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Durant, Thunder down Wolves

Feb 6, 2014 - 7:29 AM Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Durant had 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-97 on Wednesday.

Reggie Jackson added 20 points and nine helpers, Serge Ibaka tallied 14 points and seven boards and Kendrick Perkins snatched 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who have won 12 of their last 13 games.

"I thought we played good defense for only about four minutes in the first quarter and then in the fourth quarter. Other than that we didn't play the kind of defense we usually do," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said.

OKC has beaten the Wolves nine straight times at home.

Ricky Rubio recorded 19 points, eight boards and five assists for Minnesota, which was without its All-Star forward Kevin Love due to a stiff neck.

"I'm really proud of our guys, they busted their tail the whole game, just three points down in the fourth quarter and then we turned it over too many times, gave them easy baskets and gave them too many offensive rebounds," Wolves head coach Rick Adelman said.

The game was tied at 77-77 in the waning seconds of the third before Durant took the clock down, broke down the defense and found Derek Fisher in the left corner. Fisher buried the triple at the horn to give OKC an 80-77 edge after three.

The Thunder rode the momentum from the Fisher 3 into the fourth by scoring 11 of the frames first 15 points.

Jeremy Lamb began the burst with a trey and finished it with a steal and layup to extend the Oklahoma City margin to 93-81 with 7:17 left.

Minnesota never got within less than six the rest of the way.

OKC held a 26-25 edge after a quarter of play and Durant's triple at the halftime buzzer gave the hosts a 56-54 spread heading into the break.

Game Notes

The Thunder held a 49-39 rebounding advantage and a 44-36 points in the paint margin ... OKC shot 48.4 percent (44-of-91) from the floor, while Minnesota made 47.4 percent from the field (37-for-78) ... Fisher had 13 points for the Thunder.