Thunder tops T-Wolves for first-ever home win in Oklahoma City

Kevin Durant scored 18 points and rookie Russell Westbrook added 14, including the go-ahead layup down the stretch, rallying the Thunder past the Minnesota Timberwolves 88-85 on Sunday night, in front of 18,163 delirious fans at the Ford Centre.

  "It feels good to get that first victory in front of a great crowd like this," Durant said, "Everybody stepped up tonight. Russell did a great job giving us energy off the bench and Nick (Collison) hit a big-time shot for us. We just have to build on it."

  Jeff Green had 13 points while Collison finished with 10 along with 10 rebounds for the Thunder, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, who dropped its season home opener to Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

  Despite etching its name into the record books Collison was more relieved the Thunder were able to post its first victory of the season.

  "To us it's just a win, losing is no fun," he said. "We started out with two losses this year, so winning helps things a lot. It gives you hope that what you're doing is working and helps you build to go forward the rest of the season."

  Trailing by 16, the Thunder went on a 13-0 run, bridging the third and fourth quarters to pull within 76-73, before Westbrook's basket with 2:19 left put them ahead for good, 86-85.

  After the Timberwolves missed their next three shots to regain the lead. Collison drove the left side and hit a driving left-handed hook shot with 16.4 seconds left, opening up a three-point advantage.

  Green could have clinched the victory, but he missed both free throws with 7.1 ticks to go, giving the Timberwolves a final shot to send the game into overtime. However, Ryan Gomes missed the potential game-tying 3-pointer from the left corner as time expired.

  There was a foul on the play under the basket, but after reviewing the replay on a courtside monitor, officials ruled it came after the final buzzer.

  "We definitely wanted to come in and get our first home win but we wanted to do it the right way and I think we did that," said Thunder's Desmond Mason, who contributed seven points off the bench. "It's the first of many, and we're definitely going to enjoy this win right now."

  Al Jefferson topped the Timberwolves (2-2) with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Craig Smith scored 13 points while Gomes finished with 12.

  Elsewhere:   Milwaukee Bucks 94, New York Knicks 86   Ramon Sessions and Richard Jefferson scored 18 points apiece, and the visiting Bucks overcame the second half loss of injured All-Star Michael Redd to bounce the listless Knicks.

  Charlie Villanueva scored 16 points and Redd matched that total before leaving with a right ankle sprain and the Bucks (2-2) werte ahead by 16 late in the third quarter.

  Sessions was placed on the inactive list for the first two games, but he got the start when point guard Luke Ridnour came down with back spasms.

  "I was just ready to step in and play my role and try to run the team," said Sessions, who added seven rebounds and eight assists. "First time in Madison Square Garden, I got the start, we got the win."

  Quentin Richardson had 28 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks (1-2) who shot 37 per cent (30-for-81) and hoisted up a team-tying record 36 3-pointers while hitting just 12.

  "We missed a whole lot of shots close to the basket," Richardson said. "In this offense, that's just the way it works. You get a lot of open jump shots, we just have to knock them down."

  New Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni was disappointed with the lethargic effort his team gave.

  "As a whole we didn't play real well, we didn't play real hard. Literally, we didn't do anything," he said. "The biggest thing is the energy that we're playing with. It just goes up and down. We play in spurts and that's something we have to quit doing.

 "We never attack almost until we get in desperate situations, and that's offensively and defensively," he continued. "It's like we're on our heels the whole game and we're kind of waiting for something bad to happen to us. We're going to have to get over, sit down and get it solved."

DPA