Westbrook, Durant take over in OT, lift OKC

Westbrook Lifts Thunder To OT Win

VIDEO PLAYLIST

WASHINGTON — Russell Westbrook drove for the winning layup with 0.8 seconds left in overtime, and Kevin Durant greeted the latest KD2DC craze with 34 points Wednesday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder won their fourth straight with a 105-103 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Durant and Westbrook scored all 13 of the Thunder’s points in the extra period, including Durant’s throw-down dunk over Marcin Gortat and Westbrook’s surprisingly uncontested layup off of an inbounds play after Oklahoma City had called timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining.

Westbrook finished with 32 points and led a third-quarter comeback that made up a 12-point halftime deficit. Durant, the D.C. native whose 2016 free agency is much-anticipated in his hometown, added seven rebounds and broke out of a career-worst 0-for-14 slump from 3-point range by making four from long range after halftime.

Steven Adams added a career-high 20 rebounds for the Thunder, who are 19-8 after a 3-12 start. They moved above .500 for the first time this season Tuesday night with a win over the Miami Heat.

Nene scored 24 points for the Wizards, including nine of Washington’s 11 points in overtime. John Wall had 28 points and 13 assists.

Durant’s annual homecoming game has morphed into a recruiting trip, a sideshow to the action on the court. “KD2DC” T-shirts and signs have become popular items, and he was shown wearing a photoshopped “Washington” jersey on the replay screen during a weather update in the fourth quarter.

The arena — which was sold out for only the fifth time this season — erupted in cheers when Durant was introduced with the starting lineups. Durant, who was born in the District and was a high school star in the area, has tried his best to ignore the noise about a decision that is still more than a year away.

Asked before the game about the support he receives from the D.C. fans, he said: “It’s cool. It’s cool.” Then came a long pause and a smile before a final: “It’s cool.”

“I love playing for Oklahoma City, man,” he said later. “It’s just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest. That’s the only thing I focus on.”

Durant struggled again with his shot early on. He went 3 for 9 from the field and 0 for 3 from 3-point range, one night after missing all eight 3-point attempts in a win over the Miami Heat.

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TIP INS

Thunder: Oklahoma City missed its first 11 3-point attempts. … Durant said he had to get 91 tickets for family and friends for the game. Last year, he needed 100. Asked about missing nine, he laughed and said: “I’m going to keep that internal.” … Oklahoma City is 3-0 so far on its five-game road trip.

Wizards: Paul Pierce had a season-high 12 rebounds. … Washington lost for the first time when leading after three quarters. The team has been 16-0 when leading going into the fourth. … One can go for weeks without seeing a lane violation in the NBA, but this game had two in 66 seconds. The Thunder and Wizards each were caught cheating on a free-throw attempt early in the second quarter.

UP NEXT

Thunder: visit Hawks on Friday.

Wizards: visit Trail Blazers on Saturday.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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