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Thunder hold off Magic for sixth straight win

Dec 16, 2013 - 5:10 AM Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Durant scored a game-high 28 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Orlando Magic for a 101-98 win on Sunday.

Russell Westbrook added a 20 points, 12 boards and six assists and Jeremy Lamb poured in 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Thunder, winners in six straight.

"Our defense was up and down all night and we didn't do a good job executing down the stretch," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "Tonight we had three or four spurts where we locked down (on defense). The rest of the time we were just hoping they'd miss."

Arron Afflalo scored 25 points and Nikola Vucevic added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Magic, who saw all five starters reach double figures scoring.

Victor Oladipo had 15 points, while Jameer Nelson and Glen Davis finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Orlando lost for the eighth time in nine tilts.

The Thunder led 96-80 following a Westbrook fastbreak layup at the 6:12 mark, but the Magic chipped away and pulled within 100-93 after an Oladipo dunk.

After Westbrook misfired on a short jumper, Afflalo buried a triple, and Nelson stripped Westbrook and found Moe Harkless for a fastbreak slam to cut it to 100-98 with 22 seconds left.

Orlando fouled Durant, who split a pair from the free throw line to make it a three-point game.

Davis wasn't even close with a desperation trey with two seconds left, but Vucevic was there and tried a putback with 1.3 seconds left that was swatted away by Serge Ibaka. Initially, Ibaka was whistled for goaltending, but after a review, it was determined to be a clean block and Vucevic and Ibaka lined up for a jump ball at midcourt.

Ibaka won the tap, but tipped it right to Orlando's Tobias Harris who turned and attempted a buzzer-beating 3, but couldn't get the shot off in time and the Thunder held on for the win.

"Just good defense by the Thunder on our last possession so give them credit for that. Overall our guys really believed from the beginning to the end that we were going to win that game and that's a good start for us," said Magic coach Jacque Vaughn.

OKC led 28-22 after the first quarter and took a 56-49 lead into the break. The Thunder's advantage grew as large as 14 in the third, and the hosts led 83-71 entering the final frame.

Game Notes

The Thunder outscored the Magic in the paint by a 50-30 margin ... Reggie Jackson added 10 points off the bench for the Thunder ... Orlando fell to 2-11 on the road this season.