Durant helps Thunder snap losing streak

Kevin Durant scored 30 points, and Jeff Green added 22 to help the Oklahoma City Thunder snap a 14-game losing streak with a 111-103 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night in Memphis, Tenn.

The victory was Oklahoma City’s first on the road and second of the season following an 88-85 win over Minnesota on Nov. 2. Memphis has lost 10 of its past 11.

Russell Westbrook had 12 points for the Thunder, and Damian Wilkins and Desmond Mason finished with 11 each. O.J. Mayo led Memphis with 30 points, while Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol scored 16 each.

The Thunder’s 14-game losing streak matched the franchise record.

•Duhon, Knicks get offensive: Chris Duhon had a franchise- record 22 assists, David Lee had career highs of 37 points and 21 rebounds, and the New York Knicks rang up a record-setting 82 points in the first half in a 138-125 win over Golden State at New York.

Duhon set Lee up for numerous dunks against the defenseless Warriors. One of the slams, with 3:09 remaining, allowed Duhon to break Richie Guerin’s franchise record of 21 assists set on Dec. 12, 1958.

The Knicks raced to an 82-64 halftime lead behind 20 points from Lee. His basket with 3.4 seconds left let New York shatter the record for most first-half points at the present Madison Square Garden, set when Kansas City scored 81 on Dec. 8, 1979.

•Rockets rout Spurs: Luther Head scored 21 points in place of the injured Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets used balanced scoring to beat the San Antonio Spurs 103-84 in Houston.

•Celtics win eighth straight: Paul Pierce scored 19 points to help the Boston Celtics win their eighth straight game, 89-84 over the Charlotte Bobcats in Charlotte, N.C.

•Magic’s Pietrus injured: Orlando Magic guard Mickael Pietrus will be out three to five weeks because of a torn ligament in his right thumb.

Hockey

Crosby gets hat trick

Sidney Crosby had his first career hat trick at Mellon Arena and added an assist, and the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped the New Jersey Devils’ five-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory in Pittsburgh.

Crosby, who has six goals in his past three games to give him a team-high 13 for the season, scored twice Friday night at Buffalo. He posted consecutive multiple-goal games for the first time in his career.

•Former WHL goalie dies: A former junior hockey player has been killed in a two-vehicle car crash in Calgary, Alberta.

Michael Maniago, 20, a goalie for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League for two years, died early Saturday when the car he was driving collided with a sports utility vehicle.

•Prospect to stay with Islanders: Josh Bailey, the No. 9 pick in this year’s NHL draft, will remain with the New York Islanders for the entire season instead of returning to his junior team.

College football

Return record set

SMU’s Jesse Henderson set an NCAA record for career kickoff return yards in his final college game against Southern Miss.

Henderson pushed his career total to 2,928 yards on a 13-yard return in the third quarter in Dallas.

The previous record was 2,922, set by Tulane’s Jeff Liggon from 1993-96.

Henderson, a senior, had already set single-season SMU records with 992 return yards on 44 attempts entering his final game.

•Bowling Green coach out: Bowling Green has fired Gregg Brandon as football coach after six years. Brandon was 44-30 in his six years in charge of the Falcons, including 31-17 in the Mid-American Conference.

•Miami (Ohio) coach resigns: Miami of Ohio football coach Shane Montgomery has resigned after a 2-10 season.

Miscellany

Choi out in front

K.J. Choi overcame the nerves of playing in his first LG Skins Game by using a precise short game and key putts to take the first-day lead in the 26th annual golf event at Indian Wells, Calif.

Choi rolled in a 3-foot birdie putt worth $75,000 on the third hole, and earned $75,000.

That gave him the lead over Phil Mickelson, who earned $25,000 with a spectacular eagle-3 on the fourth hole. Two-time defending champion Stephen Ames and Rocco Mediate, playing in his first Skins Game, were shut out on the first nine holes.

With the foursome halving the final five holes of the front nine, $900,000 of the event’s $1 million purse is still alive for today’s final nine holes at the Celebrity Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort.

•Italian wins downhill: Italy’s Peter Fill took advantage of an early start to win his first World Cup downhill on a day when some of the best skiers had trouble finding their way down the mountain at Lake Louise, Alberta. Fill completed the run in 1 minute, 47.40 seconds.

Bode Miller, who won two training runs this week, finished 16th.

•Vonn takes fourth: France’s Tessa Worley overcame driving snow and poor visibility to win a giant slalom at the Aspen Winternational in Aspen, Colo., for her first World Cup victory.

American skier Lindsey Vonn was fourth.