Thunder 117, Nuggets 93
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Forward Kevin Durant scored 25 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets Sunday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Thunder have started the season off with 3-0 record while the Nuggets fell to 1-2.
Durant shot 8-of-11 from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers to go along with five assists and two rebounds. Forward Serge Ibaka added 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
Guard Russell Westbrook scored 15 points on 7 of 13 shooting. He also collected nine rebounds and eight assists without playing in the fourth quarter.
For the second game in a row, the Nuggets offense was anemic. Forward Danilo Gallinari paced the team with 15 points on 3 of 13 shooting. Center Joffrey Lauvergne tallied 11 points and seven rebounds. Guard Will Barton came off the bench to score 15 points.
Gallinari was on a mission in the first quarter. He attacked Durant offensively and forced him to pick up two early fouls. It allowed the Nuggets to take an early 17-16 lead.
However, guard Dion Waiters led the Thunder on a resurgence. But instead of doing it with his scoring, it was Waiters' passes to Westbrook and Ibaka that gave Oklahoma City its first lead.
It was the Thunder's 3-point shooting that allowed them take a 58-50 into halftime. Led by guard D.J. Augustin, they shot 7 of 15 from behind the arc in the first half.
Oklahoma City picked up in the third quarter where it left off at halftime. They threw a 21-6 run on the Nuggets in the first six minutes of the quarter.
Denver quickly found itself down by 27 points before it started chipping away at the lead. Guard Jameer Nelson tried to settle the team down and run their offense.
But the pressure the Thunder put on Denver offensively was too much for the visiting team to slow down. Oklahoma City led by 25 at the end of the quarter and benched their starters the rest of the game.
The Thunder outrebounded the Nuggets by 15 and outscored them by 12 from 3-point range.
NOTES: With Oklahoma City playing two sets of back-to-back games in the next five days, coach Billy Donovan is not planning to put F Kevin Durant on a minute restriction. "He is fine right now," Donovan said of the veteran who missed the end of last season due to foot surgery. ... Denver coach Mike Malone is not happy with the evolution of his half-court offense. "On Wednesday in our opener, we saw great examples of ball movement, guys making plays for each other," Malone said. "For whatever reason on Friday night, we became a one-on-one, pound the ball, dribble, make a play for myself type team." ... The Thunder wore their new sunset-colored alternate jerseys for the first time. The bright orange and blue uniforms are the third alternate jerseys the team introduced in the past few years.