The Thunder (42 - 32) defeated the Suns (38 - 36) 109 - 97 at the US Airways Center on Sunday. Phoenix jumped out to a 35 - 24 lead by the end of the first quarter and, at one point, led by 19 points in the second. But, midway through the second quarter, the Thunder climbed back into the game, cutting the lead to eight points by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Phoenix’ lead was down to three points. With 9 minutes remaining, Oklahoma City took the lead and began to pull away, outscoring the Suns 33 - 18 in the fourth quarter. Three-point shooting may have been the difference - maker, as the Suns went 5 - for - 22 from beyond the arc, while the Thunder went 10 - for - 25. Russell Westbrook shined as he has for most of the season in Kevin Durant’s absence, finishing with 33 points (10 - 29 FG, 1 - 7 3Pt), nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one block in 38 minutes. D.J. Augustin came off the bench to score 19 points (6 - 9 FG, 4 - 5 3Pt), to go with one rebound, three assists and one steal in 32 minutes. Dion Waiters contributed 18 points (8 - 20 FG, 1 - 6 3Pt), three rebounds and one assist in 38 minutes. Markieff Morris led the Suns in scoring with 24 points (10 - 20 FG, 1 - 2 3Pt), to go with seven rebounds, one assist and one steal. T.J. Warren scored 18 points off the bench, going 8 - for - 10 from the field. Sunday’s loss was critical for the Suns, who are now four games behind the eighth - place Thunder in the Western Conference. To make matters worse, the Thunder have the heads - up tie - breaker, which realistically puts the Suns five games behind Oklahoma City. The Thunder have won the season series 3 - 1.
["TeamStat(G,'Suns') has 36 Losses ,has 97 Total points ,has 35 Points in 1st quarter ,has 18 Points in 4th quarter ,has 38 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Thunder') has 32 Losses ,has 109 Total points ,has 24 Points in 1st quarter ,has 33 Points in 4th quarter ,has 42 Wins ."]