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Thunder cool off Jazz

Nov 16, 2010 - 5:34 AM Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Kevin Durant lit up the Jazz to the tune of 30 points with six rebounds and four assists, as Oklahoma City used a big second half to down Utah, 115-108, at EnergySolutions Arena.

Serge Ibaka notched a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Russell Westbrook added 22 points to go along with seven assists for the Thunder, who have won three of four.

"We beat a very good team, a team that is playing their best basketball in the league right now. They are a tough team to play. They challenge you, and we came away with a great effort and came away with a win tonight," said Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.

Deron Williams tallied 31 points and dished out 11 assists, Paul Millsap donated 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, while C.J. Miles collected 16 points for the Jazz, who had won five straight games.

"I thought they played extremely well, they made their shots, every time we tried to give a little help in there, they seemed to get the right man to get the shot," said Utah head coach Jerry Sloan.

The game took a dramatic turn from the first period to the final horn. Utah, which overcame deficits in its five straight victories, built a 24-12 edge on the second of two Andrei Kirilenko free throws just over halfway through the first quarter.

However, Durant drained four free throws in the final minutes as the Thunder cut the margin in half, 33-27. Durant scored 15 points in the period, but Williams did him one better with 16.

Oklahoma City came all of the way back to a stalemate at 48-48 on Thabo Sefolosha's driving layup with just under five minutes remaining in the half. A pair of Durant free throws in the closing seconds gave the visitors a 58-56 lead after 24 minutes of game action.

The edge grew to 13 points at 84-71 on a 21-10 scoring stretch capped by Westbrook's 18-foot jumper with just over 3 1/2 minutes left. The margin stood at 93-85 after three periods.

Utah cut the deficit to two points on several occasions, the last at 103-101 on two Al Jefferson free throws with 4:25 to play. The Jazz had a chance to cut the margin to one point, but Kirilenko missed from in close when trailing by three at 109-106. Durant made two free throws on the next possession and connected on 4-of-4 in the final 12.4 seconds to seal the victory.

Game Notes

The Thunder made 50.7 percent of their shots, including a stunning 33-of-34 effort from the charity stripe...Utah shot a highly respectable 50.6 percent from the field, but made 15 less free throws (18)...Jefferson scored 12 points with five rebounds in the loss...Kirilenko added 13 points. Sefolosha chipped in with 11 points for the victorious Thunder...The Thunder won three of the four games between the two teams last season.