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Thunder 137, Suns 134 (OT)
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns in overtime Wednesday night, despite losing guard Russell Westbrook to an ejection in the second quarter.
The Thunder won the high-scoring affair 137-134, improving their record to 16-17. The Suns dropped their second game in as many nights and fall to 18-16.
Thunder forward Kevin Durant led all scorers with 44 points in his first game back after missing the past six games with an ankle sprain.
Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 29 points. Markieff Morris added 25 and Goran Dragic scored 21 for the Suns.
Westbrook received a technical foul with 27.6 seconds left in the second quarter after an altercation with Suns center Alex Len during a battle for a rebound. Len received a flagrant foul on the play.
The second technical and the ejection came just 20 seconds later, when Westbrook had words with the Phoenix bench after scoring a basket and being fouled.
He led all scorers in the first half with 20 points.
The Suns trailed by as many as nine early in the fourth quarter but battled back to alternate leads with the Thunder.
Oklahoma City got the last possession of regulation, but guard Anthony Morrow’s 3-point attempt was off the mark.
Both teams went cold from the field in the overtime, with the first field goal coming at the 1:54 mark. Morrow hit a 3 from the right corner and was fouled by Marcus Morris. He made the free throw to give Oklahoma City a 134-130 lead.
Durant was fouled with 1:05 left when he and Dragic were diving for a loose ball. Durant hit both free throws to extend the lead to six.
Phoenix scored twice in the next 15 seconds to cut the lead to two.
Suns guard PJ Tucker missed a tip-in layup off a Markieff Morris drive that would have tied the game with 9.7 seconds left, and the ball went out of bounds. After an official’s review, Phoenix maintained possession.
Morris missed a 3 on the next play, and Anthony Roberson got the rebound and was fouled with 1.2 seconds left. Roberson made one of two free throws to seal the game.
NOTES: The Thunder beat the Suns 112-88 on Dec. 14, but Phoenix was missing leading scorer Goran Dragic, who was out with a lower back strain. “Dragic is as tough as any point guard in this league,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. … Going into Wednesday’s game, Thunder F Serge Ibaka had made 46 3-pointers, which is one more than he made during his first five seasons in the NBA. … The Suns are 6-7 in their last 13 games, including a six-game losing streak followed by a six-game win streak that was ended by the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday.
