In brief: Durant scores 39 as Thunder fend off Kings

NBA: Kevin Durant had 39 points and 10 rebounds, Russell Westbrook added 30 points and 13 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder finished a perfect three-game homestand by beating the pesky Sacramento Kings 113-107 on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City shot a sizzling 67 percent in the first half but couldn’t shake free from the Kings on one of their hottest shooting nights of the season.

Sacramento shot 54 percent and became only the seventh team to make more than half of its shots against the stingiest defense in the NBA. It was the second-highest shooting percentage this season against the Thunder, who had been holding opponents to only 43.7 percent.

•Robinson leads Celtics over Pistons: Nate Robinson scored 14 points in 16 minutes, Rajon Rondo added 15 points and 11 assists, and the Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons 105-100 in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Jonas Jerebko scored 16 points for Detroit, which lost its fourth straight.

•James files for uniform switch: LeBron James has filed paperwork with the NBA to change his uniform number next season to No. 6 from No. 23, the league confirmed. James said earlier this season he would be willing to give up No. 23 in an effort to have the NBA retire it in honor of Michael Jordan.

UTEP clinches first conference title

Men’s basketball: Randy Culpepper scored 32 points and No. 24 Texas-El Paso clinched its first outright Conference USA championship with an 80-76 win over Marshall in Huntington, W.Va.

The Miners were ahead 62-51 with 9 minutes remaining but surrendered the lead and needed a strong finish from Derrick Caracter, who scored 10 of his 18 points in the final 5 minutes. His layup with 31 seconds remaining put the Miners ahead 78-76.

Marshall lost the ball out of bounds with 10 seconds remaining and Culpepper completed the scoring with two free throws.

•Villanova holds on over Cincinnati: Scottie Reynolds scored all of his 17 points in the second half and No. 9 Villanova let most of its late 16-point lead slip away before holding on for a 77-73 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats (16-13, 7-10 Big East).

The Wildcats (24-5, 13-4) got their second win in their last five games.

Reynolds led six Villanova players in double figures.

Canucks best Blue Jackets in OT

NHL: Vancouver defenseman Christian Ehrhoff scored 1:33 into overtime as the Canucks rallied to beat the Blue Jackets 4-3 in Columbus, Ohio.

U.S. Olympic star Ryan Kessler missed the net wide right but the puck caromed off the end boards to Ehrhoff who snapped home a shot at the other side of the net for his 12th goal.

Kyle Wellwood scored the tying goal, his eighth, with 5:19 left in regulation.

•Comeau hat trick propels Islanders: Blake Comeau had his first career hat trick and sparked a four-goal, second-period rally to lift the New York Islanders to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Uniondale, N.Y.

Comeau, Jon Sim and Richard Park scored three goals in a 4:39 stretch in the second, helping the Islanders win for the just the third time in 12 games.

U.S. Olympian Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks.

•Canadiens net four late goals to top Boston: Glen Metropolit tied the game early in the third period, and Maxim Lapierre scored the go-ahead goal for Montreal as the Canadiens scored four times in the final period to beat the Bruins 4-1 in Boston.

Carey Price stopped 23 shots for the Canadiens.

•Fedotenko leads Pens over Sabres: Ruslan Fedotenko had a goal and an assist and Sidney Crosby – in his first game since winning the Olympics for Canada – set up Sergei Gonchar’s 200th career goal to lead the Penguins past the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in Pittsburgh.

Woods returns home, back into routine

Golf: Tiger Woods is back home after a week of family counseling in Arizona and is trying to get back into a routine that includes fitness and his first significant practice in 15 weeks, a person with knowledge of his schedule said.

Woods returned Saturday to his home near Orlando, Fla., and has been hitting balls on the range at Isleworth.

•Sawgrass Marriot files for bankruptcy: The Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where nearly 300 media gathered last month to report on Tiger Woods’ first public appearance since confessing to affairs, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

The Marriott is located down the street from PGA Tour headquarters, and the majority of guests are there to play the TPC Sawgrass.

David Pillsbury, the president of PGA Tour Golf Course properties, says it should have no bearing on the golf course, which is home to The Players Championship.

Iowa jury convicts coach killer

Miscellany: Mark Becker stood passively as a jury in Allison, Iowa, found him guilty of murder in the shooting of nationally known Iowa high school football coach Ed Thomas.

Jurors deliberated more than 24 hours over four days before convicting Becker of first-degree murder, rejecting his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The guilty verdict carries a mandatory life-in-prison sentence.

•NFL, union continue dispute: In their latest round of bickering, the NFL and its players’ association have exchanged prickly statements disputing whether players will have to take pay cuts as part of a new collective bargaining agreement.

After the NFL wrote on its labor Web site last week that no player would take a cut as a result of its proposal, the NFLPA responded by saying – tongue in cheek – that it was ready to sign a deal guaranteeing that the salary cap won’t be lowered and there will be no reduction in retired players’ or other benefits under the CBA.

The current CBA expires in March 2011 and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith has characterized the possibility of a work stoppage as a “14” on a scale of 1 to 10.

Without a new deal in place by Friday, 2010 will be the league’s first uncapped season since 1993.

•Yankees’ World Series shares cut: Turns out the New York Yankees’ World Series shares didn’t set a record.

A full share for the World Series champions was revised to $350,030 – originally thought to be $365,053 – by the commissioner’s office after an accounting error was discovered that caused three people to be left off the original distribution list.