Thunder 111, Rockets 107
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Russell Westbrook collected his 15th triple-double of the season, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to an 111-107 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Durant, who shot 8-for-19 from the field, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists. Westbrook tallied 21 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds for his third straight triple-double and sixth in past nine games.
Oklahoma City (49-22) earned its fifth win in a row.
James Harden paced the Rockets with 24 points on 7-of-17 shooting, and he added 16 assists. Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley each scored 16 for Houston (35-36). Howard finished with a team-high 13 rebounds.
Westbrook completed a three-point play with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter to give Oklahoma City a 92-90 advantage. He made a free throw on the next trip to put the Thunder up by three.
Minutes later, a Westbrook jumper gave the Thunder a three-point advantage, but Harden knocked down a pair of free throws to cut Houston's deficit to 97-96 with 3:44 left.
After a Durant miss, Beverley drained a 3-pointer from in front of the Thunder bench to push the Rockets in front 99-97. However, Steven Adams quickly tied it up on a dunk.
The Thunder then forced a turnover that led to a Westbrook one-man fastbreak in which he skied for a tomahawk dunk. Another defensive stop was turned into a Westbrook jumper and a four-point advantage.
Harden hit two free throws before Durant popped in a fadeaway jumper.
Leading by four, the Thunder came up with a series of defensive stops to get the ball back. Durant was fouled and he hit one of two from the line with 28.9 seconds to go.
Jason Terry and Harden hit back to back 3-pointers to get Rockets to within one point with 11.8 seconds left. Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka made just one of two from the line, leaving the door open for Houston.
Harden attempted to throw an alley-oop to Howard, but Dion Waiters leaped high enough to deflect the pass and save the game.
Before the game began, Houston interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff talked about how his team was made for physical games and that it wouldn't back down from any squad.
That was evident in the first quarter when the Rockets attacked the glass against the No. 1 rebounding team in the league, and Houston jumped out to a 27-18 lead.
However, with just over two minutes left in the period, Oklahoma City went on a 23-8 run that spread over into the second quarter. It was keyed by Durant and Waiters.
Harden settled the Rockets back down on offense and led them to a one-point halftime advantage.
Waiters continued to take advantage of the Rockets' defense in the third quarter. In just the fifth game back since the death of his younger brother, the reserve guard broke out of a slump that had lasted since the All-Star break, scoring 17 points in 25 minutes Tuesday.
NOTES: Oklahoma City C Steven Adams was asked if he's ever noticed the ball being sticky when playing against Houston C Dwight Howard. "Is that what he does? I don't know," Adams said. "Maybe that's why he misses free throws." ... Houston interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff says G James Harden leads the NBA in attempted and made free throws by a wide margin for a reason. "It's a skill," Bickerstaff said. "He's found the cheat code in the matrix basically. They foul him. A lot of times he goes to the basket, gets fouled and they don't call them all. So he could shoot even more free throws." ... Thunder F Kyle Singler sat out Tuesday's game with sore lower back. Thunder coach Billy Donovan said, "I think it's probably something they will monitor each day. There's really been no timetable given to me (for his return)."