Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook teamed up for 50 points and needed to return in the fourth quarter to hold off a Sacramento charge, and the Thunder clinched the top seed in the West by beating the Sacramento Kings 104-95 on Monday night.

It was the 60th win for the franchise, which last accomplished the feat 15 years ago in Seattle. The team hasn’t been the top seed in the West since 1996, when the SuperSonics went to the NBA Finals before losing to Michael Jordan’s Bulls.

“We’ve never done it here before, so it’s new to us,” said Durant, who scored 29. “But it feels good. It shows our progression as a franchise each and every year.”

Tyreke Evans, the Kings’ second-leading scorer, did not return after grabbing at his troublesome left knee following a drive to the basket late in the first quarter. Without him, Sacramento fell woefully behind before mounting a flurry with the Thunder’s stars on the bench.

Durant hit a 3-pointer and Westbrook set up Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam during a string of 11 straight Thunder points midway through the third quarter that stretched the lead to 75-51.

Sacramento was able to cut the deficit to 11 early in the fourth quarter and force coach Scott Brooks to put Durant and Westbrook back in and close out the game.

“To get 60 wins is quite an accomplishment,” Brooks said. “We’ve come a long ways through the hard work our entire organization has put in.”

Westbrook didn’t make it until the very end, drawing his second technical foul of the game with 2:28 left after spiking the basketball following Travis Outlaw’s dunk that brought Sacramento within 100-88. The two technical fouls brought Westbrook’s total to 15 for the season, one short of the number that would draw him an automatic one-game suspension.

Westbrook, who had 21 points, left the arena without speaking to reporters.

It appeared as though he — along with Durant and Ibaka — wouldn’t return after Westbrook was called for a technical foul with 3:04 left in the third quarter for complaining to referee David Guthrie that he had been hit in the face with no foul called.

Westbrook continued complaining until Guthrie instructed reserve Daniel Orton to lead Westbrook to the bench with Oklahoma City leading 76-55.

But the Kings soon pieced together a 12-2 comeback late in the third quarter, and Brooks called timeout after Sacramento scored six straight points to cut the lead to 84-73 with 9½ minutes left. Durant and Westbrook returned, and Sacramento couldn’t get within double digits until Jimmer Fredette’s four-point play with 7.8 seconds to go.

“With the second-best team in the NBA, you can’t get down early,” said Isaiah Thomas, who led Sacramento with 16 points. “You can’t get down 18 to 20 points. It’s going to be a hell of a job to make a comeback. We fought, though, in that third and fourth quarter.”

Outlaw scored 15 and Cole Aldrich had a double-double for the second straight game by tying his career best with 12 points and setting a career high with 13 rebounds.

Leading scorer DeMarcus Cousins, who was allowed to play after the NBA rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season, had just seven points and six rebounds and didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

Evans, who missed 16 games from late November through early January because of left knee injuries, clutched at the front of that knee as he lay under the basket following an awkward landing. His right foot appeared to slip on the court as his left leg folded up underneath him.

Outlaw and a trainer helped him off the court and down a tunnel to the locker room with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. A team spokesman described the injury as a left quadriceps strain.

“I definitely thought it was his knee, and he thought it was his knee as well,” Smart said. “We thought maybe when he fell and he hit the floor that maybe when they fell on it that maybe his knee had thrust into the floor.

“But then once he got in the back and realized that it wasn’t the knee. It was more the quad. I think it scared him more than anything else, thinking right away it was the knee. Just happy that it was just a quad and a couple weeks of rest and he’ll be back to normal.”

Smart said he won’t let Evans, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, play in the team’s final game Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“No need for him to go out there and limp around or try to do anything else to that,” he said. “So it’ll be a fight between Tyreke and I. We’ll do it behind closed doors, but it doesn’t warrant for him to get out there and try to do something.”

The Thunder scored the first eight points of the game and didn’t relinquish the lead, despite losing Thabo Sefolosha and Hasheem Thabeet to two fouls apiece within the first 7 minutes. The Kings got as close as one and were down 20-16 after Evans’ layup.

“It shows that we’re improving every year, and it’s a big number,” Sefolosha said. “There’s not a lot of teams that can do it. To be a part of that group and just to get to that number, it’s big.”

Game notes

While Durant is trailing New York’s Carmelo Anthony in his bid to win a fourth straight NBA scoring title, Brooks thinks another feat would be equally impressive. Durant is trying to become the sixth player in league history to shoot at least 50 percent on field goals, 40 percent on 3-pointers and 90 percent on free throws for a season. The others are Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Larry Bird. “To be able to score as many points as he has scored and shoot that well is pretty impressive. It doesn’t happen that often,” Brooks said. Brooks actually came close in Houston’s 1993-94 championship season, making 48 percent on field goals, 38 percent on 3s and 87 percent at the foul line. … It was the second straight April that Cousins was able to play at Oklahoma City only after a technical foul was rescinded. “You want to get it to where those things are all behind us,” Smart said, “where we don’t worry about any of those things anymore, to where we can focus on just the game and focus on the opponent.”

