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Durant, Westbrook pace Thunder past Suns

Jan 15, 2013 - 6:25 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 77 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 102-90 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday.

Durant had 41 points on 15-of-30 shooting while Westbrook added 36 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who have won four straight. Kevin Martin added 12 points off the bench.

"Russ got it going early and I just tried to play off of everybody," Durant remarked. "My teammates just told me to go be aggressive and luckily my shots were falling."

Shannon Brown scored 21 points while Marcin Gortat gave 19 points and 15 boards for the Suns, who were coming off a win against Chicago on Saturday that had snapped a five-game losing streak.

"If you are going to play a team of this quality you have to seize opportunity," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said of the Thunder. "I thought we had opportunities that we just kind of let slip on by and it's going to be really tough to beat a team of this quality if you don't take advantage of those situations."

Phoenix led for most of the first quarter and held a seven-point lead late, but Martin hit two buckets, including one at the buzzer to cut the Thunder's deficit to 24-21 heading into the second.

A 15-3 run by the Thunder in the second gave the team a lead they never gave back with Westbrook's bucket with under five minutes to play giving the team a 38-33 lead.

The lead reached as high as 10, but Brown converted a three-point play late in the half to cut Oklahoma City's lead to 51-45 after 24 minutes of play.

A 9-2 run to start the third gave Oklahoma City a 60-47 lead after a Durant jumper three minutes in, but a 9-2 run to close the quarter by the Suns made it a four-point deficit, 72-68, going to the fourth.

Phoenix kept it close through the early parts of the fourth quarter, but Westbrook hit two free throws and followed that a minute and a half later with a 3-pointer for an 87-77 lead with under five minutes to play.

A 7-0 run by Oklahoma City a bit later capped on a three-point play by Durant sealed the win.

Game Notes

Oklahoma City hosts Denver on Wednesday ... Phoenix hosts Milwaukee on Thursday ... The Thunder have won eight straight over the Suns ... The Thunder shot 47.6 percent while Phoenix made just 41.7 percent.