Durant's 35 Points Leads the Way

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Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Kevin Durant scored a career-high 35 points to propel the Seattle SuperSonics to their first home win of the year, 95-93, over the Indiana Pacers.</p>

Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green each scored 12 for Seattle, which had lost seven straight at KeyArena. Kurt Thomas hauled down 18 boards, and Damien Wilkins chipped in 10 points for the Sonics, who also snapped a six-game losing streak.</p>

Danny Granger scored 21, and Jermaine O'Neal had 12 points and 10 boards in his return after missing five straight games with a sore left knee. Mike Dunleavy scored 14 for the Pacers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.</p>

Down by five with less than half a minute left, Jamaal Tinsley hit a three from the center of the arc to pull Indiana within 90-88. After the Pacers fouled Durant with 20.6 ticks left, the rookie made both free throws to make it a two possession game.</p>

Tinsley trimmed it to 92-90 when he hit a running jumper, and with 13.3 seconds on the clock, Durant was fouled again and went back to the line. This time he only made 1-of-2, giving the Pacers a chance to tie with 12.6 left.</p>

After dribbling to the left side of the line, Tinsley posted up a deep three, but it bounced off the rim. Durant was fouled once more, made both shots to make it 95-90 and seal the win. Granger hit a three with time expiring.</p>

Seattle leaned on Durant in crunch time, as he made 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute. No one else for the Sonics scored.</p>

"I think it is better from a team perspective. This is our first win at home; my first win at KeyArena," Durant said. "I come to the game every time wanting to be aggressive on defense and help my team out."</p>

O'Neal also came out of the game late in the fourth quarter, with what Pacers head coach Jim O'Brien said was a shoulder stinger. But after witnessing Durant's effort, he had high praise.</p>

"He's tough. He's (6-foot-10), and when he gets it going it is tough," O'Neal said. "He has a bright future. He's one of the young stars of our league."</p>

No team had larger than a six-point lead in the first quarter, when Indiana was up 24-18 with a few minutes to play. But Green and Durant hit back-to-back jumpers with after that to make it 24-22 after one.</p>

The game got even tighter in the second quarter, when Seattle played a step ahead. Durant's jumper at the end of the stanza gave the Sonics a 49-48 lead at the half.</p>

It was the same way in the third stanza, until Durant ended it with two shots in the final minute. The latter, a jumper at the buzzer, put Seattle up 70-65 heading into the final frame.</p>

Seattle threatened to pull away, going in front by eight late in the quarter. Durant hit a three and 1-of-2 foul shots, and Wilkins connected on a short jumper with 2:11 remaining to give the Sonics an 89-81 edge.</p>

But Troy Murphy hit a three shortly after, getting the Pacers back into the game for a last-minute surge.</div></p>

Source: Seattle PI</p>