OKC Holds off New Orleans, 95-89

Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul stole show as Thunder beat one of Western Conference's top teams.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:04 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Nov 29, 2010 9:56 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – When the Thunder host the Hornets, it is often viewed as the “new” Oklahoma City team versus the “old” OKC team.

Instead, the matchup that headlined this game was that of two of the NBA’s best point guards.

Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook battled it out with “old” OKC point guard Chris Paul in a 95-89 victory on Monday.

Westbrook racked up 25 points, 11 assists, five boards and five steals in the win. Paul had 17 points, 14 assists and five steals for the Hornets.

The double-double was Westbrook fourth in the past five games.

Oklahoma City trailed early, allowing the Hornets to jump ahead 10-2 in the opening minutes.

The game saw its share of lead changes and ties throughout, but the Thunder jumped out to a lead for good with a 14-0 run toward the end of the fourth quarter.

Westbrook was the key for the Thunder as he has been in recent games, scoring 11 of those 14 points.

OKC picked up the win despite shooting just 38 percent from the field.

However, one key element that had disappeared in the previous game for OKC made an impact in the win against New Orleans.

Oklahoma City shot 26-of-29 (90 percent) from the free throw line.

Hitting key free throws down the stretch has led the Thunder to an 8-1 record in games decided by two possessions or less, and OKC continues to lead the league in free throw shooting (85 percent average) by a considerable margin.

Kevin Durant had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, but his biggest contribution might have come on the defensive end. Late in the game, Durant switched over to guard Hornets forward David West, who had been tearing up the Thunder defense.

With Durant on him, West ended up missing his final six of his final seven shots – the lone make coming on a garbage-time freebie dunk.

Serge Ibaka led the Thunder defense, picking up 11 boards and three key blocks. Ibaka was nearly ejected for an elbow to the head of Chris Paul in the third quarter.

After Paul went flying, officials initially ejected Ibaka, then reviewed the play on the monitor and changed the call to a technical.

Oklahoma City will head to New Jersey for its third road contest in the past four games. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday.