Russell Westbrook's 16 fourth-quarter points lift Thunder to 95-94 win over Nuggets

Russell Westbrook went to the free-throw line with 2.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter after he was fouled on a shot attempt by Denver Nuggets forward Torrey Craig and hit one of two free-throws to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 95-94 victory.

Gary Harris‘ prayer at the buzzer was off and the Nuggets fell to 16-14 on the season and 5-12 away from Pepsi Center.

After Oklahoma City raced out to a 32-18 lead after the first quarter, the Nuggets came back from 15 down to tie the score midway through the third. Denver then took their first lead of the game a few minutes later on a Wilson Chandler layup.

But the reigning Most Valuable Player who finished with a game-high 38 points, scored 26 in the second half and 16 in the fourth. Although Craig, who was called up from the G League last week and was tasked with guarding Westbrook did an admirable job on the 6-foot-3 lightning rod, it wasn’t enough.

For Denver, Nikola Jokic came off the bench for a second straight game as he continues to work back from an ankle injury and finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Nuggets’ coach Michael Malone brought his big man back into the game with 48 seconds remaining but Denver didn’t score from the 2:31 mark of the fourth on.

Mason Plumlee started his second-straight game and scored seven points to go with nine rebounds in 23 minutes. Gary Harris led Denver with 17 points.