Warriors Lose To Thunder In OT
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Kevin Durant scored 39 points, Russell Westbrook hit the winning free throw with 11.4 seconds left in overtime and the Oklahoma City Thunder finished their longest homestand of the season with a 115-114 victory against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Durant scored eight of Oklahoma City's nine points in overtime, but served as a decoy to create room along the right side of the lane as Westbrook drove to the basket and got fouled.
Westbrook missed his first free throw, but made the second to put the Thunder on top.
Monta Ellis' jumper from the top of the key was wide right at the final buzzer.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 35 points, David Lee had 24 points and 15 rebounds and Ellis had 20 points and 11 assists.
The Warriors eliminated a 10-point deficit in the final 3:49 of regulation, punctuated by a six-point burst in just a matter of seconds.
After Reggie Williams' 3-pointer from the right wing with 11.1 seconds remaining, Ellis stole Daequan Cook's inbounds pass and stepped behind the line for another 3 from the left corner to tie it up with 6.9 seconds to go.
Durant missed a fallaway jumper on the right baseline at the end of regulation.
Golden State led 114-112 after Ellis' 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:10 left in overtime, but Durant answered with a jumper from the left wing to tie it up.
Ellis then missed from the top of the key on the Warriors' last two possessions.
Serge Ibaka added 19 points and Kendrick Perkins had 13 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which started out with a win in its first of four back-to-back sets in the final 15 days of the season. But not without a little extra work.
Golden State wiped away a 14-point deficit in the third quarter by deploying a zone that the Thunder couldn't solve. Oklahoma City went more than 6 minutes without a basket as the Warriors put together a 16-2 run that featured a two-handed putback dunk by Lee, a 3-pointer by Dorell Wright and six points from Ekpe Udoh.
Curry provided the final five with a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup that provided Golden State a 74-73 lead. Curry put the Warriors up again after answering Harden's banked-in jumper with a three-point play and then Durant's 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer with a driving layup to start the fourth.
Harden had a two-handed slam, Durant dunked Eric Maynor's alley-oop with two hands and Harden had a steal for a left-handed, fast break jam during a string of eight straight Oklahoma City points, and Ibaka's layup off a Westbrook lob made it 100-90 with 3:24 to play.
Ellis answered with a driving layup at the other end and had seven points down the stretch in regulation to force overtime. He missed 12 straight shots at one point and finished 9-for-30 from the field.
The Thunder scored seven straight points to pull ahead midway through the second quarter on Cook's three free throws, then extended their lead with a string of eight consecutive points shortly after Cook and Curry got tangled up with an arena worker on the sideline to spill a platter of drinks on Durant's mother.
Westbrook had a pair of driving layups and Durant added a jumper from the right elbow and the assist on Ibaka's dunk that made it 58-48 with 1:52 left before halftime. At that point, Oklahoma City had made 21 of its 33 shots for a 64 percent success rate.
Notes: Thunder backup Nick Collison sat out with a sprained left ankle. Coach Scott Brooks said he's day to day and his status for Wednesday night at Phoenix is uncertain. ... Golden State guard Acie Law wasn't with the team while getting further evaluations on his injured right wrist. ... Nate Robinson was activated for Oklahoma City for the first time since having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on March 4 but did not play.
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