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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City insisted there was no extra motivation playing against an Indiana team sporting the NBAs best record. Kevin Durant certainly played like there was on Sunday night, scoring 36 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Thunder made quick work of the visiting Pacers with a 118-94 win. What started as a matchup of NBA Finals hopefuls quickly turned into a rout, with Oklahoma City leading by as many as 29 points in the first half before finishing with stars Durant and Russell Westbrook -- who added 26 points and 13 assists -- resting comfortably on the bench. It was also a largely one-sided affair -- particularly early -- in the matchup between Durant and Indiana All-Star Paul George. George finished with 32 points, but he had only six at halftime as the Thunder surged ahead and never looked back. "I take everything personal, no matter who Im playing," Durant said. "Im always grateful for the opportunity to play, so I never want to take it for granted. "... Of course, playing one of the best teams in the league, youve always got to bring it a little bit more, I guess, and tonight I think we all did that." While George was quiet offensively in the first half, Durant opened the game with a point to prove against last years Eastern Conference finalist. The NBAs leading scorer at 28.5 points per game hit 6 of 7 shots in the first quarter, scoring 14 of the Thunders first 18 points. It was just the start of the fun for Oklahoma City, which improved to 10-0 at home this season and is the only Western Conference team still undefeated at home. "I think we know that we can play with the best of them," Westbrook said. "I think tonight we did a good job of just playing our game." Durant was 14 of 23 from the field and Oklahoma City shot a season-best 61 per cent (47 of 77). Reggie Jackson added 15 points off the bench, while Serge Ibaka finished with 13. Indiana, which shot just 40 per cent (34 of 85), was playing its second game in two nights -- having won at San Antonio on Saturday. Roy Hibbert backed up Georges strong second-half performance with 12 points, while David West also finished in double figures with 11. It was all too-little, too-late for the Pacers, who suffered their worst loss of the season. Their only other losses were by 16 points at Chicago on Nov. 16 and by four points at Portland on Dec. 2. "I wouldnt say we had tired legs, but the Thunder definitely knew what we were up against," George said. "They knew this was a back-to-back night for us. They came out with that urgency to really run us, and see if we could compete and match their energy." The Thunder swept the regular-season series with Indiana last season, and they nearly equaled their season-high of 119 points in the win -- falling one point short of what they scored on Nov. 8 against Detroit. Oklahoma City led by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, stretching that to 19 points in the second quarter after Jeremy Lambs 3-pointer put the Thunder up 43-24. Lambs 3-pointer capped a 15-4 run for Oklahoma City, all coming from its reserves -- led by Jacksons seven point. The Thunder shot 54.8 per cent (23 of 42) in the first half, while Indiana shot just 32.6 per cent (15 of 46). "Tonight, obviously, for our guys, Oklahoma City was just a step quicker on both ends of the court," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. NOTES: Indiana finished a five-game trip against the Thunder, going 3-2 on the road with losses to Oklahoma City and Portland. ... The Pacers, who played two of the top Western Conference teams in San Antonio and Oklahoma City in their last two games, return home to face two-time defending NBA champion Miami on Tuesday. Curtis Joseph Jersey . 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Its great to be back for another season in Banditland, and Im looking forward to another competitive season with my teammates, said Tavares.The Edmonton Oilers took a bold approach to free agency, giving money and term to a couple of fancy stats darlings. Numbers Game breaks down the signings of Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne.. The Oilers Get: LW Benoit Pouliot, D Mark Fayne and D Keith Aulie. Pouliot, 27, has been a hockey nomad, bouncing from team to team in recent seasons, but hes been pretty good at each stop along the way. While playing for four different teams (Montreal, Boston, Tampa Bay, N.Y. Rangers) in the past four seasons, Pouliot has put up strong possession numbers in each stop and hes been a pretty effective goal-scorer in limited time. He had a career-high 36 points in 80 games for the Rangers last season. The issue that crept up with Pouliot, and was particularly notable during the Rangers Stanley Cup run, was his alarming tendency to take offensive zone penalties and that lack of discipline can be frustrating but, in the grand scheme, Pouliot has been drawing more penalties than he takes. He has good size and plays enough of a physical game to get under the skin of the opposition from time to time and Pouliots willingness to go to the net could give him a shot at a 20-goal season if he ends up playing a bigger role in Edmonton. Where Pouliot fits with the Oilers is a bit of a question. He looks like a third-line left winger -- thats the role that hes handled effectively -- and the Rangers do have enough talent on the right side that they could have some decent offensive production out of their third line. While Pouliot is lauded by those who appreciate advanced stats, most would do a double-take before signing any third-line winger to a five-year contract. Maybe five years and $20-million was the cost of doing business, but that does seem like a serious commitment, particularly if there isnt room for Pouliot among the Oilers top six forwards. The Rangers have some holes to fill up front, and knew that they would not be abble to get him re-signed at market prices, especially when the Oilers were willing to spend at this level.dddddddddddd Fayne is a 27-year-old defenceman who has good size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and plays a sound defensive game, something that is sorely needed in Edmonton. There were two defencemen in the league who played tough opposition, started more shifts in the defensive zone yet finished with a better shot differential per 60 minutes than Fayne. One was Zdeno Chara and the other was Faynes frequent partner, Andy Greene. The interesting part of that possession success is that, last season, Fayne was the weak link in that pairing -- Greene had much better possession stats (54.2 Corsi%) without Fayne than Fayne had (47.2% Corsi%) without Greene -- but that was a flip of the year before, when Fayne was at 57.2% without Greene and Greene was 54.4% without Fayne. Ultimately, Fayne has been a reliable defensive defenceman who should upgrade the Oilers and, signed for $14.5-million over four seasons, hes not unreasonably priced if he can handle top-four minutes in Edmonton. The Devils have some young defencemen on the way up, including Jon Merrill, Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson, that can take over some of the minutes that Fayne had been playing. 25-year-old Keith Aulie is a 6-foot-6 defenceman who has played 136 career NHL games, but has been crushed in possession terms, over his four NHL seasons. Hard to imagine that hes anything more than a spare part, even for the Oilers. While Pouliot and Fayne arent marquee names, they have been quietly solid players for several seasons. While the Oilers went long on Pouliots term, they were aggressive to acquire a couple of players that ought to make them more competitive. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys China Womens NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Jerseys NFL China Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap ' ' '