And not just any ordinary teams.

On Wednesday night, the Thunder completed the feat by edging the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics 109-104. Just five days earlier they beat the other, the Los Angeles Lakers—last season’s champions.

“We’ve grown up,” said Kevin Durant, who scored 37 points and hit all 15 of his free throws against Boston. “It means a lot for us. It gives us confidence.”

Durant and Jeff Green, who hit two big 3-pointers in the last two minutes, were rookies in the last season in Seattle. Point guard Russell Westbrook, who had 21 points and 10 assists, joined them last season, and guard James Harden, who is averaging 9.9 points per game, is contributing as a rookie.

And now they’ve beaten the last two champs in a six-day span.

“Going into the week that was our battle cry,” coach Scott Brooks said, “and both in the same week.”

Boston is among the NBA’s oldest teams. The Celtics’ starting five has an average age of 29.6, while the average for Oklahoma City’s starters is 23.2.

The Thunder won their 46th game, doubling their total from last season, and remained in sixth place in the Western Conference.

Boston was led by Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace with 18 points each and fell out of a third-place tie in the East with the Atlanta Hawks, who beat the Lakers 109-92.

Both teams played very well offensively, and Garnett said the free-throw discrepancy may have been the difference. The Thunder outscored the Celtics 28-13 at the line, even though Boston was whistled for just four more fouls than Oklahoma City.

Garnett was particularly concerned about Durant’s 15 free throws.

“I thought we were playing Michael (expletive) Jordan the way he was getting the whistle,” Garnett said. “Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team.”

Boston went 13 for 17 from the line.

“I missed three last night in Philly” in a 111-93 Thunder win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Durant said. “I was a little upset with myself.”

Green, whose draft rights were traded by the Celtics when they picked up Ray Allen(notes) from Seattle after the 2006-07 season, gave the Thunder a 105-101 lead with a 3-pointer with 1:56 to go. Then he connected again with 1:22 left for a 108-104 advantage to finish with 17 points.

“It’s just me staying with my rhythm,” Green said. “Nenad (Krstic) set some great screens on (Garnett).”

The Celtics were having one of their best shooting nights of the season and Wallace had made both his 3-point attempts. But then he missed with 1:11 to play, keeping the Thunder’s lead at 108-104. Four more misses followed—a jumper by Durant, a layup by Boston’s Paul Pierce, a 3-pointer by Westbrook, and a jumper by Allen with 9.1 seconds to play.

Thabo Sefolosha finished the scoring with a free throw with 6.9 seconds remaining.

With a crucial offensive rebound and two clutch free throws, he let his teammates find out what it feels like, too.

Kevin Durant scored 31 points to tie a franchise record for consecutive 30-point games, Collison hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with 4.5 seconds left and the Thunder beat the Utah Jazz 87-86 on Thursday night.

The Thunder franchise, which moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City before last season, hadn’t won five in a row since March 18-25, 2005.

“We’re finding a way to win games,” Collison said. “We’ve been talented for a long time and now we’re finding a way to win even when we don’t play well.”

Collison came away with the ball after Durant missed a jumper from the right wing, and was fouled by Paul Millsap in the process. After hitting only one of his previous four foul shots, Collison made both when it counted the most.

“The bottom line is that somebody stepped up,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “Nick got in there, and he always does. Nick finds a way to help his team win.”

Ronnie Price missed a 3-pointer from the right side at the final buzzer for Utah, which got a final surge from Deron Williams to pull ahead before Collison’s game-winning free throws.

Carlos Boozer scored 17 points, reserve Wesley Matthews had 14and Mehmet Okur had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz.

“It’s a tough one to swallow. We were right there,” said Williams, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the final 5 minutes, including a three-point play with 58 seconds left that gave Utah the lead.

“We played good enough defense the whole game to win the basketball game. Just offensively, we didn’t have everybody going.”

Durant surpassed 30 points for the sixth straight game, tying a franchise record set by Spencer Haywood in January 1972. He and Jeff Green(notes) ran together for a mid-air chest bump after Price’s shot caromed off the rim, and white, red, yellow and blue balloons dropped from the rafters.

