Kevin Durant rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder from nearly turning a laugher into disaster.
League top gun Durant dropped in five of his 35 points on free throws in the final minute along with 11 rebounds and six assists on Thursday, and the visiting Thunder survived a late charge to beat the feisty undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers, 102-95 for their 50th win of the season.
“It was a good game offensively for us and defensively up until that last stretch in the fourth was really good,” said Durant, who has netted 25 or more points in 33 consecutive contests.
“It’s good that we won 50 games but we have bigger goals in mind.”
Serge Ibaka had 16 points and 11 boards, while Reggie Jackson scored 13 for the Thunder (50-18), who regrouped after nearly blowing a 24-point cushion to move within 1.5 games of idle San Antonio for the top spot in the West.
Despite giving All-Star guard Russell Westbrook the night off to rest his surgically-repaired knee, Oklahoma City led 95-71 with 6 minutes 18 seconds left but couldn’t put it away.
Instead, the Cavs minus injured stars Kyrie Irving and Luol Deng went on a 21-2 run capped by Dion Waiters’ dunk off a steal to pull within 97-92 with 1 minute 12 seconds remaining.
But Durant came to the rescue sinking four free throws around an Ibaka block of Waiters’ layup attempt to make it 101-92 with 37.6 ticks left.
Waiters buried a 3-pointer but Durant tossed in another from the stripe and the Thunder escaped with its fourth win in the last five outings.
Waiters netted a season-high tying 30 points, and Spencer Hawes added 20 in Cleveland’s third straight loss.
Elsewhere: James Harden scored 28 points, Lithuania’s Donatas Motiejunas added a career-high 20, and the Houston Rockets minus All-Star centre Dwight Howard (left ankle injury) went on a game-breaking 17-0 second-quarter run to trounce the T-Wolves 129-106 for their 10th consecutive home victory.
Wesley Matthews hit four triples en route to 28 points, Damian Lillard had 23 with 10 assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers cruised past the Washington Wizards 116-103.
Stephen Curry erupted for 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, including four free throws in the final 3.1 seconds along with 11 assists, and the host Golden State Warriors held off the league-worst Milwaukee Bucks (13-56) 115-110.
