Russell Westbrook was up to his usual tricks on Sunday, pouring 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to carry his Oklahoma City Thunder to a 109-97 come-from-behind win over the Phoenix Suns.
The Thunder trailed by as many as 20 in the second quarter but ended the period strong and outscored the hosts by 20 over the final 24 minutes.
The game was crucial to the Western Conference playoff picture, as a third straight loss dropped the Suns four games back of OKC for the eighth seed. New Orleans, which beat Minnesota on Sunday, sits 2 1/2 back of the Thunder.
D.J. Augustin had 19 points off the bench for the Thunder, and Dion Waiters contributed 18.
Markieff Morris netted 24 points, T.J. Warren had 18 off the bench and Alex Len pulled down 11 rebounds for the Suns.
After a sluggish first half, Oklahoma City used its defense to get back in the game. It held Phoenix to 7-of-24 shooting in the third quarter and trimmed an eight-point deficit down to three.
Anthony Morrow's 3-pointer three minutes into the fourth put the Thunder up 85-83 and jumpstarted a 13-0 run. Kyle Singler and Augustin hit triples during the flurry, which Morrow capped with another long ball at 6:45.
The first quarter belonged to Markieff Morris, who delivered 16 points on 7- of-8 shooting in the period to help Phoenix to a 35-24 lead.
Brandan Wright started the second with a hook shot, Marcus Morris and P.J. Tucker both hit from deep in the early stages and the Suns stayed hot, extending their lead to 20 points at 6:27.
Enes Kanter's layup less than a minute later had the Thunder within 17, and Westbrook took over from there. He hit a triple on the next trip and caught fire, scoring Oklahoma City's last 15 points of the half. His pull-up jumper made it 62-54 at halftime.
[SportsNetwork.com]
