Thunder Overcome Frustrations To Top Sixers In Philly

Grant Belcher, News9.com

PHILADELPHIA – Kevin Durant and the Thunder haven't been so visibly frustrated in a long time.

But no better way to remedy that than with a win against the team that was causing it.

Despite the technical fouls, poor shooting and turnovers, Oklahoma City rallied to come away with a 92-88 win at Philadelphia on Wednesday night, pushing the win streak to six.

It's rare that Durant lets his emotions get the best of them, but they shone through in the second quarter when he lashed out at Sixers forward Evan Turner.

After getting tangled up with Evans under the basket, Durant sought out Turner running back down the court and gave him a good hard shove. Play stopped, the two received technical fouls and it took some time to separate them.

It's rare that the soft-spoken, humble Durant gets booed by opposing crowds, but the Philadelphia fans let him have it the rest of the evening.

Kendrick Perkins also got into the action with a technical foul of his own in the fourth. Perkins wrapped up forward Elton Brand hard, and the referee deemed the foul excessive.

The league reviews technical fouls, and if Perkins' technical does not get rescinded, his count for the season will be at 12. The next technical foul for Perkins will result in an automatic one-game suspension, and every other technical after that will do the same.

But by the looks of determination on the faces of Durant, Perkins, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, they were not going to let their team lose such a competitive contest.

Durant led all scorers with just 23 but Westbrook came up with some of the biggest hustle plays of the game. Westbrook had a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.

With seconds remaining and up two points, Westbrook pulled down his final offensive rebound of the game off a Durant miss to seal it and epitomize his night.

Kendrick Perkins had 11 rebounds on the night and James Harden had 16 points to lead the second unit.

Six Philadelphia players scored in double figures but the team shot just 41 percent in the game, managing only one field goal in the final five minutes.

The game was the first of a three-game Eastern Conference road trip for the Thunder, who play again on Thursday night. Tipoff against the Magic will be at 7 p.m. central time at the Amway Center in Orlando.