Durant drops 34 points on Pistons in Thunder victory
OKLAHOMA CITY - Kevin Durant had 34 points and 13 rebounds to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Detroit Pistons 103-87 Friday night for their fourth straight win.
Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Enes Kanter added 14 points apiece for the Thunder. In a matchup of the NBA's top two rebounding teams, the No. 2 Thunder outrebounded the No. 1 Pistons 58-38. Detroit center Andre Drummond, who was leading the league with 17.8 rebounds per game, finished with seven.
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson was traded by Oklahoma City last season after saying he wanted to be a starter, despite playing behind Westbrook. Jackson was booed loudly during pregame warmups and was jeered most of the time when he touched the ball. He finished with 15 points on 4-for-16 shooting.
The Thunder scored the first eight points of the game, but the Pistons led 55-48 at halftime. Detroit shot 46 percent in the first half and held Durant and Westbrook to 7-for-20 shooting combined.
Oklahoma City rallied early in the second half as Detroit started missing shots. Consecutive 3-pointers by Durant cut Detroit's lead to 62-60.
Drummond committed his fourth foul with 4:59 left in the third quarter and the Pistons up 65-61. The Thunder drove right at him for back-to-back layups, and Dion Waiters' bucket put Oklahoma City ahead 66-65. Durant scored 14 points in the quarter to put the Thunder ahead 76-71 heading into the fourth.
Oklahoma City pushed the lead to double digits on a baseline jumper by Ibaka with 9:36 remaining and controlled the game from there.