Kevin Durant had 26 points and Russell Westbrook added 23 as Oklahoma City took a stranglehold on its Western Conference first-round series with Denver on Saturday, holding off the host Nuggets 97-94.

With Denver trailing by seven in the closing moments, J.R. Smith buried a 3-pointer to make it 95-91 with 23.3 seconds left. Westbrook missed both free throws on the Thunder's next possession and Smith hit another 3 to cut the deficit to one.

A Serge Ibaka dunk restored the Thunder's three-point edge, and Smith's game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer was off as Oklahoma seized a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Thunder can complete the sweep with a victory in Game 4 on Monday night.

Ibaka finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds while Westbrook narrowly missed a triple-double as he added nine rebounds and eight assists.

Smith, Nene and Kenyon Martin led the way with 15 points apiece for the Nuggets, who couldn't hit shots down the stretch until Smith's last-minute long-range barrage.

Down seven at the half, the Nuggets rallied by getting the Thunder into foul trouble in the third. Six Denver free throws - the first coming on a Westbrook technical foul - trimmed the deficit to three, and Smith buried his first of four 3-pointers to draw Denver even. Chris Anderson added two more free throws with 59 seconds left as the Nuggets entered the fourth up by two.

Durant and Westbrook shook off the miserable third quarter, pouring in eight straight points to give Oklahoma City an 81-76 edge with eight minutes remaining. Durant showed his skills on the defensive end later in the quarter, blocking an Arron Afflalo jumper - despite having five fouls - to preserve the Thunder lead.