Kevin Durant had 23 points and Russell Westbrook added 21 as the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised past the visiting Denver Nuggets 106-89 Wednesday night in Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Oklahoma City owned a double-digit lead for the majority of the first half and sustained it after the break, holding the Nuggets to 39 percent shooting to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Denver closed to within 86-76 with eight minutes remaining, but Durant and Westbrook answered by scoring the next eight points to put the game away.

James Harden added 18 points off the bench for the Thunder, who outrebounded Denver by a 54-31 margin.

Ty Lawson's 20 points paced the Nuggets, who host Game 3 on Saturday.

The Thunder wasted no time jumping all over the Nuggets, opening up a 31-15 lead after the first quarter. That advantage came courtesy of a 19-3 run capped by a thunderous Durant dunk with 47 seconds left in the first.

With the lead growing to 26 early in the second, Denver reserve Al Harrington hit a pair of 3-pointers as part of an eight-point spurt in the middle portion of the quarter as the Nuggets closed to within 12.

The Oklahoma City defense took over from there, limiting the Nuggets to just one field goal over the final 3:41 of the half to take a 59-44 lead into the break.