Durant scores 31 points as Thunder edge Jazz in overtime

[December 14, 2015]  (The Sports Xchange) - Despite being held to one basket in the first half, Kevin Durant finished with 31 points, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 104-98 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Sunday.

Durant shot 10-for-17 from the field to go with six assists and five rebounds. Guard Russell Westbrook scored 25 points as the Thunder (16-8) won their fifth consecutive game, the longest active streak in the NBA.

"This was like a playoff type of game because this team made adjustments," Durant said after the Thunder beat the Jazz for the second time in three days.

"They made the proper adjustments. They have a really, really good coach, and they play hard. We knew it was going to be tough. We knew they weren't going to come in and play the same game."

Guard Rodney Hood led the Jazz (10-12) with 23 points, while guard Gordon Hayward scored 22 points. The two combined to shoot 16-for-35. Guard Alec Burks added 21 points, and forward Derrick Favors contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds.

"I don't want to be melodramatic about it all, but it certainly hurt," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of the loss.

"Heartbreak is pretty severe. It hurts. You can look at it a lot of ways. We were really, really good. And we got really tired. We were clearly fatigued in overtime, and we couldn't get a bucket."

Utah, which fell to 0-3 against Oklahoma City this season, was outscored 8-2 in the extra five minutes.

The Thunder had 13 blocked shots on the night, including six from Serge Ibaka.

"We got stops," Durant said. "I was looking around and everybody had a man boxed out and we were just grabbing rebounds, so we made them shoot tough shots. I think all night we made them shoot tough shots."

(Editing by Andrew Both)

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