Durant, Westbrook come up big in victory vs. feisty Bucks

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks both needed a win in a bad way, albeit for different reasons.

The Thunder - losers of six of the previous eight games heading into Sunday's contest - were straddling the line between crisis and calm after dropping a series of heart-breaking losses to Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors (twice), and needed a victory in order to stabilize their recent struggles and preserve the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference standings.

The Bucks - who entered the game with a 26-36 record - were a handful of games behind the eighth-seeded Chicago Bulls, and hadn't beaten a playoff-caliber team since their Feb. 20 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks. So, Jason Kidd and company were also desperate to get back into the win column.

Alas, there could only be one victor, and the spoils of war on this occasion went to the Thunder, who were buoyed by brilliant performances from a pair of usual suspects.

Russell Westbrook was in peak form, balancing his contributions across a multitude of statistical categories with 15 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds.

His tenth triple-double this season - second only to Draymond Green's 11 - put the potent point guard in elite company as far as tallying triple-doubles in a two-year span.

Westbrook's superstar running mate, Kevin Durant, had a night of his own, logging a near-triple-double himself with 32 points, 12 boards, and eight dimes.

Strangely, OKC had gone winless in the previous five games in which "Durantula" erupted for 30 or more points.

On this night, however, the Thunder came out on top, in spite of yet another triple-double from rising star Giannis Antetokounmpo and a strong stat line from his uber-talented partner Jabari Parker (26 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block).

The Bucks will face the Bulls next as they aim to keep their playoff hopes alive, while the Thunder look to keep rolling against the Clippers, a team they lead by just two games, on Wednesday.