The win gave the Thunder the same 18-14 record as Utah, one year after a New Year’s Eve win against Golden State was only their fourth of the season.

“It feels good. It’s a big step up,” Durant said. “We have a long ways to go, though. We can’t get satisfied.”

Williams had been practically silent all night before he scored the final 10 points for the Jazz, including getting fouled on a driving jumper in the final minute. He had a season-low three assists.

Green added 12 points but a season-high six turnovers, Collison scored 11 and Russell Westbrook had eight points and 10 assists for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder had their largest lead at 70-62 after Eric Maynor stripped the ball from Okur and raced down the floor for a fast-break layup early in the fourth quarter. The Jazz charged right back with a 10-2 spurt that featured three baskets by Matthews, including the tying fast-break layup with 8:16 remaining.

Williams scored five straight points to give Utah its first lead of the second half at 81-78. Durant answered with a 3-pointer to tie it with 3:12 to play, then Westbrook had a two-handed dunk to put Oklahoma City on top.

Collison answered Williams’ driving right-handed jam with a layup before Williams gave the Jazz the lead one last time. Then Collison, in the game because Green had five fouls, provided another response.

“He’s a winning basketball player. He knows that. Everybody around the league knows that,” Brooks said. “Every player in this league can’t be on a winning team. The thing that I love about Nick is that he never accepted losing and never got into losing habits.”

The win put Oklahoma City in a tie with Utah for what would be the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, even though the season isn’t even halfway done yet.

“It’s early, man. We’re just hitting the new year. Anything can happen in these next three or four months,” Durant said. “We’ve just got to continue to play our brand of basketball and get better and worry about us.”

Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Russell Westbrook added 17 points and 10 assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder ran away from the defending Eastern Conference champions in the second half Sunday night for a 102-74 victory.

“We’re not a good basketball team right now. I’ve been saying that, but nobody’s listening,” Van Gundy said. “We’re totally predicated on shooting. We do not have any kind of defensive mindset, we don’t have much toughness and we’re not very smart. So, right now we’re not a very good team.”
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, right, drives around Orlando Magic guard Jason Williams, left, in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Westbrook had 17 points as Oklahoma City won the game 102-74.

The Magic played for the fourth time this season without All-Stars Vince Carter (ankle) and Rashard Lewis (suspension), and also added Ryan Anderson (ankle) to their injured list. After a strong start, Orlando fell behind midway through the second quarter and never mounted a comeback.

“That’s a team that plays with great intensity. I would like to see our team play with that,” Van Gundy said. “We’ve had teams in the past the last couple years that have played with that. We don’t now. We play very soft and not with much intensity. Quite honestly, until that changes, we’re going to have a lot more games like that.”

Oklahoma City raced out of halftime to score the first eight points, and then added a 9-0 spurt shortly thereafter to push its lead to 72-49 on Nick Collison’s basket in the lane midway through the third period.

The Thunder removed any doubt with a run of 10 straight points in the fourth quarter, and coach Scott Brooks pulled the last of his starters after Durant’s three-point play pushed the lead to 96-63 with just under 5 minutes remaining.

“All things were clicking for us tonight, especially on the defensive end,” Durant said. “We’ve got to build on that and come back to work tomorrow.”

Dwight Howard led the Magic with 20 points, Mickael Pietrus scored 15 and Jameer Nelson 10. Orlando shot just 37 percent and couldn’t take advantage of a hefty advantage at the foul line, making just 21 of 34 attempts. The Magic drew 29 fouls against the Thunder while committing just 17.

After taking an early lead on the strength of Howard’s inside presence, Orlando failed to score 20 points in any of the final three quarters and fell well short of its scoring average of 108.7 points—the third-highest mark in the NBA.

“Teams that play hard have a chance to get a lot better,” Van Gundy said. “They’re playing a lot harder at the defensive end of the floor than they did last year. We’re playing a lot less hard, and so they’re a lot better and we’re a lot worse.”

