01-21-2020, 06:40 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City had an answer for every challenge from the Chicago Bulls. It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Oklahoma City led by 15 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but the Bulls pulled within seven on D.J. Augustins 3-pointer with 8:50 to go. Oklahoma City then outscored Chicago 16-4 over a late 5 1/2-minute stretch to pull away. "I thought our defence was good the whole game," Durant said after topping 30 points for the 13th time this season. "They slowed us down a little bit with their free throws, but I thought we just played through it in the second half. We were able to come out and speed it up a little bit, get some turnovers and get some easy points." Russell Westbrook had 20 points and 10 assists, and reserve Reggie Jackson added 18 to help the Thunder improve to 13-0 at Chesapeake Arena. Oklahoma City is the only NBA team with a perfect home record. "If we move the ball like that with the guys we have that create for everybody, create for themselves, it makes it tough on other teams," Durant said. Joakim Noah had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the banged-up Bulls, who have lost four straight and seven of eight. Taj Gibson scored 16 points and Augustin added 15. Chicago played without Kirk Hinrich (back tightness) and Luol Deng (sore Achilles), and Jimmy Butler left during the game with a right ankle injury. "I thought we still had a shot in the second half," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I thought we were within striking distance, but we couldnt get the key stops when we needed them. ... Youve got to give them credit." Oklahoma City led by 14 in the first half, but their advantage was cut to three at the break, prompting a strong response from the Thunder in the third quarter. They used a 13-4 run to go up 68-56 with 7:52 to go in the period. Westbrooks layup increased the advantage to 13 about 1 1/2 minutes later, and then he had a layup and Durant made a jumper to make it 79-64 with 3:25 left in the third. Jacksons 3 in the final minute put Oklahoma City up 84-72 heading to the fourth, and Nick Collison opened the final quarter with three-point play. The Bulls put together another spurt to close to 89-82 on Augustins 3, but that was as close as it would get. "We were just trying to shut down the paint," Jackson said. "That was our main focus at halftime and I think we did a good job of locking in, getting some stops, and getting out on the break. ... Theyre physical. They play really well defensively, especially half-court sets. Right now theyre a little depleted, people are banged up, beat up." Jeremy Lambs dunk with 7:44 left made it 93-82, pumping up the home crowd. Durant made a 3-pointer and Westbrooks two free throws with 3:06 to go extended the lead to 105-86. "I think our defence just hasnt been there to help us out," Gibson said. "We are normally a great defensive team. We just got to get guys more reps, especially now that we lost Jimmy with the ankle." Jackson made six of the Thunders seven baskets in a 6:13 stretch bridging the first two quarters. Lambs steal and fast-break dunk with 9:21 left in the second interrupted Jacksons streak at four consecutive baskets. Jacksons jumper about a minute later gave Oklahoma City a 41-27 lead. Chicago battled back, and Mike Dunleavy hit two 3s in the final minute to get the Bulls within 55-52 at halftime. NOTES: Durant was whistled for a technical foul with 2:25 left in the first quarter for arguing following his second personal foul. ... Led by Jackson and Lamb, Thunder reserves came in averaging 33.6 points per game, the franchises highest since moving to Oklahoma City. ... Deng missed four games earlier this month due to a strained left calf. The Bulls are now 1-4 in his absence. ... 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Frankfurt failed to clear a cross and Bobadilla slotted home from close range at the far post. Kendall Fuller Jersey . Off-Season Game Plan examines a team facing some challenging times as GM Bryan Murray tries to put together a roster for next season. Perhaps the first challenge facing Murray is that its expected he will be moving out Jason Spezza, a premier point producer who is about to enter the final year of his contract.Lefty Kyle Anderson got it started and Ray Sadler, Tyler Kuhn and Luis Alen finished it off, as the Winnipeg Goldeyes combined pitching and defense to win their eighth game of the young American Association season. Anderson went 6.1 innings and allowed just one run on five hits to earn the victory as the Goldeyes (8-4) beat the Sioux City Explorers (4-9) 2-1 in a thriller at Shaw Park. However, it was the final play of the game that brought the fans to their feet. With two out in the top of the ninth and speedy Nate Samson on first for Sioux City, Peter Barrows took a Chris Kissock pitch into the gap in left-centre field. But Sadler tracked it down, fired a strike to the cut-off man, Kuhn, who turned and fired a dart to catcher Luis Alen who easily put the tag on Samson for the final out of the game. "That was a great baseball game wasnt it?" Goldeyes manager Rick Forney asked rhetorically. "And that last play was a great play. You just dont know how hard that play is. That play is really hard. But those guys did a great job. Thats great baseball." Kuhn, the Goldeyes shortstop who threw a belt-high strike to the plate, knew exactly what he was going to do the moment the ball left Barrows bat. "Youre ready for a situation like that to happen," said Kuhn. "Once the ball went to the gap we all knew that home was the only place we were going. Ray gave me a good throw and I was able to make a good exchange and throw a decent ball to Luis to make the tag. Making a tag at homeplate is a tough play and Luis made a real ggood play there.dddddddddddd" Sioux City opened the scoring in the first inning. Former Canadian national team member, Rene Tosoni hit Andersons first pitch for a double and eventually scored on a cueballed infield single off the end of Tommy Mendoncas bat. The Goldeyes bounced back with a run in the fourth off Sioux City starter John Straka, as Donnie Webb singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Casey Haerther. The Fish scored again in the fifth as Luis Alen doubled went to third on a groundout by Kuhn and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake Blackwood. Thats all Anderson and the bullpen would need. Newly signed Kaohi Downing came in and pitched to two batters to get out of the sixth, then Brendan Lafferty shut it down in the eighth and Kissock got some tremendous defense to close it out and get his third save of the season. "My plan was to throw strikes," said Anderson. "Theyre a pretty aggressive team as we saw the other night, so I was really focusing on getting ahead in the counts. I wanted to get ahead early with the fastball and then move on to the curve ball and the change up and get them to roll over and just keep them off balance." Anderson (2-0, 1.13 ERA) did just that and earned the win. Straka (1-1, 2.29 ERA) pitched well but suffered the loss. The Goldeyes and Explorers meet up in Game 3 of this three-game series on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. at Shaw Park. Matt Jackson (2-0, 1.39 ERA) will start for the Goldeyes while Wade Morrison (0-1, 1.17 ERA) will get the ball for Sioux City. ' ' '