Durant's 20 points lead Thunder past Jazz 113-91
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Russell Westbrook's triple-double rampage has overshadowed Kevin Durant's emergence as a dominant passer.
Durant had 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Utah Jazz 113-91 on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory. During the winning streak, the four-time scoring champion is averaging 7.2 assists and has at least six in five of the six games.
''It helps a lot,'' Westbrook said. ''There's a lot of pressure on him, with two or three guys on him. He's finding open guys and guys are making shots.''
Westbrook's triple-double streak ended at three. He had 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter because the game was in hand.
Dion Waiters scored 17 points, Enes Kanter added 14, and the Thunder shot 54 percent from the field.
''We play against a great defensive team, we've got to move the ball,'' Durant said. ''We've been doing a good job of that the last couple of weeks, just moving and finding the open guy. And guys have been confident in themselves when they shoot the ball. But it all stems from our defense. When everybody's engaged on defense, offense comes a little easier for us.''
The Thunder will take the NBA's longest current winning streak into their home game Saturday against San Antonio.
''It's just another game,'' Durant said. ''It's just another opportunity to keep building the habits that we've built these last couple weeks. We just want to keep playing good basketball like we've been playing. It means nothing. I'm sure it means nothing to those guys. It's not a playoff game. It's just another opportunity to get better, but also, come out there and play our game.''
Trey Burke scored 17 points, and Trey Lyles added 14 for the Jazz, who are fighting for a playoff spot. Gordon Hayward, who averages 20 points, was held to six on 2-for-6 shooting.
The Thunder scored 32 points off Utah's 18 turnovers.
''We sit here and say it - we have to not turn it over,'' Utah coach Quin Snyder said. ''There's nothing, there's no magic potion or drill.''
The Thunder led 50-39 at halftime behind 13 points, five rebounds and five assists from Westbrook.
Oklahoma City started the second half with a flourish, and a 3-pointer by Serge Ibaka on an assist from Westbrook gave the Thunder a 65-42 lead.
Utah made a push late in the third quarter to trim Oklahoma City's lead to 74-60, but Durant found Waiters for a fast- break dunk, then Durant sent another lead pass to Waiters for a layup that pushed the advantage back up to 18s. Durant's 3-pointer as the clock expired at the end of the quarter made it 81-60, and the Thunder opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run to make it 91-62.
''They came out ready to play, and we dug ourselves a hole turning the ball over,'' Utah guard Rodney Hood said. ''Against a team like that - they've got two of the top five players in the league, especially in transition, and it just trickled down from there.''
---
STAT LINES
Utah's starters combined for 34 points, and just one, Hood reached double figures with 11.
QUOTABLE
Durant, on his Tweet in 2014 saying San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard was a product of the Spurs' system: ''He's definitely grown as a player. He's not a system player. I know you guys like to throw that term around. He's just grown so much - a guy that - you have to be locked in every play. He can shoot the mid-range, he can post, he can shoot the three, he can dribble. He's just grown so much defensively - probably one of the best guys in the league.''
TIP-INS
Jazz: Were playing the second game of a back-to-back. Utah beat the Houston Rockets 89-87 on Wednesday night. ... Shot 56 percent in the first quarter but still trailed 26-23 at the end of the period.
Thunder: F Kyle Singler sat out with lower back soreness. ... Kanter, who used to play for Utah, missed his first five shots. He scored his first basket with 10:32 remaining. ... Westbrook had three steals in the first half. ... Josh Huestis scored his first career basket in the fourth quarter. He was Oklahoma City's first-round pick in 2014.
UP NEXT
Jazz play at Timberwolves on Saturday.
Thunder host Spurs on Saturday.
---
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
---
This story has been corrected to reflect official scoring change on Kanter's points to 14 instead of 16.
