Thunder roll on the road, pass Rockets

HOUSTON(AP) – Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Reggie Jackson added 23 to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 104-92 win over the Houston Rockets in the NBA on Thursday night.

The Thunder used a big third quarter to erase a 12-point deficit and tie the score entering the fourth. The teams stayed within a basket after that until Jackson scored five points in a 7-0 run which gave the Thunder a 97-89 lead with about 4 minutes left.

Oklahoma City scored four quick points capped by a fast break dunk by Jackson a couple minutes later to stretch the lead to 103-92.

James Harden and Terrence Jones scored 16 points each for Houston, which scored just 19 second-half points after posting a season-high 73 points in the first half – setting an NBA record for the largest scoring differential between two halves.

In Indianapolis, Lance Stephenson fired a career-high 28 points, four rebounds and four assists and led the Pacers to their second-most lopsided win of the season, a 117-89 romp over the Knicks.

“If he’s flashy, he’s being flashy making basketball coach,” coach Frank Vogel said. “One of our assistants said, `Boy, I wish I had Lance’s energy every day. His competitive spirit is as high as anyone we’ve coached.”

Stephenson has been playing this way all season.

He leads the NBA with three triple-doubles, the most of any Pacers player since Detlef Schrempf in 1992-93. With any luck, he’d have a couple of more, too. And after a nasty crossover or spectacular move to the basket, he might show off some of that New York flair by wiggling his hips.

In London, the Brooklyn Nets should think about making another franchise move – to London.

The Nets improved to 3-0 in regular-season NBA games in the British capital with a 127-110 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Joe Johnson, who spent seven years with the Hawks, led the way for the Nets at the O2 Arena. The Brooklyn guard scored 26 of his game-high 29 points in the first half, and nailed two buzzer-beating three-pointers.

“We just exploited mismatches. I was just feeding off these guys,” Johnson said. “We had a lot of ball movement and took a lot of open shots.”