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MILWAUKEE -- Jolted by a two-game losing streak, the Oklahoma City Thunder turned to Serge Ibaka and their defence to stop the slide. Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. "Serges performance was outstanding, the way he was blocking and altering shots and his rebounds," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "His 15 and 20 was one of his best games. Hes standing out as a guy that can get 10 rebounds a night and hes been pretty consistent. Thats what makes you a very good pro, that consistency." Russell Westbrook scored 26 points and Kevin Durant added 24 for the Thunder, who were coming off back-to-back road losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. O.J. Mayo scored 22 points for the Bucks, losers of five straight who continue to play short-handed because of injuries. Milwaukee played good enough defence to keep it close, but had too many offensive lulls. The Bucks shot 22.2 per cent in the fourth quarter. "We didnt make shots, but defensively, we were really good," Durant said. "They hit some 3s, which they do, but we contested them all night. Overall, defensively we played well." Bucks coach Larry Drew says his team gets into trouble when it stops moving the ball on offence -- lapses that allowed the Thunders defence to pounce. "When you play against a team like OKC, (when) you keep the ball on one side of the floor, they load up that side of the floor," Drew said. "You become very easy to guard, because they do such a good job in their rotations. Its very obvious. When we hit those bad spells, that basketball stops moving and it doesnt jump around." At least some of that credit goes to Ibaka. "Hes a physical player," Bucks forward Ekpe Udoh said. "Hes athletic, gets off his feet. . Hes talented. Hit a couple of shots on me." The Thunder also welcomed back centre Kendrick Perkins, who was away from the team for two games following his grandfathers death. Before the game, Brooks emphasized Perkins critical role on defence -- particularly on pick-and-rolls. Oklahoma City took control with an 11-4 run to end the third quarter -- playing with reserves for much of that stretch -- and led 72-65 going into the fourth. Milwaukee was held scoreless for more than four minutes to start the fourth, but went on a quick 8-0 run, cutting the lead to 77-73 on a 3-pointer by Mayo with 6:10 remaining. But Westbrook hit a jumper, Ibaka swatted away a putback attempt by Udoh, and Ibaka hit a shot on the other end to give the Thunder an 81-73 lead with 4:28 left. The Bucks continue to struggle with injuries -- although they werent as short-handed on Saturday as they were in a loss at Orlando on Wednesday, when they had only eight healthy players. "We know Milwaukee is banged up right now, but we wanted to come in and play a solid defensive game and I thought we did," Brooks said. "We made them take tough shots. We did a good job defensively." Mayo sees better things coming for the Bucks when they get healthy. "Well be a lot better for sure," he said. "Heck yeah, man. As we get more and more healthy, more of the seasoned guys back in, itll strengthen our first unit." Milwaukee went into halftime with the score tied at 40, holding Oklahoma City to 31.3 per cent shooting from the floor in the first half. Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo provided several highlights in the first half for Milwaukee, including a flying dunk on an alley-oop from Luke Ridnour, two blocked shots and a handful of other deflections. NOTES: Drew said he does not have a timeline for the return of forward Ersan Ilyasova, who continues to sit out with a sore right ankle. ... Drew was optimistic that Caron Butler (left shoulder) and Brandon Knight (right hamstring) would return soon. ... Durant recovered from a cold start, shooting 3 for 10 from the floor in the first half. Nike Blazer Shoes For Sale . They say things like "stress is when you dont know what youre doing" and "I wasnt hired to motivate players, I was hired to coach motivated players." They ring as true now as they did when Mularkey heard them the first time playing tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame coach 25 years ago. Wholesale Blazer China .com) - A chant of Zeke reverberated around AT&T Stadium before Ezekiel Elliott powered into the end zone for his fourth and final touchdown. http://www.wholesalenikeblazer.com/ . The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists detailed in a report how Russian and international journalists have been harassed and prevented from covering sensitive stories in Sochi such as the abuse of migrant workers and environmental issues. Cheap Blazer For Sale . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Wholesale Nike Blazer . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls have made two trades to clear salary-cap space, setting the stage for the addition of free-agent centre Pau Gasol. The Bulls sent forward Anthony Randolph, two second-round draft picks and cash considerations to Orlando for the rights to Milovan Rakovic. Randolph was acquired in a draft-night trade with Denver that gave the Bulls the rights to high-sccoring Creighton forward Doug McDermott.dddddddddddd Chicago also traded forward Greg Smith to Dallas on Monday for the rights to Tadija Dragicevic. The Bulls signed Smith in April after he was waived by Houston, but he never appeared in a game with Chicago. The pair of moves helps make room for Gasol, who announced over the weekend that he planned to join the Bulls. ' ' '