Wednesday, March 13, 2019 07:00 PM (ET)

Second-half surge lifts Thunder past Nets

Field Level Media
Mar 13, 2019

Paul George and Russell Westbrook combined for 56 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the visiting Brooklyn Nets 108-96 on Wednesday night.

It was the second time this season the Thunder had come from a double-digit deficit in the second half to beat the Nets.

Oklahoma City trailed by as much as 17 early in the second quarter and 10 early in the second half.

The comeback wasn't as dramatic as Dec. 5 in Brooklyn, when the Thunder outscored the Nets by 20 in the fourth quarter to win by two.

This time, the comeback happened in the third quarter, when George snapped out of his recent slump with 12 points.

Oklahoma City scored 38 points in the third after scoring just 42 points in the first half.

The win was the second consecutive and fourth in six games for the Thunder, who are fighting to hold on to one of the top four spots in the Western Conference.

George had taken a bit of a back seat offensively in recent games after struggling from the field -- especially from behind the 3-point line -- by shooting 7-for-35 from 3-point range in four games since returning from a left shoulder injury.

Early on, George seemed bothered again by the shoulder injury, even wearing an ice pack on his right shoulder at one point in the first half.

But in the second half, George found his groove and finished with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting -- including 3-for-6 from behind the arc.

Westbrook finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his first triple-double since Feb. 28.

It was the 14th game this season where the Thunder won after trailing by double figures.

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with 25 points.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Brooklyn and was a rough start to a seven-game road trip for the Nets. Brooklyn won't return home until March 30.

The Nets got off to a hot start, leading 11-1 four minutes into the game as Oklahoma City missed its first eight shots.

The Thunder shot just 29 percent with five turnovers in the first quarter but finished with only 11 turnovers.

--Field Level Media

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