Thunder 104, Nuggets 89
Kevin Durant poured in 28 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the visiting Denver Nuggets 104-89 Friday night.
Russell Westbrook added 17 points and Nazr Mohammed had 15 in a reserve role for the Thunder (53-26), who beat Denver for the second time in less than a week. The win allowed Oklahoma City to remain one game behind Dallas in the race for third place in the conference after the Mavericks got past the L.A. Clippers 107-96.
Nene had 18 points to pace the Nuggets (48-31), who saw their lead over New Orleans shrink to two games in the race for fifth place in the conference. The Hornets earned a 109-97 victory over Phoenix on Friday.
Daequan Cook had back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second quarter as Oklahoma City slowly opened up a lead. The advantage grew to as many as 14 points before the half was out, and the Thunder weren't seriously challenged the rest of the way.