Nenad Krstic had 14 points and Thabo Sefolosha added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which shot 57 percent and went 9-for-16 from 3-point range while outrebounding Orlando 45-30. The Thunder came in shooting just 30 percent on 3-pointers.

“We’re not a big volume 3-point shooting team, but I think as we continue to grow and evolve that we have to put that in our game,” Brooks said.

Westbrook, Durant and Sefolosha connected on consecutive 3-pointers as Oklahoma City wiped away a four-point deficit and started to build a lead late in the first half. Sefolosha drilled another 3 and Durant followed it with a steal that led to a right-handed jam, and he stopped to pose for a moment after scoring the Thunder’s seventh straight point.

“I call him Sniper now,” Durant said of Sefolosha, who was 3-for-3 from 3-point range. “He’s starting to hit the long-range 3-ball a lot. That’s going to add another dimension to our team: a guy that they can’t help off of too much.”

Notes: Brandon Bass started in place of Anderson, who sprained his right ankle in the third quarter of Orlando’s win at Detroit on Friday night. … Krstic dislocated his left pinkie finger midway through the first quarter but returned to play. … In his only visit to the Ford Center last year, Howard had 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks against the Thunder for his first career triple-double. “It’s virtually impossible to get 10 blocks in a game, so that’s really what stands out. I’ve seen him get 20-plus rebounds and score points, but 10 blocks is what stands out to me about that game last year,” Van Gundy said.

Byron Mullens? two free throws remaining with 5:05 left gave the Thunder (0-2) a 79-75 lead. But Paul, who came in with 3:45 remaining after sitting out much of the fourth quarter, scored five points down the stretch to give the Hornets their first win of the preseason.

Devin Brown added 13 points and was the only other Hornets player in double figures. Jeff Green scored 15 points and Nenad Krstic 14 for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka added 12 points.

Kevin Durant had 11 points but struggled from the field, making 2 of 11 attempts.

Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook each scored 24 points, and the Thunder made it a nice homecoming for their popular interim coach, holding on for a 99-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City, which started the season 2-24, won for the fifth time in six games. It was only the Thunder’s fifth road victory this season and obviously a pleasing win for Brooks, who knows the Sacramento region well, having grown up in the Northern California town of Lathrop. He was a Kings assistant coach two seasons ago.

“It’s really special to see my Mom after a win,” said Brooks, who said he rounded up 40 tickets for relatives and friends. “She’s my biggest critic. Even though we won she will still probably point out some things I did wrong.”

The Thunder did plenty of things wrong in the fourth quarter, committing 12 of their 24 turnovers, including one in the final second to give the Kings a last gasp at a victory.

But the bottom line in the Thunder’s locker room was another victory for a team that counts two rookies and two second-year players among its core.

“This is a talented young group that really wants to get better,” said veteran Malik Rose, who had 11 points and six rebounds. “We aren’t playing for a playoff spot, we’re playing to get better. We’re on a little roll right now and the ball is bouncing our way. There is a saying in the NBA, the ball finds energy. We’re playing with energy right now.”

Thabo Sefolosha had 17 points for the Thunder and Nenad Krstic added nine points and 15 rebounds.

Spencer Hawes tied a career high with 20 points and added 10 rebounds and five assists for the Kings, who had 22 turnovers. Francisco Garcia made four 3-pointers and scored 18, Andres Nocioni had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Rashad McCants added 13 points.

Kevin Martin, the Kings’ leading scorer, was on the bench in the game’s final 15 minutes and scored 12 points.

“Kevin had been out and had twisted his ankle early,” Kings coach Kenny Natt said. “He wanted to stay in since he was loose, then when he sat out I brought the other guys in and he just got really stiff.”

With a chance to tie the game with 5 seconds left, Nocioni shot an airball on a wide-open look. Sefolosha made two free throws in the closing seconds, appearing to seal the victory.

But McCants made a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left for the Kings. The Thunder provided the Kings with a chance to send the game into overtime, but a lob from halfcourt with 0.1 seconds left never found the rim.

