Thunder shut down Heat, move above .500 for 1st time all season

The Oklahoma City Thunder are back above .500.

It's been a long road north of the win-loss equator, with the Thunder starting 5-13 in large part due to early-season injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. A surge to 17-17 was followed by a back-and-forth stretch, and the Thunder finally moved to 21-20 on Tuesday with a 94-86 road victory over the Miami Heat.

Durant, who has only been present for five losses in his 18 games, led the way with 19 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals, while Westbrook flanked him with 19, 10, six and four, respectively. The pair also traded emphatic dunks, because tying for the game-high in points wasn't exciting enough.

The win is the third in a row for the Thunder, but they need a good deal more before they'll feel remotely comfortable. Because of their slow start, they remain three games back of the Phoenix Suns for eighth in the Western Conference and have a razor-thin margin for error the rest of the way. If the Thunder win at a .722 pace - their rate with Durant healthy this season - they would win 51 games, almost surely enough for a playoff spot but not comfortably so with the Suns on a 48-win pace.

In other words, Tuesday is hardly cause for celebration. With five of their next six on the road and four of those six against winning teams, the Thunder need to be at their very best entering the season's second half.

They appeared to be so on the defensive end, holding the Heat to less than a point per possession thanks to 21 forced turnovers. That may not be the best measuring stick, as the moribund Heat have lost seven of their last 11 to fall to 18-23, themselves at risk of losing a playoff spot in the far weaker Eastern Conference.