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Pistons and Thunder meet in OKC

Mar 11, 2011 - 4:14 PM (Sports Network) - Oklahoma City will try to pad its lead in the Northwest Division when the club hosts the lowly Detroit Pistons on Friday.

The Thunder have won four of their past five games and lead by Denver by three games in the Northwest. Most recently, Kevin Durant, the NBA's leading scorer, led Oklahoma City's comeback with 34 points and 16 rebounds, as the Thunder rallied past the Sixers, 110-105, in overtime at Wells Fargo Center.

Russell Westbrook added 27 points and 12 assists for the Thunder, which is 4-3 since a pair of trades brought Kendrick Perkins, Nate Robinson and Nazr Mohammed to the Thunder on Feb. 24. Nick Collison tallied 13 points and 10 boards off the bench.

"It was a good win for us," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "We made a lot of big plays down the stretch."

Mohammed continues to start for Brooks as Perkins recovers from a sprained left MCL. The former Celtics big man is close to returning, however, and is listed as questionable for tonight. Robinson, meanwhile, remains out after undergoing arthroscopic right knee surgery.

The Pistons lost for the third time in four games Wednesday when Tony Parker posted a game-high 23 points to lead six San Antonio scorers in double digits, as the Spurs topped the Pistons, 111-104, at AT&T Center.

Richard Hamilton paced Detroit with 20 points in a reserve role while both Tayshaun Prince and Greg Monroe added 16 points in the loss, the Pistons' worst defensive effort of the season. San Antonio shot a sizzling 64.3 percent in the game and over 80 percent in the opening quarter.

"I've been in the business for a long time and I've never seen a team shoot 80 percent, that was incredible," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "I thought that was the difference in the game, first quarter 40 to 26. That hurt us."

Tracy McGrady and Ben Gordon finished with 15 and 12 points, respectively, for Detroit.