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A full slate of Friday night games proved a thrilling start to the NBA weekend, with teams from around the country getting put to the test. The Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted the Sacramento Kings, while other teams from around the Northwest division were in action.
Oklahoma City Thunder 113 vs. Sacramento Kings 103
The Thunder stormed to a 19-point lead at half time only to see Isaiah Thomas score 23 points in the fourth quarter and bring the Kings within five points of pulling what would have been a shocking upset given Oklahoma City's dominant night to that point. But key buckets from Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant helped the Thunder to their 10th straight win.
Minnesota Timberwolves 113 vs. New Orleans Hornets 102
Nikola Pekovic scored 31 and Andrei Kirilenko added 21 as the Timberwolves bested the Hornets for their third straight victory. The Hornets kept it close most of the night behind Austin Rivers' career-high 27 points, but the Timberwolves outscored the Hornets by 10 in the third quarter on Minnesota's way to victory.
Phoenix Suns 99 vs. Utah Jazz 84
Jared Dudley's 22 points and five assists helped the Suns battle past the Jazz to drop Utah to just 4-10 on the road in 2012. Al Jefferson's team-high 14 points were not enough for Utah on Friday night.
Denver Nuggets 99 vs. Memphis Grizzles 94
Andre Iguodala's 20 points and Andre Miller's 18 off the bench were enough to hold the Grizzles late as Denver ran its home record to 6-1 and got back to .500 with the win.