“We did a lot of good things, but we did a lot of bad things, too,” Bobby Jackson said. “We had a lot of turnovers, forced turnovers. We were throwing the ball and not taking out time. If we didn’t have those 22 turnovers, we definitely would have won the game.”

The loss prevented Sacramento from recording consecutive wins for the first time since Nov. 5-7 and kept the Kings (13-50) with the worst record in the NBA.

Trailing by five points, Garcia quickly hit a 3-pointer following a timeout, pulling the Kings within 97-95 with 34 seconds left.

Quiet for much of the game, Krstic scored on consecutive putbacks, the final one with 2:13 remaining, putting Oklahoma City ahead 95-92. A jumper by Westbrook gave the Thunder a 97-92 lead with 38 seconds left.

“We came out aggressive on defense and I think we did a good job of playing our game in the second half,” said Westbrook, who committed seven turnovers. “We gave to go on the rod and win games likes this.”

Coming back after missing four straight games with a sore lower back, Green made his first shot and was a huge factor early. He was making his perimeter shot throughout the opening half and converted all seven free throws in finishing with 18 points.

“Did I get tired? Yeah,” said Green, who had only four second-half points and also committed seven turnovers. “But I felt good, I came back at the right time.”

While Green was back in the lineup, Kevin Durant remained sidelined with a sprained right ankle and is day-to-day. The NBA’s fourth-leading scorer missed his sixth straight game.

After the Kings went ahead by two points midway through the third quarter on Nocioni’s three-point play, the Thunder scored nine straight points to get some rare separation in the tight game. Sefolosha had seven points in the quarter to help the Thunder take an 84-76 lead into the fourth.

A 3-pointer in the closing seconds by Garcia pulled the Kings even at 55-55 heading into the break.

Notes

The Thunder scored the game’s first 10 points. Garcia continues to shoot well despite having a fractured right ring finger that is heavily taped. The Thunder has held five of the last six opponents under 100 points.

The Thunder won despite playing without Kevin Durant, the league’s fourth-leading scorer with a 26.0 average, who suffered a right ankle sprain in Friday night’s 110-108 overtime loss to Dallas. Durant is listed as day-to-day.

Thabo Sefolosha, playing only his fourth game for Oklahoma City after a trade from Chicago, recorded 15 points and 11 rebounds, season-highs in both categories. Nenad Krstic also scored 10 points.

Rudy Gay scored 20 points to lead Memphis, which lost its seventh straight. O.J. Mayo finished with 18 points, while Mike Conley had 17.

Oklahoma City led by 12 with 7:25 left before Memphis cut into the advantage, eventually getting within 95-92 when Mayo hit one of two free throws with 18.1 second left. But Memphis couldn?t overtake the Thunder.

Memphis didn’t help its situation with trouble from the free-throw line, shooting 63 percent (19-of-30).

Both teams shot well from the field early. Memphis was hitting at a 60 percent clip, but the Thunder hit nine of their first 10 shots for an early 13-point lead.

Sixteen of the Thunder?s 29 first-quarter points were in the paint.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies failed to reach 20 points in the opening stanza for the 21st time this season. Memphis has only won once when it doesn?t score at least 20 to in the first quarter.

And if the scoring wasn?t bad enough, Memphis was throwing the ball all over the place with wild passes, even after good plays. The 10 turnovers led to 15 first-half points for Oklahoma City.

Memphis improved its shooting, but still couldn’t overtake the Thunder, who took a 56-45 lead into halftime. Westbrook had 15 for the Thunder, while Green collected 13. Mayo and Darrell Arthur had 11 apiece for Memphis.

The Thunder continued to maintain a double-digit lead through the early minutes of the third quarter, the advantage eventually reaching 15. Memphis would chip away, cutting it to 64-58 when Conley stole the ball and scored on a layup.

But Oklahoma City scored 10 straight to get the lead back to double digits before carrying a 77-61 lead into the final period.

