Durant's Huge Fourth Quarter Lifts Thunder To Victory

Grant Belcher, News9.com

MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Durant doesn't face foul trouble very often like he did on Saturday in Minnesota. But luckily for OKC, he came back into the game with a vengeance.

The Thunder managed to stay on top of the Western Conference with a 115-110 victory against the Timberwolves on Saturday night as the regular season begins to wind down.

The win allowed Oklahoma City to keep its modest one-game lead over the Spurs in the West, although the two teams share the same number of losses.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, it was just one of those nights for Kevin Durant, even though he sat eight minutes in the third quarter with foul trouble. He racked up 43 points in the game, including 20 in the fourth quarter alone to help OKC close the game out.

Despite drawing multiple defenders each time he touched the ball, Durant still managed to get to the bucket, shooting 15-of-23 from the floor and hitting 9-of-12 foul shots.

The 43-point performance marked the fourth time in his young career that Durant has scored 40 or more against the Timberwolves, an NBA record that outclasses players such as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

Though the Thunder could never create any huge separation in the game, they controlled the tempo for most of the night.

OKC led by three points at the end of the first quarter and by one point at the half.

Shortly into the third quarter, however, Oklahoma City pushed its lead out to double digits on a pair of free throws from Serge Ibaka, making it 69-58.

Minnesota crept back into the game, cutting the lead back down to a single digit again at 91-90. But Durant's massive fourth quarter was too much for the Timberwolves to overcome.

His 20 points in the fourth were one point off of the Oklahoma City record for the most points in a quarter.

The Thunder didn't shoot particularly well at 44 percent, and they allowed the Timberwolves to shoot 50 percent in the process.

But OKC outrebounded Minnesota by a 53-39 margin, including 12 rebounds from Serge Ibaka and 10 from Kendrick Perkins.

Russell Westbrook also had a big game for OKC with 35 points and eight assists. And Nick Collison added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

The Thunder (44-16) will have a chance for some redemption against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. OKC dropped a tough one to L.A. on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. Tuesday's game will tip off at 9:30 p.m. Monday in Los Angeles.