Durant stars; Golden State tops Thunder

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors played stifling defense for a full game. They went on a jaw-dropping scoring frenzy midway through the third quarter.

Yes, the dominant defending champions are back and ready to build consistency.

Kevin Durant scored 28 points while avenging an embarrassing home loss to his former Oklahoma City team earlier this month and another on the road in November, leading the Warriors past the Thunder 112-80 on Saturday.

■ Trail Blazers 106, Suns 104 — At Phoenix, Damian Lillard scored 40 points, the last two on a driving layup with nine-tenths of a second left, as Portland rallied from 15 down in the final 7½ minutes to hand Phoenix its ninth straight loss.

■ Timberwolves 122, Bulls 104 — At Minneapolis, Jeff Teague scored 25 points, Andrew Wiggins 23 and Karl-Anthony Towns 22 for Minnesota, which was without injured All-Star Jimmy Butler (knee).

■ 76ers 116, Magic 105 — At Philadelphia, Joel Embiid had 28 points and 14 rebounds to lead six players in double-figure scoring for Philadelphia, which won its season-best seventh straight.

■ Heat 115, Grizzlies 89 — At Miami, Tyler Johnson had 23 points to lead six double-figure scorers for Miami, which halted a three-game skid and dealt Memphis its ninth loss in a row.

■ Lakers 113, Kings 108 — At Sacramento, Calif., Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 of his season-high 34 points in the third quarter and had eight of Los Angeles’ 17 3-pointers.

■ Celtics 121, Knicks 112 — At New York, Kyrie Irving scored 15 of his 31 points in the third quarter and totaled nine rebounds and eight assists for Boston.

■ Jazz 97, Mavericks 90 — At Salt Lake City, Donovan Mitchell had 25 points and five assists for Utah, which won for the 12th time in 13 games.

Marcio Jose Sanchez The Associated Press Warriors forward Kevin Durant celebrates Saturday after scoring in the first half of Golden State’s 120-80 win over the Thunder at Oracle Arena.