Thunder unseat Kings to keep pace in West

Kevin Durant

SACRAMENTO, California, (Reuters) – The Oklahoma City  Thunder maintained their late bid to claim a higher Western  Conference playoff seeding with a 120-112 victory over the  Sacramento Kings on Monday.

Kevin Durant

League leading scorer Kevin Durant tallied 32 points and  Russell Westbrook added 30 to give the Thunder their fifth  straight win and a chance to climb as high as number two in the  West for the post-season.

Oklahoma City (55-26), fourth in the conference, sit a  half-game behind third-placed Los Angeles Lakers and one behind  the Dallas Mavericks with one regular season game remaining.

The Thunder will need to win their season finale and hope  for at least one loss from teams in front of them to climb  higher than fourth.  “We’re all excited that we have an opportunity to play for a  championship,” Durant told reporters. “I didn’t know what to  expect for the playoffs (last year). But now I know. I should be  ready, locked in and focused.”

Oklahoma City found itself in a six-point hole at halftime,  but outscored Sacramento 36-26 in the third to take control.

Durant made four free throws in the last 41 seconds to  clinch the win and give the Thunder their sixth straight win  over the Kings.  Sacramento rookie DeMarcus Cousins scored a career-high 30  points and had nine rebounds, while the Kings got 21 points  apiece from Beno Udrih and Marcus Thornton.

Sacramento has lost three of their last four games.

The Thunder were coming off a win over the defending  champion Lakers on Sunday and appear poised to challenge in the  West this post-season after bowing out in the first round of  last season’s playoffs.