Durant’s pull-up jumper with 23 seconds left lifts Thunder past Kings
Kevin Durant made a 19-foot pull-up jumper with 23 seconds left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Sacramento Kings 98-95.
The Kings led 93-86 with 3:05 left before the Thunder went on a 12-2 run.
The Kings had the ball down 1 with 23 seconds left, but Steven Adams stole the ball from Rudy Gay, lifting the Thunder’s chance to win from 73% to 79%. A basket would have put the Kings ahead. They had the ball down 3 after a timeout, but Marco Belinelli missed a corner 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left that would have tied it.
During clutch time, the Kings outscored the Thunder 10-8. Belinelli scored 5 of the Kings’ 10 on 2 for 5 shooting. In the fourth quarter, Rajon Rondo had 2 of his 3 steals, 1 of them during a 14-0 Kings run, and the Kings scored 2 points off them.
Durant had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook added 19 points (12 in the paint), 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals, his third triple-double of the season.
For the Kings, Gay had 20 points and 3 steals.
The Kings gave up 19 offensive rebounds, about 8 more than usual for the shots the Thunder missed. The Thunder’s starters outscored the Kings 24-13 in 13 minutes together.