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HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets are heading to the playoffs for the second straight year and believe wins like the one they picked up Friday night will help them when they get there. James Harden scored 39 points and the Rockets ended a three-game skid and clinched a playoff berth with a 111-107 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder "It was a great win for us ... just to give ourselves confidence, especially going into the playoffs," Harden said. "We might see them. It was a big win for us. It shows the resilience we have." Kevin Durant scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his 40th straight game with at least 25 points, the longest streak since Michael Jordan also did it 40 consecutive times in 1986-87. But he was in no mood to talk about matching the feat after the game. "We lost the game thats all Im worried about," he said. "I dont care. We lost." The normally mild-mannered Durant, who leads the NBA with 32.1 points a game, talked a little trash afterward when asked if he was frustrated by the physical defence Houstons Chandler Parsons and Francisco Garcia played on him. "Those dudes cant check me 1-on-1," he said. "They know that. I aint afraid to say it either. They know that. So I was playing the double-teams, triple-teams, but you still got to find a way to do it. Theyre physical just like everybody else and Ive been playing against physical players my whole life, so its nothing different." The Thunder, who had already secured a playoff berth, clinched their fourth consecutive Northwest Division title with a loss by Portland later Friday. Durants 3-pointer cut Houstons lead to one with 1:01 remaining, but Houston answered with four straight free throws. He made another 3 with 16 seconds left, but Harden made two free throws to push the lead to 111-107. Harden was 17 of 20 from the line and had nine rebounds and seven assists. The Rockets were playing without Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley, who both missed their fourth straight games. Howard has missed seven games recently because of a left ankle strain and Beverley is out indefinitely with a torn meniscus in his right knee. "Theres all kind of adversity in playoff games and playoff runs," coach Kevin McHale said. "Youve got to be resilient and thats what Ive been preaching with the guys and the coaching staff. Youve just got to stay in the fight and keep swinging. When we do that, were OK." Serge Ibaka tied a career high with 27 points in a game that Russell Westbrook didnt play because the Thunder were playing the second night of a back-to-back. Parsons added 23 points for Houston and Terrence Jones had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Oklahoma City was up by one before Houston scored seven straight points to take a 104-98 lead with less than three minutes left. The Rockets made four free throws before a 3-pointer by Garcia. The Rockets started the fourth quarter with 3-pointers by Jeremy Lin, Isaiah Canaan and Harden for a 9-2 spurt which gave them a 91-86 lead with about 10 minutes left. Durant scored the next four points to get Oklahoma City within 91-90. Houston scored the last six points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 84-82 entering the fourth quarter. The Thunder scored 39 points in the third quarter to take the lead after trailing the entire game. They opened the second half with a 9-0 run punctuated by a dunk by Ibaka to make it 54-52. Houston went right back on top with a 3-pointer by Parsons, but a 9-2 spurt by the Thunder gave them a 63-57 lead with about seven minutes left in the quarter. The Thunder trailed through the first quarter and cut it to three points early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Caron Butler before an 11-0 run by Houston pushed the lead to 43-29 about five minutes before halftime. Harden scored the last seven points in that span and capped it by making a 3-pointer with Derek Fisher right in his face. Durant scored Oklahoma Citys final five points to get the Thunder within 50-45 at halftime. The first three points of that run came when Durant was fouled on an off-balance layup he made with his back to the basket and then made the free throw. NOTES: The 39 points the Thunder scored in the third quarter were the most anyone has scored against Houston this season in the quarter. ... Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon watched the game from a courtside seat. ... The win was Houstons 50th, giving them the 10th 50-win season in franchise history. Moussa Sissoko Jersey . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. Ben Davies Jersey . The Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Nashville Predators goaltender highlighted Mondays waiver transactions, with Calgarys Chuck Kobasew and Edmontons Philip Larsen also being placed on waivers. http://www.footballhotspurstore.com/Wome...Hotspur-Jersey/. Carling Bassett-Seguso was a world No. 8 almost 30 years ago. Currently 13th, Bouchard is assured of equalling that when the next rankings are released Monday. Toby Alderweireld Jersey . JOHNS, N. Son Heung-min Jersey . The Rangers announced after Thursdays 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees that they would purchase Williams contract from Triple-A Round Rock. The 32-year-old Williams was released by Houston earlier this month after going 1-4 with a 6. