Harden scores 33 as Thunder rout Bobcats

Harden scores 33 as Thunder rout Bobcats

Published Mar. 10, 2012 8:20 p.m. ET


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- After the Thunder lost at home to Cleveland on Friday night, coach Scott Brooks said he got a little upset. Against the Charlotte, they played like they were still pretty angry.

Oklahoma City rebounded from its second home loss of the season by picking on the league's worst team, beating the Bobcats 122-95 Saturday night.

James Harden had 22 of his career-high 33 points in the first half, Kevin Durant had 26 and Russell Westbrook scored 23 as the Thunder improved to 18-2 at home.

"I thought our guys did a good job of bouncing back from last night's loss," Brooks said. "It was a good win. Everyone participated with a good effort."

The Thunder started slow against the Bobcats, but played with purpose after going into the second quarter leading 28-25. The Thunder used a 13-0 run to pull away as Charlotte shot just 30 percent in the first half. The lead got to 31 and Thunder reserves got a bulk of the playing time in the fourth quarter.

"It was a good bounce-back win," Durant said. "(Friday) was a big lesson for us."

Oklahoma City shot a season-high 63 percent (46 for 73), the sixth-best in franchise history and the best since the Seattle SuperSonics shot 66 percent at Philadelphia on Jan. 21, 2002.

"When you play an NBA season, you want to sustain your energy and be consistent," Brooks said. "We've been pretty good with that and every now and then we have a game that's not up to our level, and we address it immediately. They came out and did a great job."

The Thunder shot 59 percent in the first half and led by 58-40 at halftime after outscoring Charlotte 30-15 in the second quarter.

D. J. Augustin scored 22 points for the Bobcats and Corey Maggette had 21.

"We were in the game in the beginning but we didn't stop the big three, Harden, Westbrook and KD," said Charlotte forward DJ White said. "They went off and we couldn't bounce back."

Westbrook hit his first six shots and he and Durant combined to go 14 of 18 from the field in the first half. Along with Harden, the three scored 55 of the team's 58 first-half points.

"We moved the ball," Durant said. "We played hard and played together."

NOTES: Durant picked up a technical foul in the first quarter after slamming the ball against the court. "I didn't mean to throw the ball. I wasn't mad at the ref. I didn't mean for it to bounce that high," he said. ... Westbrook scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half. ... The Thunder had 27 assists. ... Former Thunder center Byron Mullens, who was traded to the Bobcats, had 12 points in 19 minutes. Former Thunder forward D.J. White scored 10 points in 22 minutes.

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