Strong Second Half Leads Thunder to Rout of Hornets

Walker led the Thunder with 32 points on 10-of-24 shooting, and along with Lin brought the Hornets to being behind by two points in the third quarter. “We showed a lot of improvement in those areas”, coach Billy Donovan told the team’s official website. “We stuck to our principles, and got some stops”. “He’s just really sore”, said Hornets coach Steve Clifford. While injuries have piled up, heavily contributing to their current three game losing streak, Charlotte’s defense and rebounding has been heavily criticized and rightly so.

The Charlotte Hornets have not been successful lately in the win column, losers of six of their last eight games.

Oklahoma City shot 52.6 percent from the field (20 of 38) and led by as many as 16 points in the first half before taking a 66-54 lead at the break.

Durant missed the game with a sprained right big toe.

The Thunder cruised on to their next win with an impressive 109-90 victory that included Kevin Durant scoring 29 points and also getting into some weird thing with a courtside fan, who complained that Durant was standing too close to him during one of the free throw segments. However, both Lin (ankle) and Spencer Hawes (back) returned to the lineup after missing two and four games, respectively.

Injuries continue to plague Charlotte as they were without Nicolas Batum in this one.

Durant had 20 points and 10 rebounds but also committed 10 turnovers, while Russell Westbrook had a better triple-double with 19 points, 11 boards and 10 assists.

Adams’ career-high points return is 17, against Detroit early in his rookie season. Center Enes Kanter and small forward Anthony Morrow scored 12 points apiece and shooting guard Dion Waiters chipped in 10.

According to oddsmakers from online sports book Mybookie.ag, the Thunder is a 7-point road favorite for tonight’s game while the over/under now sits at 208.5 points. KD is day-to-day, but give Morrow a look if you need 3-pointers just in case KD misses more time.

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steven Adams (12) dunks over Charlotte Hornets’ Kemba Walker (15) and Marvin Williams (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016. Outrebounded the Thunder 24-13 in the first half….

Donovan’s club will try to slow a Kings team that shot a season-high 60.9 percent Saturday while snapping a three-game skid with a 142-119 home win over Phoenix.