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Durant leads Thunder past Hornets

Nov 30, 2010 - 5:11 AM Oklahoma City, OK (Sports Network) - Kevin Durant scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Thunder edged the New Orleans Hornets, 95-89, at Oklahoma City Arena.

Russell Westbrook added 25 points and 11 assists for the Thunder, who bounced back from their 99-98 loss to Houston on Sunday to win for the seventh time in nine games.

David West led the Hornets with 20 points and Chris Paul scored 17 with 14 assists for New Orleans, which has dropped four of its last five.

Emeka Okafor added 13 points and 11 rebounds and both Trevor Ariza and Marco Belinelli finished with 10 points in defeat.

Oklahoma City held a 23-19 advantage after a back-and-forth first quarter.

The Thunder extended their lead to as many as nine in the second, but the Hornets shot 13-of-23 in the quarter to keep the game close at 50-48 heading to the locker room.

West's step-back jumper and a dunk by Okafor gave the Hornets a 59-56 lead just inside the eight-minute mark of the third. West's running bank-shot extended the lead to eight, 65-57, but the Thunder used an 11-5 run to trim their deficit to 70-68 heading into the fourth.

Paul connected on a deep three-pointer midway through the fourth to put the Hornets up six, 81-75, but Westbrook scored six straight points to tie the game at 81.

The Thunder followed with two Jeff Green free throws to take the lead for good, and they used another six-point run from Westbrook to go up 89-81 in the final minute.

After Durant hit two free throws, Ariza connected on a deep three to cut the deficit to 91-87. On the inbounds pass, Durant was fouled and made two more from the line.

Belinelli missed a deep three that could have made it a one-possession game, but after grabbing the rebound Thabo Sefolosha went to the line and made two free throws to ice the game.

West's dunk in the final second accounted for the final margin.

Game Notes

Oklahoma City has won three straight in this series...It was Westbrook's 10th double-double of the season...Oklahoma City won the rebounding battle 56-36...The Thunder made 26-of-29 from the line, while the Hornets were 11- of-17.