NBA GAME RECAP

Thunder 122, Suns 106

The Sports Xchange

February 08, 2016 at 9:56 pm.

PHOENIX — Forward Kevin Durant scored 32 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a 15-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to begin to pull away for a 122-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday.

Guard Russell Westbrook added 29 for the Thunder (39-14), who were tied at halftime and trailed 85-80 with 1:19 left in the third quarter. They ended the period with a 9-0 run and scored the first six of the fourth quarter get some distance from the reeling Suns.

Phoenix pulled within three points one more time at 99-96 on a P.J. Tucker put-back with 5:43 left. Westbrook and Durant each hit two free throws before Dion Waiters capped another 7-1 run with a 3-pointer to make it 106-97 with 4:42 left. The Thunder ended the game on a 23-10 run.

Waiters finished with 15 points.

Coming off a loss to the Warriors at Golden State Saturday, the Thunder won for the sixth time in the last seven games and for the 13th time in the last 15.

Forward Markieff Morris scored 23 points and guard Archie Goodwin had 20 for the Suns (14-39), who stayed competitive but lost their eighth straight game. Mirza Teletovic had 14 of his 17 points in the second quarter for the Phoenix, who has lost 23 of their last 25 games overall.

Tucker added 16 points before fouling out with 2:02 left.

The Thunder made 15 of 33 3-pointers on the game — the Suns made 1 of 11 — and they used the long ball to ward off several charges by Phoenix.

The Suns, who were outscored 31-12 in the first quarter of a 98-89 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday, started slowly again. The Thunder used nine points by Westbrook and seven from Durant to lead by as many as 12 points in the quarter and led 28-19 after one.

Phoenix took only 14 shots in the quarter and had as many turnovers as baskets (five). Morris had eight points.

The Suns answered quickly with a 38-point explosion in the second quarter, scoring on their first 15 straight possessions. Teletovic had10 of his 14 points in the first four minutes and Phoenix wound up shooting 15 of 21 from the floor and didn’t commit a turnover.

The Thunder answered by hitting 6 of 9 3-pointers in the quarter including four of their bench players, but the Suns kept coming and tied the game at 54 on a Tyson Chandler layup with 1:25 left.

Phoenix kept up the pressure in the third quarter, with Tucker scoring eight points and pushing the Suns to lead by as many as six. Durant had 12 of his 14 points in the final 2:17 of the quarter, five of which helped turn an 85-80 deficit into a 89-85 Thunder lead after three.

NOTES: Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan did not believe his team would have problems bouncing back from the 116-108 loss against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday: “I understand there was a lot of hype around the game … but for us, I think our guys looked at it as just one game. We have a lot of veteran guys in that locker room that understand the length of time of the season and you can learn and grow a lot from one game.” … Suns interim coach Earl Watson was drafted by Oklahoma City when the team was still the Seattle Supersonics and spent two seasons as a teammate of Kevin Durant and one with Russell Westbrook. … The Thunder came into the game 38-14, the third straight season they came into the game with at least 38 wins in the first 52 games. … Suns G Devin Booker came into the game with at least 15 points in six straight games, tied with Michael Finley (1995-96) for the longest such streak by a Suns rookie since Richard Dumas went eight games in a row in 1992-93.