NEW YORK – Tracy McGrady’s dazzling Knicks debut couldn’t stop the surging Oklahoma City Thunder, who got 36 points from Kevin Durant to beat New York, 121-118, in overtime Saturday for their eighth straight victory.
Durant made the go-ahead jumper with 16 seconds left in his 27th consecutive game with at least 25 points, the longest streak since Allen Iverson also did it in 27 in a row from Jan. 12-March 9, 2001. The last longer streak was by Michael Jordan in 40 straight in the 1986-87 season.
McGrady scored 26 points in his first game since the Knicks acquired him Thursday at the trade deadline. But he was on the bench for almost all of overtime, perhaps exhausted after playing 32 minutes in his first action since December.
Russell Westbrook finished with 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the longest winning streak for the Thunder franchise since a nine-game run early in the 2004-05 season. Jeff Green had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
David Lee had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks. Eddie House, also acquired at the trade deadline, scored a season-high 24 points.
At Houston, Danny Granger scored 36 points, T.J. Ford led a second-half surge and Indiana snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Houston, 125-115.
The Rockets, playing their first game with four new players from a three-team trade, led most of the game but the Pacers rallied from nine points down to start the third quarter, led by Ford, who scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half.
Troy Murphy added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Aaron Books led the Rockets with 26 points and seven assists, and Luis Scola added 25 points and 11 rebounds.
At Toronto, Jarrett Jack had 23 points and eight assists, and Antoine Wright scored a season-high 19 points in Toronto’s 109-104 win over Houston, its ninth victory in 10 home games.
Andrea Bargnani added 18 points, Hedo Turkoglu had 16, and Rasho Nesterovic and Jose Calderon each had 10 for Toronto, which topped 100 points for the 20th straight game and won its second straight without All-Star Chris Bosh (sprained left ankle).
Andray Blatche scored 24 points for Washington.
At Dallas, Jason Kidd scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points for Dallas against short-handed Miami, 97-91.
All-Star game most valuable player Dwyane Wade missed his second in a row with a strained left calf. (AP)