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Durant's 30 points lead Thunder past Bobcats 98-91

Dec 27, 2009 - 4:13 AM OKLAHOMA CITY(AP) -- Kevin Durant scored 30 points, Russell Westbrook had 22 and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Charlotte Bobcats 98-91 on Saturday night.

Nenad Krstic added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the surprising Thunder, who improved to 15-14. They didn't earn their 15th win last season until the 60th game, on March 2.

A near-capacity crowd of 17,961 showed up at the 18,203-seat Ford Center, two nights after the biggest snowstorm (14 inches) in Oklahoma City history.

Stephen Jackson had 24 points for the Bobcats, who dropped to 1-13 on the road.

Early in the second half Oklahoma City led by as many as 12 points, 62-50, after a 12-0 run. But Charlotte didn't go away, twice closing within four in the final 2 minutes.

Beginning late in the first quarter, the Thunder built a 37-27 lead on the strength of a 17-0 run.

Reserve guard Eric Maynor, playing in his first home game since being acquired by the Thunder, led the scoring spree. He had seven of the final 10 points during that span, scoring after a steal, on a driving layup and with a 3-pointer.

After Oklahoma City went ahead 39-29, Charlotte answered with a 12-0 run. But the Thunder led 53-50 at halftime.

NOTES: The Thunder are 12-1 when they score 100 points or more. The lone loss was 111-108 on Dec. 22 at the Los Angeles Lakers. ... Oklahoma City's previous eight games were against teams with a composite winning percentage of .626. Now, including Charlotte, the Thunder's next nine opponents have a .379 winning percentage. ... The Bobcats were 3-6 when they acquired Jackson last month. They are 8-11 since. ... Charlotte forward Gerald Wallace came in averaging 41 minutes per game, tops in the NBA. He played 45.