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Thunder handle Bobcats

Mar 9, 2013 - 4:12 AM Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Kevin Durant totaled 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds and the Thunder once again routed the Charlotte Bobcats in a 116-94 victory on Friday.

Much like the last encounter, when Oklahoma City handed the Bobcats their worst loss in franchise history back on Nov. 26, the Thunder starters weren't needed by the time the fourth quarter came around.

Russell Westbrook scored 11 points and the Thunder received three 3-pointers and 13 points apiece from Derek Fisher and Thabo Sefolosha in the team's seventh win in eight games.

Gerald Henderson finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, but the Bobcats dropped their ninth in a row and 22nd in 24 games at home.

"We just couldn't keep them from scoring," said Henderson. "At one point in the second quarter, we were down 18 and we didn't even really know how we got there."

Ben Gordon followed with 19 points and Jeff Adrien scored 12 in defeat.

The Bobcats led 29-28 after the first quarter, but the Thunder's second unit put together an impressive 19-0 run to start the second, with Fisher hitting a pair of triples and scoring eight during the surge.

Charlotte missed its first nine shots of the quarter and fell behind by as many as 21. It closed out the half with seven unanswered points to come within 64-50, however the short spurt did not carry any momentum into the third.

The Thunder limited the Bobcats to just two field goals over the initial eight minutes of the stanza, in which time they opened up an 85-59 spread on Durant's three-point play.

Holding a 90-66 lead heading into the fourth, the Thunder emptied their bench and saw their lead only dwindle down to 18 points before the final buzzer.

Game Notes

The Thunder have won the last five games against the Bobcats by an average of 25.8 points ... Oklahoma City improved to 5-3 in the second game of a back-to- back. It defeated the New York Knicks on Thursday ... The Thunder shot 12- for-24 from beyond the arc ... Kevin Martin was 3-for-6 from 3-point range and scored 11 points off the bench for Oklahoma City ... The Bobcats trailed by as many as 29 points.