Basketball: Kevin Durant surpasses Michael Jordan's streak, but Thunder lose to Suns

Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after Gerald Green #14 of the Phoenix Suns scored a basket during the first half of the NBA game at US Airways Center on April 6, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. -- PHOTO; AFP
Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after Gerald Green #14 of the Phoenix Suns scored a basket during the first half of the NBA game at US Airways Center on April 6, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. -- PHOTO; AFP

PHOENIX, Arizona (AFP) - Kevin Durant scored 38 points to pass Michael Jordan with his 41st straight game of 25-plus points, but it was not enough to help his Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association on Sunday.

Goran Dragic led six Suns players in double figures with 26 points, as the hosts rallied past the Thunder 122-115 to move into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference standings.

Durant now has the third-longest 25-plus point streak in NBA history after surpassing Jordan, who had 40 back in the 1986-87 season. Oscar Robertson had a 46-game run back in the 1963/1964 season and Wilt Chamberlain did it in all 80 regular-season games of the 1961/1962 season. Those two streaks happened before the league's three-point era came into being, making Durant's the longest of the modern era.

Heading into Sunday's contest, the league's leading scorer was averaging 32.1 points a game. Durant has won the scoring title in four of the last five seasons.

Phoenix led by three points late in the fourth quarter when they turned it up a notch to record the victory in front of a crowd of 18,422 at the US Airways Center arena.

Eric Bledsoe stripped Durant and took it the full length of the court before getting blocked at the rim by Russell Westbrook. Derek Fisher came up with the loose ball for the Thunder, but P.J. Tucker ripped it from him, drawing a foul on the veteran and making two crucial foul shots with 43sec left to make it 117-112.

Bledsoe finished with 18 points. Tucker scored a career-high 22 points and Gerald Green came off the bench to tally 24 as the Suns won for the eighth time in their last 10 games.

"We had guys make plays tonight. It is as simple as that," Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said.

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