Durant, Green Return in Thunder Victory

Oklahoma City racked up its fifth-straight win with a 117-107 victory against Minnesota.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:03 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Nov 22, 2010 10:20 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – Russell Westbrook experienced a point guard’s dream on Monday night.

After having to run the show without two of the team’s three leading scorers for a while, he got both Kevin Durant and Jeff Green back in a 117-107 victory against Minnesota.

Westbrook made good use of the re-emergence of Durant and Green, racking up 14 assists in the game.

Meanwhile, the two returning players also made good use of their point guard. Durant picked up 28 points and Green had 24 in the victory to go along with Westbrook’s 20.

The Timberwolves were outmatched in nearly every aspect of the game, but managed to keep it close until the end.

Oklahoma City jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and led by as many as 18 points during the game.

However, Minnesota scratched its way back in and was actually able to take a lead of its own –its first lead - on a Darko Milicic layup with just less than seven minutes remaining.

A huge 3-pointer from Green gave the Thunder a two-point lead with less than a minute remaining in the game.

And from that point on, Oklahoma City did what it does best: hit free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

The Thunder went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to hold off the Timberwolves.

Oklahoma City shot 80 percent from the free-throw line on the night, which would phenomenal for most teams but is actually well below its 87 percent average.

Guard Thabo Sefolosha had his best game of the year for OKC, posting 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the floor and picking up the double-double with 11 rebounds.

The Thunder have now won five straight and will look to keep the streak alive on Wednesday against Dallas at 7 p.m. in Oklahoma City.