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OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Thunder showed Wednesday night that they dont always need to have Kevin Durant score in the fourth quarter to win a close game. Durant scored just two of his 26 points in the final 12 minutes and his teammates -- including Derek Fisher, Jeremy Lamb and Reggie Jackson -- stood in the gap, helping Oklahoma City pull away for a 106-97 win over a Minnesota Timberwolves team without Kevin Love and two other starters. Jackson added 20 points (seven in the fourth quarter) and nine assists for the Thunder, who won for the 12th time in their last 13 games and became the NBAs first team this season to 40 wins. The Thunder won for the ninth straight time at home against Minnesota, which entered the game 3 1/2 games behind Dallas in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot from the Western Conference. The Thunder have won eight straight home games and are 15-1 this season against Western Conference foes at Chesapeake Energy Arena. "We just focus on doing our job every night and living with the results and theyve been pretty good for a while now," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "We have expectations to a standard that we want to play at and I think weve done a good job with that going into the All-Star break. "This is funky time for a lot of teams because a lot of players are probably thinking about the break and what theyre doing, getting their plans together. Weve never been a team that has done that and I dont anticipate that happening this year." Love, an All-Star forward, sat out with a stiff neck after taking a hard fall Tuesday in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Center Nikola Pecovic (ankle injury) and forward Corey Brewer (family leave) also didnt play for the Timberwolves. Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said he was proud of the way his undermanned team fought. "I think it shows that these guys compete," Adelman said. "They werent afraid to go play them with three starters out. It gave the other guys an opportunity to play. I couldnt be prouder of the way they competed. We just ran a little bit out of gas at the end." With Minnesota devoting its defensive energies to stopping Durant, other Thunder players made the key plays in the final minutes. The score was tied in the closing seconds of the third quarter when Fisher attempted a 3-pointer from the corner that appeared to be long, but Minnesotas Gorgui Dieng accidentally tapped it into the basket to give the Thunder an 80-77 lead. Fisher finished with 13 points, his second-best offensive outing of the season. "Ive never seen that before," Durant said of the goaltending call on Dieng. "That guy is a rookie . so Im sure hes going to learn from that one. But that gave us a boost and at the start of the fourth those guys came out and played extremely hard and thats what we needed." Lamb opened the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer to push Oklahoma Citys lead to six points. The Thunder finished off the 16-4 run with a dunk by Lamb with 7:17 left that made it 93-81, but Oklahoma City suddenly went cold from the field. Durant was called for a technical foul with 4:39 left after protesting a no-call, but Ricky Rubio missed the ensuing free throw, leaving the score at 93-86. Minnesota pulled within 95-89 after a 3-pointer by Robbie Hummel with 3:45 left, but the Timberwolves came no closer. "We came into the game aggressive and we fought all the way through, but in the last five minutes, I think we missed too many free throws and easy shots while they made shots at the end," said Rubio, who had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Thabo Sefolosha, who missed his first seven 3-point attempts, made one from the corner with 1:43 left to extend the Thunders lead to 100-90 and Minnesota came no closer than nine points the rest of the way. "Theyre NBA players, too," Durant said of his teammates. "Its not like Ive been scoring every point in the fourth. We play off each other. Guys hit big shots and we got stops. . We play a team game here." Durant, who also had nine rebounds and seven assists, continued his strong play against the Timberwolves. He had a triple-double in a home win over the Timberwolves on Dec. 1 and scored 48 points in a win at Minnesota on Jan. 4 before his outburst Wednesday. The Timberwolves led by as many as six points in the second quarter, but Oklahoma City took a 56-54 lead after Durant swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Durant had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists by halftime. Dante Cunningham added 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting for Minnesota. Serge Ibaka had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder. NOTES: Brewer didnt travel with the team following the birth of his son on Tuesday. The Timberwolves say hes expected to return for Fridays game at New Orleans. