NBA: Thunder escape former teammate Harden, Rockets late for 2-0 series lead

Kevin Durant hit the go-ahead three-pointer and then found two of his teammates on consecutive assists to seal the deal, as the Oklahoma City Thunder withstood a late Houston Rockets rally in a 105-102 win at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time).

[Related: Thunder rain on Harden's playoffs return to OKC, shoot down Rockets]

Durant dished out a career-high nine assists, and the result was a 2-0 series lead in their quarterfinals match-up against the Houston Rockets. They had gotten a blowout 120-91 win in game one, but the Rockets made sure this wasn't going to be as easy.

The two sides traded blows repeatedly in the first half, resulting in 18 lead changes and nine deadlocks, with neither team leading by more than five points.

The Rockets, behind 17 points from former Thunder James Harden, and 12 from Chandler Parsons, ruled the shaded lane, with a 32-14 advantage in points in the paint.

On the other hand though, the home team shot a whopping 50 percent from the field, including 6-of-16 from downtown, as Kevin Durant kept his side in the thick of things with 21 points.

In the third quarter, two charities by Serge Ibaka knotted things at 63-all, halfway through the period. The Thunder continued to pour it on, forming a 13-0 run on the back of those free throws, to post a 74-63 advantage, 3:49 left.

Undaunted, the Rockets struck back at the end of the quarter, hitting back via a 7-3 mini-run with charities from Omer Asik and Harden, to enter the fourth down by just six, 78-72.

The Thunder took charge anew early in the fourth. An 11-2 surge, with triples from Russell Westbrook and Kevin Martin, gave them their largest buffer of the night, 89-74. However, the Rockets refused to go away. A 17-2 explosion led by Harden tied the game once more at 91-all, 4:54 left on the clock.

Houston kept at it, getting a four-point lead, thanks to a split at the line by "The Beard" and a trey from Carlos Delfino, 95-91. Ibaka and Westbrook however forged another deadlock at 95-all,

Harden connected on a lay-up for a brief Houston lead, but Westbrook found Durant for a trey, and then Durant repaid the favor by hitting Sefolosha with a pass that led to another triple, making it a 101-97 lead for the Thunder with 1:01 left before the final buzzer.

A split at the line by James Harden made it a single-possession game, 101-98, but once again, Durant found a teammate, this time, Serge Ibaka, who drained his 20-footer for a 103-98 tally, a little over half a minute left.

Another trip to the line for Harden resulted in two free throws and a three-point deficit, but when forced to foul, the Thunder's Kevin Martin, acquired in that deal for Harden, managed just a split, 104-100.

A floater by Patrick Beverly with 1.6 seconds to go sliced the difference between the two teams in half, opening the possibility of a miracle shot to force overtime. Houston couldn't steal the inbounds though and quickly fouled Durant. The scoring machine hit the first and missed the second, killing the clock as the Rockets had to grab the rebound before throwing up the desperation try, sealing the win.

Durant finished with 29 points on 10-of-25 shooting, and hauled in four rebounds in addition to his nine dimes, versus just one turnover. Russell Westbrook also had 29 points, plus five boards, four assists and four steals.

Serge Ibaka dominated the paint with 12 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks, while Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Martin fired in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Rockets got a game-high 36 markers from James Harden, who also tallied 11 rebounds and six assists. Patrick Beverly had a similarly busy outing, with 16 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two swipes, while Chandler Parsons dropped 17 points, but needed 23 attempts from the field.

Jeremy Lin was held to seven point, four rebounds and three assists in under 20 minutes of action.

The Thunder shot 43.5 percent from the field, 31.4 percent from downtown, and held their foes to 39.6 percent shooting, 28.6 percent on three's.

The Rockets compensated somewhat with a 57-40 edge in rebounding, 18-10 on the offensive glass, leading to a 27-15 difference in second-chance points. Houston also led in points in the paint, 50-30. - AMD, GMA News