DENVER — Guard Russell Westbrook and forward Kevin Durant each had a double-double, and the streaking Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 110-104 on Tuesday night.
Westbrook finished with 27 points and 12 assists but fell short of his third straight triple-double. He has five this season and 24 in his career.
Durant had 30 points and 12 rebounds and forward Enes Kanter had 25 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Forward Danilo Gallinari led Denver (16-26) with 27 points and forward Kenneth Faried had 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Durant and Westbrook had double-doubles before the end of the third quarter. The Thunder (31-12) trailed by five midway through the period but led 84-79 entering the fourth.
The Thunder tried to pull away early in the fourth but Denver got within three and had a chance to cut the deficit to one but Kanter hit a fast-break dunk and a layup to make it 90-83.
Denver did close within three on two free throws by forward Will Barton but a free throw by Kanter, a three-point play from Durant and a layup by Kanter made it 96-97 with 5:08 left.
The Nuggets cut the lead to five but a 3-pointer by Durant and a driving dunk from Westbrook made it 104-95 with 1:58 left.
Denver had a chance to make it a one-possession game in the final minute but Westbrook stole a pass underneath and Kanter hit two free throws to stretch the lead to
Durant had 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
Before the game, the Nuggets announced they had signed general manager Tim Connelly and assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas to multi-year contract extensions.
Connelly, who also serves as the team’s executive vice president for basketball operations, said the team “has turned a corner” after a disappointing two years. “There’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
NOTES: Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday. Durant averaged 26 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists and two double-doubles as the Thunder went 4-0 during that stretch. … Nuggets C Jusuf Nurkic returned to the lineup after missing two games with a left knee injury. … Entering Tuesday, the Thunder has lost only nine man-games due to injury or other reasons. Durant missed seven of those games. … Nuggets G Jameer Nelson sat out his second straight game with a sprained left wrist. Nelson was hurt in the third quarter against Miami on Friday night but played the rest of that game.