Durant stars again as he stretches lead in points scoring.
There were five games on the NBA schedule on Tuesday night, with the Portland Trail Blazers taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder in a big Western Conference clash.
It was the home team who came out on top as Kevin Durant scored 46 points to make it eight straight games with 30 points or more as the Thunder sealed a 105-97 win over the Blazers.
The 25-year-old scored 11 of his total points tally in the final three minutes to push Oklahoma City over the line, as he helped his team improve to 9-5 since point guard Russell Westbrook went down with an injury.
Furthermore, the win moves OKC to 32-10 for the season as they take a one-game lead over Portland in the Northwest Division.
“When the basket is an ocean, you can’t really do much about it,” Portland guard Wesley Matthews said, according to ESPN. “He’s been on a roll.”
LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 16 rebounds, but he was unable to match Durant in the latter stages of the game as the visitors suffered defeat to slip to 31-11.
Elsewhere, the Brooklyn Nets made it 8-1 in 2014 after their comfortable win over the Orlando Magic at the Barclays Center.
Andray Blatche had another great game off the bench scoring a team-high 18 points, while Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson contributed 13 points apiece.
Coach Jason Kidd stuck with the same starting five that has been so productive recently, with point guard Deron Williams once again coming off the bench as he added nine points and nine assists on the night.
The win moves the Nets to 18-22 for the season, and as pointed out by Pierce after the game, they are now finally starting to demonstrate some consistency as they look to chase down their rivals in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings were the other big winners of the night, as Rudy Gay tied a career-high of 41 points in their 114-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Gay added 8 rebounds and 5 assists to his night’s work, while DeMarcus Cousins had 18 points and 11 rebounds to go with four blocks for the Kings who have now won five of their last eight games.
However, despite their recent upturn in form, they remain in 14th place in the West, and are currently eight games back on the last playoff spot.
NBA Results:
Orlando Magic 90-101 Brooklyn Nets
Boston Celtics 86-93 Miami Heat
Sacramento Kings 114-97 New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers 97-105 Oklahoma City Thunder
Minnesota Timberwolves 112-97 Utah Jazz
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