Thunder Tops Hornets To Open Summer League

With Kevin Durant in the crowd, Oklahoma City began Summer League play in Orlando with a 76-74 win over Charlotte on Saturday.

The Thunder went on top with 20.4 seconds left on a Semaj Christon layup, and then held on as Frank Kaminsky’s jumper at the buzzer missed long.

OKC held on despite a strong day from Kaminsky, who scored a game-high 19 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. 15 of Kaminsky’s points came in the third quarter, as the Hornets turned a four-point halftime deficit into a nine-point lead just four minutes into the third quarter.

But the Thunder battled back with some strong play inside from Mitch McGary and Talib Zanna (eight points each), and retook the lead midway through the fourth quarter. McGary grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Frank Gaines led the Thunder with 17 points while Christon had 14 points and a game-high 10 assists, offsetting his poor 4-of-15 shooting performance. Travis Bader was the only other OKC player in double figures with 10.

The Thunder take on Orlando’s Blue team at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon.