NBA action: Russell Westbrook has triple-double vs Kevin Love, Ryan Hollins

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Thunder extend league-best win streak with win over Wolves
Recap
By Phil Miller, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday February 21, 2010 11:58PM

MINNEAPOLIS (NBA.com exclusive) -- It's easy to forget, when watching the Timberwolves take on the Thunder, that the teams wobbled their way to virtually identical records a season ago. As Sunday made clear, the Northwest Division franchises are headed in opposite directions.

Russell Westbrook collected his second career triple-double and Kevin Durant carved out another niche in NBA history on Sunday, carrying Oklahoma City to its ninth consecutive victory, 109-107 -- the last-place Wolves' sixth straight loss.

Durant nailed a critical four-point play with 2:17 to play to put away Minnesota and become the first player since Michael Jordan, 23 seasons ago, to score 25 or more points in 28 consecutive games. "He's as consistent a worker as we have on the team," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said of Durant, who finished with 32 points and six rebounds. "He's going to get even better."

So are the 33-21 Thunder, who have ridden the NBA's longest current winning streak to fifth place in the Western Conference. Five of the victories have come on the road, and Sunday's win in Target Center came less than 24 hours after an emotional overtime victory in New York -- another sign of the Thunder's maturation.

"We showed some composure to fight this way," Brooks said. "But the truth of the matter is, even with the back-to-back, it's only our third game in 12 nights. These guys play twice a day in the summer; they're gym rats. So we weren't interested in any excuses."

Neither was Jeff Green, torched by Wolves scoring leader Al Jefferson for 20 points when the teams met a month ago. This time, Green smothered Jefferson into a 10-point night by fronting him on defense, forcing the Timberwolves to look elsewhere for offense. Jefferson even sat out the game's final four minutes as coach Kurt Rambis tried a more athletic lineup.

"Jeff is a great help-side defender, and he was really physical on Jefferson," Brooks said. "He made some key shots when we needed him, too."

The Thunder, now 23-2 when scoring 100 points, made plenty of them. Good thing, too, because the Wolves -- perhaps inspired by the remarkably efficient play of newcomer Darko Milicic -- played with intensity all night. Oklahoma City ran off scoring streaks of 10, eight and 11 straight points, but Minnesota responded with runs of 10 and 13 consecutive points of its own. "Kurt Rambis really has them playing hard" despite their 13-44 record, Brooks said.

That's why Oklahoma City couldn't simply run out the clock when it built a 17-point lead late in the first half. The Wolves kept competing, finally taking an 88-86 lead with 8:18 remaining in the game.

"Last year, we let so many close games slip out of our hands," said Westbrook, who piled up 22 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. "This year, we know how to close them out: With defense."

Guess so. Minnesota's next six possessions included two turnovers, an offensive foul and five missed shots, all of them from 15 feet or farther. And when Durant ignored Damien Wilkins' foul to hit a three-pointer, then make the free throw, the Thunder owned an insurmountable eight-point lead.

"We are constantly forced to dig ourselves out of holes, because we don't play with intensity for the entire game," grumbled Rambis, who watched his starting forwards, Jefferson and Ryan Gomes (0 points on 0-for-9 shooting) get outscored 49-10 by Oklahoma City's. "We have to have aggression and commitment every minute, not let ourselves fall behind and then scramble to get back in it."

The Timberwolves, whose 24 victories last season were one more than the Thunder's 23, hope to follow Oklahoma City's blueprint for rebuilding through talented young players. They may have discovered another one Sunday -- but in snake-bit Wolves fashion, his breakthrough came just hours after he all but guaranteed he wouldn't be here next season.

Milicic, acquired from the Knicks in a Wednesday trade, was greeted warmly by Target Center fans, and their enthusiasm grew exponentially as the 24-year-old Serbian center, best known as a the 2003 draft's most disastrous flop, made one contribution after another to his new team. The obviously out-of-shape Milicic, who had not played since being benched in mid-November, huffed and puffed his way to eight points, eight rebounds and two assists.

His effect on the game was so huge -- Minnesota outscored the Thunder by 35 points when Milicic was on the floor -- that fans chanted "We want Darko!" when he sat down to rest.

Trouble is, Milicic said before the game that "it would be awfully hard" for him to remain in the NBA when his contract expires in June. "My plan all season has been to return to Europe" next year, said Milicic.

That's the sort of eventuality that figures to keep the Thunder and Timberwolves moving in opposite directions.

For the Wolves, former Bruin Kevin Love had a double-double with 19 points and 14 boards. Former Bruin Ryan Hollins had 8 points and 3 boards.