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City may soon have to address the issue of slow defensive starts that lead to double-digit deficits. On Sunday, the Thunder just wanted to bask in another comeback win and another historical statistical performance by Kevin Durant. Durant recorded his first triple-double of the season with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Thunder rallied for another fourth-quarter win, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-103. Durant also added four blocked shots and four steals. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first NBA player to record 30 or more points, 10 or more rebounds, 12 or more assists, four or more steals and four or more blocks in the same game since blocks and steals became official NBA stats during the 1973-74 season. "Kevin is a stat filler," coach Scott Brooks said. "He can do it all and he has the ability to have large scoring nights, rebounding, assists and steals and blocked shots. Hes one of the few guys that can do that. Thats what makes us a good defensive team, because he can guard not only his man, he can guard multiple positions." Oklahoma City extended its winning streak to seven games, tops in the Western Conference, and moved to 9-0 on the season at home, matching the franchises longest home winning streak to open a season, set in Seattle in 2004. "You always want to play tough, aggressive defensive basketball for 48 minutes," Brooks said. "We didnt do it tonight, but we came back in the second half and made some adjustments and took care of the things we thought were important. We have to play much better going on the road." Kevin Martin, in his return to Oklahoma City after joining Minnesota during the off-season, led the Timberwolves with 24 points, while Nikola Pekovic had 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Thunder have beaten Minnesota eight straight times at home, dating to the 2008-09 season, the franchises first in Oklahoma City. Minnesota led 83-78 entering the fourth quarter but wilted against Oklahoma Citys defence, scoring just 20 points. Meanwhile, Durant had two of the Thunders six 3-pointers in the quarter and finished off his fourth career triple-double. His previous three came last season. Asked if a triple-double meant anything to him, Durant didnt even mention his stat line during his answer, focusing instead on his teammates defensive effort. "Im glad we got the W," Durant said. "We came out a little sluggish on the defensive end early on, but they started off 80 per cent (from the field). Holding them to 41 per cent from the game was really big. I think our bigs did a good job of frustrating the two bigs on the other end.dddddddddddd. We kind of fed off their energy." Overcoming large deficits has been a Thunder specialty this season. Oklahoma City rallied from double-digit, second-half deficits in wins over Denver and Washington, and trailed by 11 points in the first half against the Timberwolves. Durant and Jeremy Lamb each hit a 3-pointer during an 8-0 run by Oklahoma City to start the fourth quarter, with Lambs giving the Thunder their first lead at 84-83. Reggie Jackson and Durant later hit 3-pointers to put Oklahoma City up 94-88 with 7:48 left and the Thunder werent threatened after that. "Well, it was a tough game," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "I thought the boys played really well the first three quarters. We competed and moved the ball. Fourth quarter, we just went with that small lineup and had some miscommunication and they kind of took control of the game then." The Timberwolves routed Oklahoma City 100-81 in the second game of the season, on Nov. 1, although the Thunder played without All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook in that game. Westbrook scored 19 points Sunday and Jackson came off the bench to finish 8 of 11 from the field and score 18 points, helping the Thunder shoot a season-best 56.3 per cent. Serge Ibaka added 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots for Oklahoma City. Kevin Love had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota, hitting his first three 3-point attempts in the first quarter but missing his other three attempts. Love finished 4 of 14 from the field. Minnesota led by as many as 11 points during a freewheeling first half. Martin scored 17 points, while Durant countered with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting for the Thunder, who shot 58 per cent. NOTES: As do most former Thunder players, when Martin was introduced before the game, he received a polite round of applause and a few cheers from the crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena . Oklahoma City C Kendrick Perkins and Pekovic both received technical fouls after getting tangled up under the Minnesota basket early in the third quarter . When Minnesota G Ricky Rubio gave a "What? Me?" look after being called for a first-quarter foul while guarding Westbrook, referee Joey Crawford yelled at Rubio, "Dont be looking at me like that." Rubio picked up his second foul soon after, also from Crawford . Oklahoma City swept its season-high, six-game homestand. Its just the second time the franchise has swept a homestand of six games or longer. Seattle swept a seven-game homestand during the 1977-78 season. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Discount NFL Jerseys Stitched Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Outlet ' ' '