Thunder 102, Nuggets 91
Serge Ibaka and Perry Jones scored 23 points apiece as injury-riddled Oklahoma City defeated visiting Denver.
Kendrick Perkins scored 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Steven Adams tallied 13 points for the Thunder. Oklahoma City had just eight healthy players after standout point guard Russell Westbrook underwent surgery earlier Saturday to repair a broken right hand.
Ty Lawson scored 25 points but committed seven turnovers for the Nuggets, who had 18 as a team. Arron Afflalo added 14 points and Timofey Mozgov scored 10 points for Denver.
The Nuggets trailed by 20 entering the fourth quarter and Alonzo Gee and Nate Robinson each drained 3-pointers during an 8-0 surge to begin the period and Denver later moved within 88-85 on Randy Foye’s layup with 2:53 left. Ibaka drained a corner 3-pointer 25 seconds later and Jones also hit a 3-pointer as the Thunder held off the charge.
Oklahoma City used a 19-2 burst bridging the first and second quarters to take a 43-19 lead. The Thunder’s largest lead of the half was 26 points and they held a 76-56 advantage entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Thunder haven’t announced how long Westbrook will be sidelined and stated in a press release he would be re-evaluated in four weeks. … C JaVale McGee had four of Denver’s 10 blocks. … Sebastian Telfair started in Westbrook’s place and had nine assists and four steals but scored just four points on 1-of-10 shooting.