Westbrook, Thunder Beat Suns 114-96

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Russell Westbrook finished with 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 114-96.

Westbrook had to leave the field in the second quarter because of a cut above his right eye, but he came back with eight stitches and continued his dominating performance.

Kevin Durant was the leading scorer with 30 points, while Serge Ibaka added 16 points and seven rebounds as Oklahoma City won their 12th straight game at home.

"When you see blood, you don't know what to do," Durant said of Westbrook's injury. "I was glad he came back here and got stitched up and was able to play again.

"He came out there with a lot of anger and it showed on both ends of the floor. He pushed us over the top."

Luis Scola had 24 points and six rebounds against the Thunder, who have now defeated Phoenix in seven games in a row.

In the absence of Westbrook, Reggie Jackson came from the bench to spur his team to a 12-0 run to extend their lead further.

"It was just energy," Durant said. "We just upped our energy level. We were moving the basketball so well. Everybody was touching it. We got good shots."

Westbrook came back with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter and drew a foul and had two free throws. After that, he shot three free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Thunder an 82-68 lead with 3:44 remaining.

"Russ is tough," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "He competes. He does a lot of good things. Russell plays with a lot of emotion, a lot of toughness.

"He just plays hard. I'm so proud of the way he plays every night. He doesn't miss games. He doesn't miss practice. He just competes every time down the court.

"Like a lot of our guys, he's not always perfect, but his effort most nights is always good. Russell came back and gave us good effort and energy and toughness."

With the help of Scola's seven points the Suns cut the lead to 84-78 at the end of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Westbrook had a jumper with 3:08 remaining to put the Thunder 104-89 ahead. The Thunder scored 30 and allowed the Suns to add only 18 in the last quarter, taking the game by 18 points.

"I thought we played well up until the last five or six minutes of the game," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "I thought P.J. (Tucker) did about as good of a job as you can on Kevin (Durant).

"It's really difficult to think you're going to be able to stop the Thunder every single time with (Westbrook and Durant) on the court."

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