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute replaced Brewer in the starting lineup. ... Durant was the Western Conference player of the month for January. He averaged 35.9 points per game while shooting 54.9 per cent during the month, leading Oklahoma City to a 10-game winning streak. He scored 30 or more points in 12 straight games. ... Olympic gold-medal winning gymnasts Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, who live in nearby Norman, attended the game. ... Hummel saw his first action since Jan. 6 at Philadelphia. He played 17 minutes and scored five points. .. Oklahoma City C Kendrick Perkins matched his season high with 12 rebounds. Josh Hamilton Jersey . After seven wins in a row, they have to do it one more time to get into the playoffs. Derek Holland Jersey . He just didnt expect them to be this good. Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to a dominating 77-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday, preserving the Wildcats hopes of a No. http://www.rangersapparelsshop.com/ferg ... rsey-c-26/. - Titans quarterback Jake Locker will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, leaving Tennessee trying to rally with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Yu Darvish Jersey . -- Top-seed Shahar Peer and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the second round of the inaugural WTA Citi Open. Elvis Andrus Jersey .Y. - Major League Soccers independent review panel has taken back the fine and one-game suspension it placed on Toronto FC forward Luke Moore earlier this week. MADRID, Spain -- Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals as Real Madrid completed its Champions League last 16 thrashing of Schalke with a 3-1 victory on Tuesday. Madrid breezed into the quarterfinals after winning 9-2 on aggregate following its 6-1 first-leg victory in Germany. The Spanish leaders progress was never in doubt as coach Carlo Ancelotti rotated his squad, with Gareth Bale forced off the bench early when Madrid forward Jese Rodriguez injured his right knee two minutes in at the Santiago Bernabeu. Bale played a key role in the victory, feeding Ronaldo for the 21st-minute opener before Schalke defender Tim Hoogland equalized from a shot deflected beyond Iker Casillas. Ronaldo scored his 13th goal of the competition with an individual effort before Alvaro Morata struck Madrids third from Bales pass in the 75th. The victory extended Madrids unbeaten run to 31 games in all competitions ahead of Sundays Spanish league showdown with Barcelona. Also Tuesday, Chelsea beat Galatasaray 2-0 to reach the quarterfinals with a 3-1 aggregate victory, keeping alive the possibility of Madrid coming up against former coach Jose Mourinho. "I think all of the best teams have won their series, although there can be some surprises," Ancelotti said, with the quarterfinals draw coming on Friday. "Whoever we draw, its going to be difficult." Jese exited after Schalke defender Sead Kolasinac barged into the back of the Madrid winger, leaving him on the turf in visible pain. Ancellotti said Jese had ruptured his cruciate ligament, leaving him unlikely to return this season.dddddddddddd. Bale swiftly added to the attack as Morata threaded a ball onto his run into the area and the Welshman picked out the inrushing Ronaldo to beat Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann. Madrids intensity soon slackened, and the visitors took advantage of the dip in the 31st as Julian Drexler started a break that eventually finished with Hooglands shot from outside the area deflecting off Sergio Ramos foot around goalie Iker Casillas. "The team reacted well, the performance was good," Schalke coach Jens Keller said through a translator. "But the minute Real Madrid has an opportunity, they can convert it into goal." Bale lost control at the halfway line in the 74th but Ronaldo skipped onto the loose ball and headed straight for Schalkes goal, twisting and turning defender Joel Matip before closing the run with a clinical finish from the edge of the area. Ronaldo didnt look done as he found the crossbar in the ensuing minute, with the rebound falling to Bale to unselfishly pass back for Morata to net after the Madrid striker had missed a number of early scoring chances. Ronaldo, who then found the post after that, moved within one goal of the record 14 scored by Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Jose Altafini of AC Milan in a single campaign of Europes top-tier competition. Ronaldo also equaled club great Ferenc Puskas mark of 242 goals with his brace. Cheap Jerseys 2018 Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online ' ' '