bound in the 37th to restore the visitors advantage

OKLAHOMA CITY -- After a six-month layoff, Russell Westbrook looked a lot like his old self. The All-Star point guard had 21 points and seven assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder, despite shooting 2 of 18 from 3-point range, beat the Phoenix Suns 103-96 on Sunday night. Kevin Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who won their fifth straight home opener and defeated Phoenix (2-1) for the 11th straight time. The Suns last beat Oklahoma City (2-1) in December 2010. Westbrook, sidelined after first tearing the lateral meniscus in his right knee during the second game of the NBA playoffs, then having a medical setback, returned three to five weeks ahead of the teams previously announced timetable. He said before the game he never thought it would take him that long to come back. After the game he said he felt a little rusty but seemed satisfied with his effort. "I just missed some easy ones but that will come," Westbrook said. "Im able to do what I want. I could be better but thats all right. Thats expected. Im not expected to come back and be bionic man. Im just going to work my way through it." Thunder coach Scott Brooks came away impressed with Westbrooks outing. "There are two things that (Westbrook) does at a high level," Brooks said. "He wins. Hes a winner. The guy plays the game like its supposed to be played. Its not always going to be perfect but he plays with everything he has every single night. To me thats inspiring. The second thing is leadership. Its taken him some time to get that . Now he is our leader." Brooks wasnt as glowing about the teams shooting. "Obviously, weve got to shoot the ball much better," he said. "We cant continue to shoot that from the 3-point line. I dont like to talk about it much but its hard to hide 2 for 18. But I will say this -- I believe in the guys taking shots. Theyre getting good looks. . Theyre going to fall." Eric Bledsoe scored 26 points -- one off his career high -- and added a career-best 14 assists for Phoenix, which opened the season with home wins over Portland and Utah. The Suns stayed with Oklahoma City thanks to 14-of-37 3-point shooting but eventually were done in by 23 turnovers. Serge Ibaka added nine points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City. Phoenix led 79-73 after a 3-pointer by Bledsoe with 7:46 left, but the Thunder scored next eight points, including layups by Westbrook and Reggie Jackson, the latter putting Oklahoma City ahead 81-79 with 6:11 left. Channing Fryes basket tied the game for Phoenix, but the Thunder went on a 14-6 run, highlighted by three-point plays from Ibaka and Derek Fisher, to take a 95-87 lead with 2:19 left. The Suns pulled within 95-92 before Durant slammed home a missed layup by Westbrook with 32.8 seconds left. Gerald Green hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cap a 21-point performance, but Westbrook and Durant combined to go 6-of-6 from the free throw line over the final 29.3 seconds to seal the win. "Our guys fought hard and thats a good team and we had a chance to win on their court, so Im pretty happy with the effort," Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. "Thats the ultimate goal, when you go on the road, is to have a chance at the end, especially a team like this. Its very difficult to win in this gym. We were right there and had some chances." Westbrooks action was his first since April, when Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley banged knees with him while going for a steal after Westbrook had stopped to call a timeout. Westbrook underwent an initial surgery for the injury on April 27. He underwent another surgery on Oct. 1 to remove a loose stitch from the first procedure. At the time, the Thunder said he would miss the first four to six weeks of the regular season. Under that timetable, Westbrook could have been out for as many as 22 games. Instead, he missed only two games -- a win at Utah on Wednesday and a loss at Minnesota on Friday. Usually the first player announced during pre-game introductions, Westbrook instead was the last and he drew an enormous roar from the sellout crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena. A team spokesman said after the game that Durant -- who usually is introduced last -- asked that Westbrook be announced last instead, although Durant declined to take credit for the idea when asked about it. "It was good for him to be back," Durant said. "I know how much he loves the game. The crowd was great. Unbelievable. Classy group of fans. Always behind (Westbrook) and accepted him so well tonight. It was cool to see." Westbrook immediately returned to his aggressive self on the court, scoring his first basket at the 7:16 mark of the first quarter on a driving layup. It quickly became apparent, however, that the Thunder will have to readjust to having Westbrook in the lineup. Oklahoma City struggled with its shooting in the first half, going 16 of 40 (40 per cent) and allowing the Suns to lead 45-44 at halftime. Frye scored 19 points and Goran Drajic had 10 for the Suns on 5-of-9 shooting before leaving the game with a sprained left ankle at the 10:08 mark of the third quarter. NOTES: Hornacek said the ankle Drajic injured is one "thats been bothering him before so hopefully hes not out too long." He didnt say if Drajic might miss any games . Despite the closeness of the game, Brooks played 11 of the 13 players who suited up and all for at least 8:47. It was evident that rookie Steven Adams is now the backup centre, having supplanted Hasheem Thabeet, one of the two players who didnt see action . The sellout was the 89th straight during the regular season at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Kahale Warring Womens Jersey .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. Arian Foster Youth Jersey . After losing Brett Cecil to groin tightness on Friday, the Blue Jays watched as R. http://www.texansrookiestore.com/Texans-Tytus-Howard-Jersey/ . Torres scored the first goal by an English team in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season when he met Cezar Azpilicuetas cutback in the ninth minute of their first leg match in the last 16. But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes. Kahale Warring Texans Jersey . The Toronto Argonauts (11-7) look for an opportunity to repeat as CFL champions when they host the surging Hamilton Tiger-Cats (10-8) on Sunday. Custom Houston Texans Jerseys . Garcia had eight birdies overall to go with a lone bogey on the fourth to move to an 18-under total of 198 at the Asian Tour event. "I was able to hit some really nice shots and then was able to roll two or three really good putts in and it was nice to be able to finish birdie, birdie on this difficult finishing stretch," Garcia said.BARCELONA, Spain -- Athletic Bilbao beat Osasuna 2-0 Friday to stay perfect through two rounds of the Spanish league, while Angel Lafita scored one goal and earned a late penalty to help Getafe salvage a 2-2 draw at home against Almeria. Bilbaos victory came at Anoeta Stadium, the home of regional Basque rival Real Sociedad, with Bilbaos new San Mames Stadium still under construction. Supported by thousands of fans who had made the trip, Bilbao almost got off to a perfect start when Aritz Aduriz hit the post in the opening minute. Osasuna went closest in the 13th when Emiliano Armenteros nearly curled a corner kick directly into the net, only for goalkeeper Iago Herrerin to react in time. Bilbao went ahead in the 31st when Osasunas Alejandro Arribas knocked Markel Susaetas cross into his own net shortly after the defender had saved a goal-bound shot by Aduriz. Bilbao took control of the ball in the second half, and substitute Oscar de Marcos sealed the win in the 82nd on the break with Osasuna pressing all its men forward in search of the equalizer its toothless attack couldnt produce. "This was an important win," De Marcos said. "Next week we go to (Real Madrids Santiago) Bernabeu and its good to get this win at home. Even though this isnt our home, it felt like it. Everyone would like to be in Bilbao, but the team is very grateful to our fans. Our fans never disappoint us." At Getafe, the promoted Almeria squandered a lead and a strong performmance for the second consecutive match and will have to wait until round three for another chance at its first victory.dddddddddddd Almeria striker Rodrigo Rios scored his third goal this season on the half-hour mark when he fired Jesus "Suso" Fernandezs pass off the post and into the net. Lafita levelled for Getafe with a well-placed header inside the far post two minutes later, but Fernando Soriano scored from a rebound in the 37th to restore the visitors advantage. Goalkeeper Miguel Moya kept Getafe in the game before Diego Castro converted a spot kick in the 85th after Rafael Ramos fouled Lafita in the area. Almeria coach Francisco Rodriguez said that his teams inexperience was costing it wins in its return to the topflight. "The team is generating a ridiculous amount of scoring chances for the first division," Rodriguez said. "We have strikers who are scoring, Rodri (Rios) has scored three goals and has to keep it up. At the end our inexperience is causing us to not take our opportunities. We will try again next weekend." On Saturday, Sociedad visits Elche, Valencia is at Espanyol, and Villarreal hosts Valladolid. Barcelona visits Malaga Sunday with Lionel Messi a doubt after picking up a muscle injury midweek in a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. Also, Atletico faces Rayo Vallecano, Sevilla travels to Levante, and Real Betis plays Celta. Real Madrid visits Granada on Monday. ' ' '