The Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks put on a show Thursday night as the teams exchanged the lead down the stretch in the fourth quarter, but the Thunder held on for a 95-94 win.
Thunder vs. Knicks final score: Kevin Durant leads the Thunder to 95-94 victory
The Knicks put up a fight without Carmelo Anthony against the Thunder, but came up short in the fourth quarter.
Elsa
With only a one-point differential in the Thunder’s favor in the final seconds of the game, the Knicks had a final opportunity to hit the game-winner with seven seconds on the clock, but J.R. Smith missed and the Thunder walked away victorious.
Carmelo Anthony sat out for the second-straight game due to stiffness in his knee. That left J.R. Smith to take the reigns of the offense off of the bench, and he seized the opportunity as a green light to shoot. In doing so, Smith found his way to a game-high 36 points while going 6-for-13 from deep. With under five minutes left in the game, he nailed a three-point shot that pushed the Knicks ahead. From that point, the two teams went back and forth with the lead, but eventually the Knicks fell short.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 34 points, including two critical free throws that put the Thunder ahead 95-94 with just 1:30 left in the fourth quarter. That proved to be the final change in leads, and the final points scored in the game. Russell Westbrook struggled, going only 8-for-22 and turning the ball over five times, but he forced a clutch turnover against Raymond Felton after Durant gave the Thunder the lead with his free throws.
Without Anthony, the Knicks' starting lineup was only able to put 35 points on the board. Kevin Martin had 16 points off the bench for the Thunder, which matched Felton's starter-high 16 points for the Knicks.
The Knicks will be off until Sunday when the Utah Jazz visit Madison Square Garden. The Thunder will face the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday to complete their back-to-back road trip.
More in the NBA:
See More:
