Durant has endured some growing pains this season trying to improve his floor game, with a bump in his assist numbers coinciding with an increase in his turnovers, too. He came in averaging four turnovers per game, the fourth-worst in the league.
But after ending up with more turnovers than assists in each of his first five NBA seasons, Durant is starting to reverse that trend this season. He's also grabbing about two more rebounds per game than any other time in his career.
"There's going to be nights where I have to score 30. There's going to be nights where I have to have seven or eight assists," Durant said. "So, I'm just trying to be an all-around player and just continue to help my team win."
Durant turned it over just twice in this one and pumped his right fist after he set up Kevin Martin's three-pointer with 4:57 to play for his 10th assist. The play also helped the Thunder hold on after Golden State cut a 21-point deficit to seven in the fourth quarter.
In games Sunday: *
At New York, Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks bounced back from their first loss of the season, beating the Indiana Pacers, 88-76.
* At Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points, Amir Johnson had 14 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and the Raptors beat the slumping Orlando Magic, 97-86.
* At Sacramento, reserve forward Andre Blatche scored 22 points to lead the Brooklyn Nets to their fifth straight win, 99-90 over the struggling Kings.
* Auburn Hills, Mich., Greg Monroe had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to their first home win of the season, 103-83 over the Boston Celtics.
* At Portland, Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews each scored 21 and the TrailBlazers topped the Chicago Bulls, 102-94.
* At Los Angeles, Mike D'Antoni postponed his debut on the Lakers' bench for at least another game as he recovers from knee replacement surgery, but his team got a victory anyway, 119-108 over the Houston Rockets. Dwight Howard had 28 points to go with 13 rebounds for LA.
