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OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Thunder showed Wednesday night that they dont always need to have Kevin Durant score in the fourth quarter to win a close game. Utah Jazz Jerseys . Durant scored just two of his 26 points in the final 12 minutes and his teammates -- including Derek Fisher, Jeremy Lamb and Reggie Jackson -- stood in the gap, helping Oklahoma City pull away for a 106-97 win over a Minnesota Timberwolves team without Kevin Love and two other starters. Jackson added 20 points (seven in the fourth quarter) and nine assists for the Thunder, who won for the 12th time in their last 13 games and became the NBAs first team this season to 40 wins. The Thunder won for the ninth straight time at home against Minnesota, which entered the game 3 1/2 games behind Dallas in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot from the Western Conference. The Thunder have won eight straight home games and are 15-1 this season against Western Conference foes at Chesapeake Energy Arena. "We just focus on doing our job every night and living with the results and theyve been pretty good for a while now," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "We have expectations to a standard that we want to play at and I think weve done a good job with that going into the All-Star break. "This is funky time for a lot of teams because a lot of players are probably thinking about the break and what theyre doing, getting their plans together. Weve never been a team that has done that and I dont anticipate that happening this year." Love, an All-Star forward, sat out with a stiff neck after taking a hard fall Tuesday in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Center Nikola Pecovic (ankle injury) and forward Corey Brewer (family leave) also didnt play for the Timberwolves. Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said he was proud of the way his undermanned team fought. "I think it shows that these guys compete," Adelman said. "They werent afraid to go play them with three starters out. It gave the other guys an opportunity to play. I couldnt be prouder of the way they competed. We just ran a little bit out of gas at the end." With Minnesota devoting its defensive energies to stopping Durant, other Thunder players made the key plays in the final minutes. The score was tied in the closing seconds of the third quarter when Fisher attempted a 3-pointer from the corner that appeared to be long, but Minnesotas Gorgui Dieng accidentally tapped it into the basket to give the Thunder an 80-77 lead. Fisher finished with 13 points, his second-best offensive outing of the season. "Ive never seen that before," Durant said of the goaltending call on Dieng. "That guy is a rookie . so Im sure hes going to learn from that one. But that gave us a boost and at the start of the fourth those guys came out and played extremely hard and thats what we needed." Lamb opened the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer to push Oklahoma Citys lead to six points. The Thunder finished off the 16-4 run with a dunk by Lamb with 7:17 left that made it 93-81, but Oklahoma City suddenly went cold from the field. Durant was called for a technical foul with 4:39 left after protesting a no-call, but Ricky Rubio missed the ensuing free throw, leaving the score at 93-86. Minnesota pulled within 95-89 after a 3-pointer by Robbie Hummel with 3:45 left, but the Timberwolves came no closer. "We came into the game aggressive and we fought all the way through, but in the last five minutes, I think we missed too many free throws and easy shots while they made shots at the end," said Rubio, who had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Thabo Sefolosha, who missed his first seven 3-point attempts, made one from the corner with 1:43 left to extend the Thunders lead to 100-90 and Minnesota came no closer than nine points the rest of the way. "Theyre NBA players, too," Durant said of his teammates. "Its not like Ive been scoring every point in the fourth. We play off each other. Guys hit big shots and we got stops. . We play a team game here." Durant, who also had nine rebounds and seven assists, continued his strong play against the Timberwolves. He had a triple-double in a home win over the Timberwolves on Dec. 1 and scored 48 points in a win at Minnesota on Jan. 4 before his outburst Wednesday. The Timberwolves led by as many as six points in the second quarter, but Oklahoma City took a 56-54 lead after Durant swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Durant had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists by halftime. Dante Cunningham added 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting for Minnesota. Serge Ibaka had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder. NOTES: Brewer didnt travel with the team following the birth of his son on Tuesday. The Timberwolves say hes expected to return for Fridays game at New Orleans. