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Russell Westbrook leads Oklahoma City Thunder past San Antonio Spurs

Russell Westbrook turned in another dominant performance and the Oklahoma City Thunder, minus Kevin Durant, beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-106 on Christmas Day.

Westbrook totaled 35 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and five steals for the Thunder, who were without the reigning MVP Durant for a fifth straight game. Durant sprained his right ankle late in the first half of a loss to Golden State on Dec. 18.

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Westbrook scored 20 in the second half, helping Oklahoma City hold off a pair of Spurs rallies. Serge Ibaka added 21 points and Steven Adams donated 16 points and a career-high 15 boards.

The Thunder were plus-27 with Westbrook and Adams on the floor.

Tony Parker's drive and dish to Tim Duncan for a dunk at 6:48 of the fourth gave the Spurs a 93-89 lead. The rest of the game belonged to Westbrook.

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His layup less than a minute after Duncan's slam tied the game, and his feed to Adams for a thunderous dunk gave Oklahoma City the lead. Westbrook then took it from Cory Joseph and went coast-to-coast for a layup.

Out of a Spurs timeout, Westbrook hit a pull-up jumper and assisted on Anthony Morrow's 3-ball that made it 102-93.

After the Spurs scored the next five points, Westbrook attracted enough attention on a drive that Morrow, one of the league's top snipers, was left wide open for another 3-pointer.

Reggie Jackson hit a long two while Adams and Morrow both made two free throws in the final minute to seal the game.

Seven Spurs reached double figures, with Matt Bonner's 17 points leading the balanced attack. Duncan scored 15, Joseph and Splitter had 14 apiece and Manu Ginobili tallied 11 with a game-high 13 assists.

The Thunder made their first six shots from the floor and led 17-8 before Duncan's three-point play woke up San Antonio's offense. Bonner came off the bench and hit a pair of 3s, Ginobili had seven assists in seven minutes and the Spurs went up by two before four straight at the end of the quarter gave the Thunder a 29-27 edge.

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OKC led 50-47 at halftime. The Spurs were within one three times early in the third before a pair of Adams free throws sparked a 9-0 run. Westbrook's three-point play ended the flurry and made it 63-53.

The lead reached 11 before San Antonio mounted a comeback. Tiago Splitter bookended a 13-2 run with layups, including a reverse on a feed from Ginobili with a second to play in the quarter. Joseph scored five points on the run, which gave the Spurs a 77-76 lead heading into the fourth.

Game Notes

The Spurs beat the Thunder 4-2 in the Western Conference finals last season ... This was Oklahoma City's first win over a team with a record better than .500 this season (1-5) ... San Antonio was without Kawhi Leonard (hand) for the fifth straight game ... The Spurs have lost five of six ... The Spurs fell to 4-6 all-time on Christmas. They haven't won at home in two tries ... Morrow scored 15 points and Perry Jones had 14 on seven shots for OKC.

[SportsNetwork.com]

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