OKLAHOMA CITY - Russell Westbrook relishes the moments when an opponent challenges him and his Oklahoma City Thunder teammates and it becomes time to respond.

Westbrook and Kevin Durant each scored 29 points, and Oklahoma City recovered after squandering its big lead to beat Houston 105-102 on Wednesday night and take a 2-0 series lead.

“It’s fun. During this time of the year, as a team we’ve got one goal and we can’t let nobody get in the way,” Westbrook said. “That’s how I feel and that’s how I want my team to respond as well.”

Rookie Patrick Beverley (Arkansas Razorbacks) showed a willingness to go toe-to-toe with the Thunder’s All-Star point guard, and the Houston Rockets didn’t back down despite a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Then it was up to Westbrook and the Thunder to come up with an answer.

Durant hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:28 to play after the Rockets had turned a 15-point deficit into a four point lead, and the Thunder didn’t relinquish the lead. Durant missed a free throw with 1 second left, but Houston was out of timeouts and Carlos Delfino couldn’t connect on a desperation shot at the final buzzer.

“It’s frustrating and it hurts really bad right now,” said Chandler Parsons, who scored 17 points for Houston. “But you’ve got to take some positives out of it. It’s a long series.”

Game 3 is Saturday night in Houston.

The Thunder’s big lead melted away with nine straight empty possessions as the Rockets mixed in a zone defense. James Harden spearheaded a 21-2 Houston comeback by getting into the lane to create his own opportunities, and he also kicked the ball out to set up two three-pointers by Delfino. His second three-pointer, from the right wing, provided a 95-91 lead with 3:27 to go.

But the Rockets couldn’t keep it up.

Oklahoma City came back to tie it before Harden knifed to the basket for a layup to give Houston its last lead at 97-95 with 2:42 to play. Durant answered right away with a deep three-pointer from the left wing at the opposite end, and the Thunder came up with back-to-back stops before Thabo Sefolosha’s three-pointer provided a little breathing room at 101-97.

Serge Ibaka added a long jumper to make it 103-98 after Durant was forced to give up the ball. Durant and Kevin Martin, both in the top 5 in the league in free-throw percentage, both went 1 for 2 at the foul line in the final 12 seconds to give the Rockets one last chance.

“We all stuck together,” Westbrook said. “They made a run when we weren’t able to make shots, but I thought everybody had a big role toward the end of the game and we came up with the win.”

Harden finished with 36 points and 11 rebounds, and Beverley had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists for Houston. The Rockets made up for a 40 percent shooting mark with a 57-40 advantage on the boards and a 50-30 scoring edge in the paint, engineering a massive turnaround after getting blown out 120-91 in Game 1.

And they did it without starting point guard Jeremy Lin, who didn’t play in the second half because of a muscle contusion in his chest.

“Our team is a young team and we’re not a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination, but they’ll fight,” Coach Kevin McHale said. “They’re a bunch of scrappers. They’ll go out and fight you for it. So, I knew our team would play well today. That’s who they are.”

Beverley moved into the starting lineup as Houston went with a three-guard unit, and it didn’t take long for the rookie to get under Westbrook’s thin skin. Beverley lunged for a steal as Westbrook stopped to call a timeout after Houston took a 42-41 lead midway through the second quarter, with his hip slamming into Westbrook’s right knee.

Westbrook smashed his right hand onto the scorer’s table in anger and hobbled back to the huddle, but was able to stay in the game. He stripped Beverley for a run out layup two possessions later, but the Thunder still couldn’t shake free.

Later in the half, Beverley knocked Westbrook down on a foul and then reached out to help him up. Westbrook slapped his hand away.

“It’s part of basketball, playoff basketball. Everyone wants to go out there and win,” Beverley said. “Anyone who knows me, knows my character, that I’m not going to back down from anyone, Russell Westbrook or anybody else.”

Another rookie, Greg Smith, drew a technical foul when he jawed at Ibaka after dunking on the NBA’s top shot-blocker and Houston was still within 57-55 at halftime.

Just after Harden’s driving throw down put Houston ahead 63-61, Oklahoma City raged back with a string of 13 consecutive points with Ibaka keying the run. He swatted Omer Asik’s dunk attempt, hit two free throws and grabbed an offensive rebound that set up Westbrook’s three-point play. The Thunder started the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run to push their lead to 89-74 after Martin’s three-pointer with 9:22 to go.

McHale called time out, and the Rockets immediately responded with Beverley’s three-pointer off a set play - and that was only the beginning of the comeback.

“We were down 15, we could have just given up the game and said, ‘Let’s go to Game 3,’ but we fought back and took the lead,” Harden said. “So, we definitely have some confidence going into Game 3 and going back home.”

SPURS 102, LAKERS 91

SAN ANTONIO - Tony Parker had 28 points and seven assists and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard had 16 points each, Manu Ginobili added 13 points and Matt Bonner had 10 for San Antonio.

Dwight Howard and Steve Blake had 16 points each to lead Los Angeles. Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol added 13 points each, but no other player had more than nine as the Lakers shot 45 percent from the field.

Game 3 is Friday night in Los Angeles.

The Spurs shot 51 percent from the field after shooting 38 percent in Game 1. San Antonio was 7 for 14 on three-pointers, including 5 for 7 in the first half.

EASTERN CONFERENCE PACERS 113, HAWKS 98

INDIANAPOLIS - Paul George followed his triple-double by scoring a playoff career-high 27 points to lead Indiana past Atlanta.

The Pacers lead the best-of-seven first-round series 2-0 and have won four consecutive home games over the Hawks. It’s the first time Indiana has held a 2-0 series lead since the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals.

George, playing in his first game since being named the league’s Most Improved Player, was 11 of 21 from the field, had 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals and again played well defensively. George Hill had 22 points.

Atlanta was led by Devin Harris with 17 points.

NBA playoffs

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Oklahoma City 105, Houston 102

Oklahoma City leads series 2-0

Indiana 113, Atlanta 98

Indiana leads series 2-0

San Antonio 102, LA Lakers 91

San Antonio leads series 2-0

TODAY’S GAMES All times Central

Miami at Milwaukee, 6 p.m.

Miami leads series 2-0

Brooklyn at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Series tied 1-1

LA Clippers at Memphis, 8:30 p.m.

Clippers lead series 2-0

Sports, Pages 17 on 04/25/2013