The Thunder weren't blown out at any time during their stretch of three straight losses, but they made their share of mistakes and the frustration began to build a bit. Kevin Durant struggled at key times in losses to Portland and the Los Angeles Lakers. Everyone but Durant and Russell Westbrook was off at Houston. But it all came together Sunday night in a rout of Orlando. Oklahoma City shot 57 percent, held the Magic to 37 percent and cruised in the second half. Thunder coach Scott Brooks was especially impressed with the 27 assists on 40 baskets.
"Well, that is about as good as we could possibly play," Brooks said. "I thought we did a good job of playing for 48 minutes of team basketball. We did probably our best ball-moving game."
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy had nothing but praise for the Thunder.
"Their roster is better and their defense has picked up," he said. "Teams that play harder have a better chance to win and they are playing a lot harder on the defensive end. I think they have a good roster and it fits together very well."
THUNDER 102, MAGIC 74: Oklahoma City snapped its three-game losing streak with by rolling the defending Eastern Conference champs Sunday night at home. The Thunder improved to 3-3 after their most impressive win of the season.
Kevin Durant scored 28, Russell Westbrook had 17 points and 10 assists, and Thabo Sefolosha added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Ten Thunder players logged at least 14 minutes in the rout, with six scoring at least eight.
Oklahoma City had runs of 8-0, 9-0 and 10-0 in the second half. The Thunder didn't win their third game last season until a week before Christmas. Orlando was without Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson.
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