptors 113, Celtics 103
‧ Jazz 99, 76ers 71
‧ Suns 110, Trail Blazers 92
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