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute replaced Brewer in the starting lineup. ... Durant was the Western Conference player of the month for January. He averaged 35.9 points per game while shooting 54.9 per cent during the month, leading Oklahoma City to a 10-game winning streak. He scored 30 or more points in 12 straight games. ... Olympic gold-medal winning gymnasts Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, who live in nearby Norman, attended the game. ... Hummel saw his first action since Jan. 6 at Philadelphia. He played 17 minutes and scored five points. .. Oklahoma City C Kendrick Perkins matched his season high with 12 rebounds. Jonas Jerebko Jersey . - Kevin Labanc and Joseph Blandisi were a potent combination for the Barrie Colts on Friday night. Kyle Korver Jersey . - Veteran Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, sidelined since Game 1 of the Anaheim series, says hes close to returning. http://www.jazzauthentic.com/kids-ricky-rubio-jazz-jersey/ . Simon (10-3) allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1-3 innings to break a tie with the Dodgers Zack Greinke and Cardinals Adam Wainwright for the NL lead in victories. Simon went to spring training as a relief pitcher and moved into the starting rotation when Mat Latos was recovering from elbow and knee surgeries.BEREA, Ohio - Desmond Bryant knew he had to make some major changes to his lifestyle. Really, he had no choice or there could be devastating consequences. "A heart surgery will make you kind of realize you need to start doing things right, especially diet wise," Bryant said. "Ive really cleaned things up a little bit. So far, so good." Bryants comeback from a major health scare continued Wednesday when the Browns defensive lineman returned practiced for the first time since having a procedure in December to fix an irregular heartbeat — a condition he has had for years — that led to him having his first season with Cleveland cut short. On Dec. 6, Bryant underwent a cardiac ablation, an operation that involves a catheter being inserted to destroy a small area of bad heart tissue. The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder had at least two episodes last season when his heart raced out of control, including once during an Oct. 3 game against Buffalo. Bryant was hospitalized overnight and the 29-year-old had a recurrence two months later following a home loss to Jacksonville. It was then that Bryant, who was forced to leave a 2012 game for Oakland with a fast heart rate and light-headedness, was advised to undergo the ablation. "I felt like after I experienced what I did on the field that it was finally time to do something to fix that," Bryant said. "So while it was a trying time, I was also excited to get this procedure done and put this behind me. Since then, Ive been training and feeling real well. "Im back. Im healthy." Bryant missed the first minicamp practice on Tuesday for personal reasons, but joined his teammates for their second workout, which was held inside again because of rain and wet grounds. Bryant was welcomed back by everyone, including linebacker Quentin Groves, who also had a heart ablation in 2008. Groves condition was first diagnosed when he was in college but he didnt decide to have the procedure until it was spotted again at the NFL combine. "Its kind of scary not knowing what it is," Groves said. "The way it was explained to me when I had my procedure, the doctor told me one day you could not wake up. I was like, Well, OK, if I was your son,, what would you do? He said, I would have the procedure done. Donovan Mitchell Jersey. "Anytime someone plays with your heart, youre kind of scared." Groves spoke with Bryant before he had the operation, and joked that he had to comfort his big teammate. "Des is a big baby. I have to rock him to sleep at night. No, Im just kidding," Groves said. "I just told him, Its a fairly simple procedure. I recommend you get it done. Im proud that you got it done before it became a problem for you." Bryant wasnt anxious about the operation. He was most fearful during the episodes when his heart raced. "I would feel like I had a fast heart rate and the next thing I know I was going to the hospital," he said. "That was the only real scary thing." Bryant was one of the biggest off-season acquisitions in 2013 by the Browns, who signed him to a five-year, $34 million free agent contract. Bryant had an immediate impact, recording two sacks and a career-high 10 tackles in the opener against Miami. He was Clevelands best defensive lineman through four games, but his production fell off sharply following his hospitalization. He finished with 3 1/2 sacks in 12 games. Bryant, though, doesnt know if theres a direct correlation between his drop-off and heart ailment. Hes excited about the new defensive scheme brought in by coach Mike Pettine. "Theyve got a few wrinkles here and there that kind of switch things up that really make it challenging for offences," he said. "I cant wait to continue to grow and learn in this system and see where this will take us." Does he fit in it? "Absolutely," he said with a smile. "Im a good fit for any defence." NOTES: TE Keavon Milton worked out with the offensive linemen for the first time. The 6-foot-4, 293-pounder wore No. 63 after wearing No. 83 on Tuesday. ... After briefly considering a name change, Browns safety Donte Whitner will not drop the W and go by Hitner. "I didnt want to go through changing my credit cards, mortgages and cars," he said. "I cant do all of this paperwork. For one letter change? 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