nba roundup

OKLAHOMA CITY

Thunder power past Lakers

Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant scored 33 points to lead the Thunder to a 100-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday and a share of the NBA lead heading into the All-Star break.

Russell Westbrook added 19 for the Thunder, who won their 12th straight home game and denied Los Angeles the chance to head into the midseason break with back-to-back statement wins on the road. The Lakers had won at defending NBA champion Dallas a night earlier and were trying to follow it by knocking off the other half of last year's West finals.

Kobe Bryant scored 24 points but went 7 for 24 from the field for Los Angeles.

Oklahoma City and Miami both have NBA-leading 27-7 records at the break.

ATLANTA

Smith inspires Hawks over Magic

Josh Smith scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to help Atlanta snap a three-game skid with an 83-78 win over the Orlando Magic.

Jannero Pargo added 15 points for the Hawks, who led by only a point with 4:42 left but finished the stronger.

J.J. Redick finished with 13 points and Dwight Howard had 12 for the Magic, who had won two straight and six of seven.

"Our energy was bad," Redick said. "When we play that way, we're bad. We have to figure out a way to eliminate that."

Howard, the six-time All-Star center who led the league in fan voting and has been the subject of trade speculation this season, suggested the Magic aren't too far from correcting their mistakes.

DENVER

Spurs beat Nuggets 114-99

DeJuan Blair tied a career high with 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, helping San Antonio beat Denver to wrap up a nine-game road swing.

Buoyed by a 19-1 run midway through the first quarter, the Spurs jumped out to a big lead and then held on at the end. They have won 12 of their past 13 heading into the All-Star break and lead the Southwest Division by three games over defending champion Dallas.

All five starters for the Spurs scored in double figures. Tony Parker had 16 points and 12 assists. Corey Brewer scored 23 points for the Nuggets.

The Spurs were missing Manu Ginobili, who's out with a strained left oblique. The team is 17-8 this season in Ginobili's absence.

(China Daily 02/25/2012 page16)