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Krstic propels Thunder past Sixers

Mar 9, 2009 - 2:55 AM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- Nenad Krstic recorded 20 points and eight rebounds as the Oklahoma City Thunder posted a 89-74 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

Nick Collison scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Russell Westbrook collected 11, seven and five assists to lead the Thunder to their fourth win in five contests.

"We are playing well together right now, we are playing good basketball," Krstic said. "A lot of guys are stepping up, scoring in double figures, but our defense has stepped up and really taken the pressure off of us on the other end.

"It is a lot easier to concentrate on offense when you know you are playing good defense."

Andre Miller and Thaddeus Young each poured in 20 points for the Sixers, who have dropped three of four.

"Well, we got thoroughly outplayed tonight," Philadelphia interim coach Tony DiLeo said. "They came out and did a great job, kept us on our heels, and for whatever reason we just didn't have it tonight. That's no excuse, we are coming down the stretch and we have to have it."

Krstic converted a jumper with 2:40 remaining in the second to punctuate a 24-4 run, which erased a shoddy first quarter for Oklahoma City.

"I never thought we would be in a position to be critical of a win, but there were a lot of things we did tonight that weren't very helpful," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

Malik Rose finished with a season-high 14 points off the bench and netted eight in that key run.

"We are doing so many of the little things well right now," Collison said. "Our effort needs to be there every night, and for the most part I think that is the reason we have won four of our last five games. We are buying into battling for loose balls and attacking the boards, and trying to give ourselves every chance we can to win games.

"That's how it goes in this league, you have to give that kind of effort every night."

The 25-year-old Krstic bounced back from a porous 3-of-12 shooting effort in the Thunder's 108-90 setback to the New Orleans Hornets on Friday.

Philadelphia, which is 3-7 since the All-Star break, was outrebounded, 41-33, and shot 39 percent from the floor.