OKLAHOMA CITY — NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant had a season-high 44 points — 21 in the third quarter — and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 114-106 on Saturday night.
James Harden added 21 points, and Russell Westbrook added 19 for the Thunder in the first Christmas game in the franchise's three-season tenure in Oklahoma City.
Durant entered the game with a 27.5-point scoring average and a season high of 34, but he blew past the latter by the five-minute mark of the third quarter en route to his first 40-point game of the season – after having eight of them last season. He was 14 of 20 from the field.
Denver played for the second straight game without star Carmelo Anthony following his sister's death Wednesday. Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets with 30 points, and Nene had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Oklahoma City improved to 21-10 and is 9-1 after a loss. The Thunder had lost two of their last three.
Denver led by 10 points in the first quarter. Behind Durant and Harden, the Thunder rallied to go up 54-51 late in the first half before the Nuggets closed on a 7-2 run to take a 58-56 halftime lead.
Denver led 62-56 early in the third quarter before Durant took over offensively, making a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws after being fouled on another attempt, all in a 1:40 span. Another 3-pointer pulled the Thunder even at 76, then Durant assisted on Westbrook's layup to put Oklahoma City ahead.
Westbrook, who was fouled on the play, gave a fist pump to rev up the crowd.
Al Harrington put Denver back up 85-84 with a 3-pointer, but Durant — wearing special bright yellow shoes, as did all his teammates — answered with a basket and Harden's two free throws gave the Thunder an 88-85 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Durant didn't score in the fourth quarter until the final 2 minutes, but with Denver's defense focused on him, his teammates found open shots and lanes to the basket. Oklahoma City extended its lead to 10 at 96-86 with 8:45 left and the Nuggets came no closer than three the rest of the way.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Durant and Harden 30 seconds apart, the later with 1:11 left, sealed the win for the Thunder. Durant just missed his career high of 47, set Feb. 17, 2009, against New Orleans.
Ty Lawson scored 19 points for Denver, while Kenyon Martin, in his second game back for the Nuggets after missing the first 26 because of a left knee injury, had 10.
Notes
Thunder C Nenad Krstic returned to the starting lineup after missing seven games because of a lower back sprain. … Denver coach George Karl said before the game he didn't expect Anthony to return for the Nuggets' home game Sunday against Philadelphia. … Nuggets F Shelden Williams, from the Oklahoma City area, didn't play for the second straight game after starting Denver's first 26 games. … The Thunder surprised 125 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Oklahoma City with new bicycles and helmets during a halftime presentation.