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Thunder pull away in fourth to beat Bobcats

Dec 22, 2010 - 7:34 AM Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Kevin Durant led all scorers with 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds, as the Oklahoma City Thunder used a big fourth quarter to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats, 99-81.

Russell Westbrook finished with 15 points and James Harden chipped in with 13 off the bench for the Thunder, who outscored Charlotte 31-12 in the fourth.

Oklahoma City, which recovered from a 113-110 setback to Phoenix on Sunday, has won six of its last seven contests overall. Jeff Green added 12 points in the victory.

"We just played good basketball," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "It wasn't always correct play but the effort was always there."

Stephen Jackson had a team-best 20 points for Charlotte, which has dropped four in a row and six of seven. Boris Diaw turned in a solid effort with 13 points, eight assists and seven boards in defeat.

Trailing by one, 69-68, after three quarters, Harden's trey put the Thunder in front and started a 13-2 run in the process. After Durant drained a pair at the stripe, the visitors were up 81-71 with 7:58 remaining.

Then a short time later, OKC blew the game open, as Green hit from beyond the arc and made an alley-oop layup that started a string of 12 straight points, that put his squad ahead 93-72 with 3:07 left.

The Thunder emptied their bench and cruised the rest of the way.

"We can't start pointing fingers," Jackson said. "We just got to stay together."

Charlotte held a 23-21 lead after the opening quarter and things went back and forth through the majority of the second.

With the Bobcats up 36-34 with 4:10 remaining in the half, Durant tied it with a dunk and Nick Collison followed with a layup and tip-in to put Oklahoma City in front 40-36 with 2:15 left.

Collison and Durant combined to hit three free throws in the closing seconds to give the Thunder a 45-40 advantage at the break.

Behind for most of the third quarter, Jackson's off-balance jumper from the right wing and free throw finished off a three-point play with 20 seconds left in the period to give the Bobcats a 69-68 lead heading into the fourth.

Game Notes

The Bobcats had won three straight games over the Oklahoma City franchise in Charlotte coming into the contest...Charlotte all-star forward Gerald Wallace missed his fourth straight game with a sprained left ankle.