Notes

Gay left the court limping after hitting the floor hard on a drive to the basket with 9:19 left in the third. Trainers retaped his ankle and he returned at the start of the fourth quarter. … In an interesting comparison, the No. 5 Memphis Tigers drew 18,454 for the afternoon part of the doubleheader where the Tigers defeated Southern Mississippi 58-42. Between the two games, a couple of inches of snow fell in the Memphis area, and a Grizzlies game that probably wasn?t going to draw a big crowd anyway was affected even more. The announced attendance was 10,074, and that seemed a bit generous. … Because of the weather, the Grizzlies announced that those who missed Saturday?s game could exchange their tickets for next Saturday?s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. … Durant had missed only one other game this season, on Nov. 12 with left ankle soreness. … Both teams entered the game without a win since the All-Star break. … Memphis G Marko Jaric entered the game 0-for-17 and had not hit a shot in February. He missed all four of his shots Saturday. It also has been noted that in the midst of the slump, he married supermodel Adriana Lima on Valentine’s Day. “I would like to see him do whatever he can to make a hoop,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “Whether it is go to the basket, get a steal, go down, and make a layup. Something.” … The game featured two of the top three rookie scorers in the league. Mayo averages 19.2, while Westbrook is scoring at a 15.6 clip.

They inserted the fastest Phoenix player of all, Leandro Barbosa, into the starting lineup Friday night and the “Brazilian Blur” responded with a career-high 41 points to lead the Suns to a 140-118 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I love to play running up and down,” Barbosa said. “I think everybody does.”

Jason Richardson added 34 points and Shaquille O’Neal 22 as the Suns became the first team in 18 seasons to score at least 140 points in three consecutive games. The Portland Trail Blazers did it from Nov. 13-17 in 1990. The Suns did it for the first time in franchise history.

With the Boston Celtics coming to town next, new Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry assured everyone the high-scoring streak was over.

“I can promise you we are not get 140 Sunday,” he said.

Kevin Durant scored 35 for the Thunder, who trailed by 28 in the first half but cut the lead to six early in the fourth quarter before Barbosa and the Suns blew the game open for good.

“They started to go back to the way they were playing the first quarter,” Durant said, “fast shooting 3s—they’re just a different basketball team than we played before.”

Barbosa, a starter after Stoudemire underwent surgery earlier in the day to repair a partially torn retina in his right eye, also had seven assists and tied his career best with six steals.

“Incredible performance,” the Suns’ Steve Nash said. “What can you say? That’s Jordan-like numbers. It was fun to see him have a big night like that— he was everywhere—and hopefully he can get some rest for Sunday.”

Barbosa reached his career best and put the Suns at 140 with a jumper with 20.7 seconds to play after his teammates kept urging him to keep shooting.

“I didn’t know what was happening on the court at the end of the game,” Barbosa said. “We were winning and coach said for me to keep going to the basket. After we finished the game, I found out I had 41 points. I was very happy, but I was happier that we did it together.”

Phoenix improved to 3-0 since Terry Porter was fired and replaced by Gentry, who reinstated the Suns’ super-speed style that the team played so well under Mike D’Antoni.

Since that change, the Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 140-110 on Wednesday night and 142-119 on Thursday. Those two wins came with Stoudemire, who won’t be able to resume physical activity for about eight weeks, meaning he could well be out for the rest of the season.

Gentry decided to go small with the All-Star power forward out, inserting Barbosa at guard, shifting Richardson to small forward and Grant Hill as the starting power forward.

“I think this proves if we really push the ball and make good decisions, we can score no matter who is in the lineup,” Nash said.

Barbosa made 16 of 21 shots, including 5-for-6 in the fourth quarter. He was 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. Matt Barnes had 14 points and career-best nine assists for the Suns.

Down 97-76 after Barnes’ inside basket with 3:40 to go in the third quarter, the Thunder climbed back in it with a 15-2 run that cut the lead to 99-91 on Earl Watson’s 3 with 1:16 left in the period. The Suns led 103-93 entering the fourth.
Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, center, of Brazil, is greeted by teammates Steve Nash, left, and Shaquille O’Neal, right, after Barbosa scored to force a timeout by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Friday, Feb 20, 2009, in Phoenix. Barbosa was the game’s high-scorer with 41 points as the Suns won 140-118.

