{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
Oklahoma City 110, Denver 104
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Officials: #18 Matt Boland, #38 Michael Smith, #64 Justin VanDuyne
Attendance: 12844

DENVER -- The Denver Nuggets knew what to expect from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but Enes Kanter proved to be the difference for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Westbrook and Durant each had a double-double, Kanter scored a season-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Thunder beat the Nuggets 110-104 on Tuesday night.

"Enes did a really good job tonight," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said of the center. "He was really active on the glass, he got a lot of offensive rebounds, he kept possessions alive, he scored, he did a lot of really good things."

Westbrook finished with 27 points and 12 assists but fell short of his third straight triple-double. The guard has five this season and 24 in his career.

"They just wanted it more than us," Nuggets guard Will Barton said. "They beat us on the offensive glass and were really being aggressive."

Durant had 30 points and 12 rebounds to help Oklahoma City win its fifth straight. The Thunder won for the 20th time in 24 games despite shooting just 21 percent from 3-point range.

"We got great shots tonight," Durant said. "Cameron (Payne) missed four wide-open 3s, Dion (Waiters) missed two or three, I missed a couple, so we got great looks tonight. We can live with those."

Forward Danilo Gallinari led Denver (16-26) with 27 points and forward Kenneth Faried had 17 points and 15 rebounds but couldn't overcome Kanter's big night.

"That guy gets 25 and eight (rebounds), four offensive rebounds and some key plays and he does it on 10 of 14 shooting," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "You know that Durant and Westbrook are going to get theirs, but when you allow a third scorer to get in the game, it makes it nearly impossible to beat that team."

Durant and Westbrook had double-doubles before the end of the third quarter. The Thunder (31-12) trailed by five midway through the period but led 84-79 entering the fourth.

The Thunder tried to pull away early in the fourth but Denver got within three and had a chance to cut the deficit to one but Kanter hit a fast-break dunk and a layup to make it 90-83.

Denver did close within three on two free throws by forward Will Barton but a free throw by Kanter, a three-point play from Durant and a layup by Kanter made it 96-97 with 5:08 left.

Kanter had two of his four offensive rebounds in the fourth.

"My job is just going out there and helping my teammates, get them open shots and fight for offensive rebounds," he said.

The Nuggets cut the lead to five but a 3-pointer by Durant and a driving dunk from Westbrook made it 104-95 with 1:58 left.

Denver had a chance to make it a one-possession game in the final minute but Westbrook stole a pass underneath and Kanter hit two free throws to stretch the lead to six.

"We made some plays, gave up 2-on-1s, stuff we can control, but for the most part we did a great job defensively," Durant said. "We had 30 assists, we rebounded the ball well."

Durant had 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half.

Before the game, the Nuggets announced they had signed general manager Tim Connelly and assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas to multi-year contract extensions.

Connelly, who also serves as the team's executive vice president for basketball operations, said the team "has turned a corner" after a disappointing two years. "There's a bright light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

NOTES: Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday. Durant averaged 26 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists and two double-doubles as the Thunder went 4-0 during that stretch. ... Nuggets C Jusuf Nurkic returned to the lineup after missing two games with a left knee injury. ... Entering Tuesday, the Thunder has lost only nine man-games due to injury or other reasons. Durant missed seven of those games. ... Nuggets G Jameer Nelson sat out his second straight game with a sprained left wrist. Nelson was hurt in the third quarter against Miami on Friday night but played the rest of that game.
Top Game Performances
 
Oklahoma City   Denver
Kevin Durant 30 Scoring Danilo Gallinari 27
Russell Westbrook 12 Assists Emmanuel Mudiay 9
Kevin Durant 12 Rebounds Kenneth Faried 15
Kevin Durant 7 Free Throws Made Kenneth Faried 5
Cameron Payne 4 Steals Danilo Gallinari 2
Kevin Durant 2 Blocks Darrell Arthur 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Oklahoma City 110 42.3 6-28 22-30 30 52 5 11 13
Denver 104 42.2 7-20 27-36 21 48 6 5 18
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game at home against Memphis. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .375 after a win and .385 after a loss.
  • Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against Charlotte. The Thunder have a W/L % of .742 after a win and .667 after a loss.