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Sunday, April 15, 2012

NBA roundup: Oklahoma City Thunder rolls, San Antonio Spurs keep pace in the West - Deseret News

Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins, right, bats the ball away from Minnesota Timberwolves' Derrick Williams as Williams attempts to go to the basket during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, April 14, 2012, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS â€" Kevin Durant scored 43 points and Russell Westbrook had 35 and eight assists to keep the Oklahoma City Thunder atop the Western Conference with a 115-110 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

Durant scored 16 in the final seven minutes for the Thunder, who remained one game ahead of San Antonio â€" but tied in the loss column â€" for the top seed in the West.

Anthony Randolph had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Michael Beasley scored 26 for the Timberwolves, who lost their ninth straight game and 25th in a row in April dating to 2009.

The Wolves were playing without All-Star Kevin Love, who missed his second straight game with a concussion.

SPURS 105, SUNS 91: At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Tony Parker scored 14 and San Antonio officially clinched the Southwest Division title.

More importantly, the Spurs stayed neck-and-neck with Oklahoma City for the No. 1 playoff seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio remains a game behind the Thunder with eight games to go.

Sebastian Telfair scored 21 points for Phoenix, which slipped 11/2 games behind Denver and Houston for the West's eighth and final playoff spot.

Phoenix trailed by 17 before the first quarter was even halfway finished, and Steve Nash and Grant Hill sat out the entire second half.

CLIPPERS 112, WARRIORS 104: At Los Angeles, Chris Paul had 28 points and 13 assists, and the Clippers beat Golden State to close within a game of the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead.

Blake Griffin added 20 points, DeAndre Jordan 18 and Mo Williams 14 in the Clippers' third straight win and 11th in their last 13 games. They are also chasing the idle Lakers for the third seed in the Western Conference with six games remaining.

The Clippers' 36 wins are their most since they won 40 games in 2006-07.

Nate Robinson led injury-riddled Golden State with 28 points.

CAVALIERS 98, WIZARDS 89: At Washington, Luke Harangody had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Anthony Parker scored 15 points and Tristan Thompson added 14 to lead Cleveland.

Donald Sloan had a career-high 13 points to help the Cavaliers win a game featuring teams that had combined to lose 23 of their 28 coming in.

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