“I think what happened is we got tired,” Gentry said. “We still had the same shots and I don’t think we quite had our legs, so we didn’t quite get the ball to the basket. … Plus, Durant is a heck of a player.”

Nenad Kristic made a pair of 20-footers in a 6-0 spurt that cut the lead to 105-99 after Nick Collison’s inside basket with 9:40 to go.

Richardson’s fourth 3-pointer—in five tries—capped a 12-2 run that put Phoenix ahead 122-105 with 4:26 to play, and Oklahoma City was finished.

The Suns made seven of 10 3s and had a 24-2 advantage in fastbreak points in taking a 79-57 halftime lead. It was the team’s third half of at least 70 points in the last three games.

“The first half, we can’t spot a good team 80 points,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “We can score points, but we can’t score like that.”

Notes

Porter was the point guard of the Portland team that scored 140 three games in a row. … The Thunder, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, haven’t won in Phoenix since Feb. 11, 2005. … Durant was flattened by O’Neal on a drive to the basket early in the second quarter. O’Neal was called for a flagrant foul. … Phoenix’s three victories have come over teams with a combined 26-84 record. … Gentry and Scott Skiles (1999) are the only Suns coaches to win their first three games.

Portland’s 7-foot center was not a factor last week in the first display of the top two picks in the 2007 NBA draft, No. 1 Oden and No. 2 Kevin Durant.

But Wednesday night in the Trail Blazers’ 106-92 victory over the Thunder, Oden showed his potential with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Afterward, Oden wasn’t going to make anything out of the whole No. 1 against No. 2 thing.

“It’s Oklahoma versus Portland,” he said patly in response to the question.

While Oden’s rookie season was put on hold for a year after he had microfracture surgery on his right knee, Durant would become Rookie of the Year. That left many in Portland wondering whether the Blazers made a mistake.

Oden has had an inconsistent start, which is most apparent in his two meetings with Durant and Oklahoma City.

Last Friday, Oden got into foul trouble early and finished with four points and two rebounds. The Thunder won 102-93, led by Durant with 31 points.

It appeared Oden might be heading in the same direction Wednesday night when he was called for his first foul less than a minute into the game. But Oden adjusted, earning praise from coach Nate McMillan.

“Oden is learning how to play in this league,” McMillan said.

Durant, meanwhile, had 20 points, well off his average of 25.6 going in. He, too, played down any comparison, but did offer a measure of praise.

“Their big guys played very well,” Durant said. “They’ve got a big front line out there, so it’s tough to play against those guys. They played well tonight.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Brandon Roy scored 22 points and Travis Outlaw came off the bench with 21 for Portland, which has won seven of its last nine games.

The Thunder kept it close until the very end of the first half. Durant put Oklahoma City ahead 46-44, but the Blazers closed with a 9-0 run capped by Outlaw’s dunk as time ran out to make it 53-46.

The Thunder was coming off a 105-98 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles the night before, and the fatigue started to show in the second half.

Durant was whistled for his fourth foul. Oden blocked Jeff Green’s shot on one end, and rookie Jerryd Bayless made a fast-break dunk on the other to put Portland up 77-68. The Blazers broke it open from there, and Outlaw hit a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 89-76.

Oden’s reverse layup made it 98-78 midway through the fourth quarter.

“The last game they embarrassed us, we let them run whatever that wanted to,” Oden said. “We wanted to get to them, and not let them this time.”

Wednesday’s game was the Thunder’s first appearance in Portland since the team was moved from Seattle. There was a smattering of SuperSonics jerseys scattered through the crowd. One fan held a sign borrowing on the NBA’s own ad campaign, reading “Where ripping out an entire city’s heart happens.”

The Blazers were coming off a victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday, a game won on Roy’s scooped layup at the buzzer.

The last time the Blazers won in the series, back on Feb. 21 of last year, the Thunder were still the Sonics.

Portland was still without starting point guard Steve Blake, who is recovering from a right shoulder separation. Blake has started practicing with the team but will not return until after the All-Star break.