Oklahoma City Thunder take 3-0 series lead against Houston Rockets Kevin Durant picks the gap for an easy basket against the Rockets. KEVIN Durant scored 41 points to help Oklahoma City Thunder thwart a late rally by Houston and post a 104-101 victory over the Rockets for a 3-0 lead in their NBA playoff series. Durant drained a go-ahead three-pointer with 41.9 seconds remaining and the Thunder held on to take a stranglehold on the Western Conference first-round series. No NBA team has come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven post-season set. Durant carried the Thunder in the absence of Russell Westbrook, who had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee on Saturday and will miss the rest of the playoffs. "Definitely it's an emotional time, the last 48 hours," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. We all love what Russell is about. The guy has probably the biggest heart I've ever been around. The Thunder, playing their first game since learning they would be without Westbrook for the remainder of the playoffs, jumped to a 39-19 lead after one quarter and led by as many as 26 in the first half before taking a 17-point lead into the break. But Houston battled back, outscoring the Thunder 27-14 in the third period to get within range, and took the lead for the first time since the first quarter when Chandler Parsons made a three-pointer with 5:46 remaining. James Harden, traded to Houston by Oklahoma before the season, finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Parsons added 21 points, but the Rockets' remaining starters - Omer Asik, Patrick Beverley and Jeremy Lin - combined for 13 points. Lin was a game-time decision to start after suffering a bruised chest muscle in game two and scored just two points in 18 minutes. In Memphis, the Grizzlies mauled the Los Angeles Clippers 104-83 to pull level in their Western Conference series at 2-2. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph scored 24 points apiece to power the Grizzlies, who go to Los Angeles for game five on Tuesday and host game six on Friday. In Saturday's Eastern Conference games, Chicago's Nate Robinson scored 34 points to lead the Bulls to a 142-134 win over the Brooklyn Nets in triple overtime. The thriller matched the second-longest game in NBA playoff history, falling just short of Boston's four-overtime triumph against Syracuse in 1953, and resulted in record playoff point totals for both clubs. Chicago took a 3-1 lead and will try to finish off the Nets in game five at Brooklyn on Monday. There was no such drama in Saturday's other Eastern Conference clash, as the Atlanta Hawks dominated defensively at home in a 90-69 rout of the Indiana Pacers. Al Horford scored a playoff career-high 26 points with 16 rebounds as Atlanta trimmed the deficit in the series to 2-1.