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Thunder 99, Jazz 94
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 — Forward Kevin Durant scored 32 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 99-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Friday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Thunder and moved them to 18-19 on the season. The Jazz fell to 13-24.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook posted 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting to go along with 12 assists. Guard Dion Waiters, recently acquired from Cleveland, added 15 points off the bench.
Utah guard Gordon Hayward paced the Jazz with 27 points, while forward Derrick Favors added 22 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Trey Burke scored 20 points in the loss.
With 5:21 left in the fourth quarter, Durant fed Westbrook with a pass that led to a fastbreak dunk that cut Utah’s lead to four points. But Hayward responded with a fade-away jumper over forward Serge Ibaka.
After Durant scooped in a layup, Westbrook added a jumper and Oklahoma City were within two.
Durant tied the game at 90-90 with a one-legged jumper with 3:18 left in the quarter, and Durant scored again to give the Thunder its first lead since the first half.
A steal by Westbrook led to dunk by Waiters and put the Thunder up 94-91.
Burke calmed the Thunder run down with a pair of free throws and got hit team to within one.
But with 23 seconds left in the game, Durant got the ball on the low block. Utah came to double him and he passed to a wide-open Waiters, who calmly drained a 3-pointer to put Oklahoma City up 97-93.
Hayward was fouled and missed one of two from the free-throw line. Westbrook closed out the game with a dunk.
NOTES: Newly acquired Oklahoma City G Dion Waiters on whether Cleveland got to see what he can really do. “Nah, I’ve always been like held back a little bit from really reaching and showing what I can do,” Waiters said. “I think last year I got a chance to do that when guys went down and I was able to show what I can do in that time.” … Utah C Enes Kanter missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right ankle. Coach Quin Snyder doesn’t know when Kanter will return. “I think there is progress,” Snyder said. “I think he is getting better. I know he’s done some stuff at practice. But to a layman’s eye, it looks like he’s doing well.” … Thunder coach Scott Brooks was asked about Oklahoma City being last in the league in assists per game: “Yeah, we want more assists,” Brooks said. “More assists means more baskets.”
