The Thunder exacted some measure of revenge.
Just 11 days after losing to the Hawks in Atlanta, the Thunder won on their home court with a 107-94 victory Thursday at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Hawks (14-10), who trailed by as many as 17 points, had their two-game win streak snapped and failed to become the first team in the Eastern Conference to reach 15 wins.
The Thunder (14-8) won their third straight overall and fifth in a row at home.
Here are the key players and five observations on the game:
Three key players
Kevin Durant: The Thunder star had a triple-double of 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Serge Ibaka: The Thunder forward finished with a game-high 23 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Kent Bazemore: The Hawks forward had a team-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers.
Five observations
1. Out of gas
On the second night of back-to-back games, the Hawks fell behind by 17 points to the Thunder after a hard-fought win at the Mavericks. The Hawks nearly erased the substantial deficit, getting as close as one point in the third quarter. However, the Thunder earned back a double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter and left the Hawks on the losing end. Paul Millsap and Al Horford struggled as they combined for just 16 points on 5 of 19 shooting.
2. Hawks catch fire in third
The Hawks trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half – and nearly erased the entire deficit in the third quarter. The Hawks went on an 18-4 run to pull within a point, 70-69, with 5:09 left in the quarter. The Hawks ended the run with four straight 3-pointers – two by Kyle Korver, one by Jeff Teague and one by Horford. The Hawks also trailed by just a point, 76-75 with 2:42 left. The Thunder got back an eight-point advantage by ending the period on a 7-0 run.
3. Baze off the bench
Bazemore kept the Hawks in the game early. The forward came off the bench and had a perfect first half. He was 6 of 6 from the field, 4 of 4 from 3-point range and 2 of 2 from the free-throw line for 18 points.
4. Checking Durant
The Hawks again used Thabo Sefolosha to check Durant. It worked – to some degree – in the first half. While Durant had just nine points through the first two quarters, he had a season-high eight assists. Ibaka had 17 first-half points for the Thunder. It didn’t work in the second half as Durant had 14 points.
5. Thunder runs
The Hawks led 8-4 early – and very quickly trailed by nine points. The Thunder used a 13-0 first-quarter run in 3:12 to take a sizeable lead they would not relinquish. In the span, the Thunder went 6 of 7 from the field. The Hawks went 0 of 3 with two turnovers. The Thunder would push their advantage to 11 points in the opening period.
The Hawks fought back from their double-digit deficit and got as close as six points midway through the second quarter. The Thunder answered with an 11-0 run. The Hawks found themselves on the wrong end of a 17-point deficit. In a 4:11 run, the Thunder were 4 of 9 and the Hawks were 0 of 6 with two turnovers.
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