Nuggets at Thunder
Teams atop the Western Conference standings are beginning to take serious note of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The surging Thunder look for a sixth straight triumph when they host the transitioning Denver Nuggets on Sunday. Russell Westbrook continued his stellar season Saturday with 33 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as Kevin Durant sat with a toe injury and three players made their debuts in a 110-103 win over Charlotte.
"Russell's been a leader for many, many years and he's done a great job of doing that," coach Scott Brooks told reporters. "He understands the situation and he understands that we have a lot of new guys. His communicating on the court, at halftime, during timeouts, was great. He's a leader and guys listen to him." While Oklahoma City added four players at the trade deadline, Denver traded away Aaron Afflalo, Javale McGee and Alonzo Gee as it looks to start rebuilding. The club has lost 14 of its last 16 games and two of three to Oklahoma City this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, Altitude (Denver), FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (20-34): Denver dropped an 89-81 decision to Milwaukee on Friday, done in by a 5-of-24 shooting stretch in the third period. Wilson Chandler scored 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 11 and 15 rebounds. Ty Lawson, who was available for trade, was a healthy scratch against the Bucks, being "disciplined internally" after missing practice this week.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (30-25): Serge Ibaka had 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Hornets and Enes Kanter added 10 and 13 in his first game with the Thunder. Oklahoma City sits safely in the eighth spot in the West, four games behind San Antonio for seventh. Westbrook is averaging 30.8 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds in his last 10 games while draining 98-of-104 free throws, and he leads the league with five games of at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lawson leads the team in scoring (16.9), assists (10.1) and steals (1.3), but it was reported that coach Brian Shaw wanted to trade him for Indiana's George Hill.
2. The Thunder have scored 100 points in eight straight games after notching fewer than 100 in five straight.
3. Durant scored 40 points in the game he played against Denver this season, Westbrook scored 26 in the one game he played while Lawson averaged 20.7 points and 9.7 assists.