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The Blackhawks set an NHL record for the best start to a season, beating the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Friday to give them at least one point in each of their first 17 games.

Rookie Brandon Saad’s short-handed goal early in the third period — and with 3 seconds left on a San Jose power play — snapped a 1-all tie and stood up as the game winner. Chicago (14-0-3) won its fourth straight game to break a mark set by the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks, who earned points in their first 16 games.

The Blackhawks equaled that run Tuesday with a shootout win over Vancouver.

“It’s nice to get another win and make history,” the 20-year-old Saad said. “Our group’s had a great year so far, so we never expect anything less.

“We’re celebrating the win now. I’m sure it will sink in a little bit more tomorrow, but it’s awesome to be part of history.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville also reflected on the record, but not for long.

“The guys should be proud of the achievement, the accomplishment,” he said. “I just think we shouldn’t be happy with where we’re at. We just want to keep trying to get better.”

Saad scored the go-ahead goal after closing in on the left wing one-on-one with San Jose defenseman Brent Burns. After a quick fake, Saad fired a shot from the circle that beat San Jose’s Antti Niemi just under the glove 2:24 into the period.

“I just took him (Burns) wide and tried to get a shot off,” Saad said. “Luckily, I beat (Niemi) glove side. Sometimes power-play guys drop back a little, and I took advantage of it.”

Burns gave Saad too much room on the play, however, according to San Jose coach Todd McLellan.

“I thought that we let a player that wasn’t very dangerous — not because he’s not talented or anything — but a player in a situation that wasn’t very dangerous skate into a primary scoring spot without even challenging him,” McLellan said.

“I’m not sure if our goalie was on the angle or not,” he added, “but I’m disappointed we didn’t challenge him earlier.”

Viktor Stalberg also scored for league-leading Chicago, which has earned a total of 31 of 34 possible points.

Blackhawks goalie Ray Emery made 26 saves to win his fourth straight start and improve to 7-0. Chicago killed all four San Jose power plays, all of which occurred in a span of less than 14 minutes late in the second and early in the third periods.

“(The record) is a notch in your belt,” Emery said. “It’s special to do something as a group.

“The start of the year is the worst time to do it, I think,” he added. “You’d rather do it at the end, but it’s great.”

Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks, getting only his second goal in 11 games after getting nine in San Jose’s first five games.

Both Emery and Niemi were sharp throughout most of the game. But a misplay by Niemi led to Stalberg’s goal at 16:40 of the second period, and he seemed fooled on Saad’s score. Niemi stopped 32 shots.

Niemi, who was the goalie when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, also let in a couple of soft goals in a 4-1 loss to the Blackhawks at the United Center last Friday.

Chicago and San Jose faced each other for the third time in 17 days. The Blackhawks defeated the Sharks 4-1 last Friday and 5-3 in San Jose on Feb. 5.

The Blackhawks had a full lineup for the first time since their season opener at Los Angeles.

Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook, forward Daniel Carcillo and goalie Corey Crawford returned from injuries. Seabrook missed Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury, and Carcillo sat out 15 games after suffering a knee injury in the season opener.

Crawford, who sat out three games with a upper-body injury, backed up Emery.

Chicago forward Marian Hossa was back after being hit in the back of the head by Vancouver forward Jannik Hansen on Tuesday and leaving early in the third period. Hansen was suspended for one game by the NHL.

Marleau broke the scoreless tie late in the first period. He connected with 14.2 seconds left to give San Jose a 1-0 lead.

Emery made a point-blank pad save on Joe Pavelski’s tip of Joe Thornton’s shot from left wing, then Marleau pounced on the rebound in the slot. Emery got his left pad on Marleau’s attempt, but the puck barely slid over the goal line.

Stalberg tied it at 1 at 16:40 of the second on a play from the left corner. From a sharp angle and with traffic in front, Stalberg whipped the puck toward Niemi. It struck the inside of Niemi’s left pad near the knee and deflected in.

Saad’s goal 2:24 into the third made it 2-1.

Then Chicago’s penalty killing and alert work by Emery helped preserve the lead.

“I thought we got better as the game went on, each and every shift,” Quenneville said. “We certainly got some energy off the penalty kill tonight, none more than getting the shortie in the third.”

Niemi was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:10 left, but Chicago kept the Sharks off the puck and off balance. Hossa missed an empty net in the final seconds.

Game notes

The 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks got off to a 12-0-4 start that season and went on to win the Stanley Cup. … The Sharks played the fifth game of a season-high six-game road trip and are 1-3-1. Chicago C Dave Bolland left the game late in the second period with an upper-body injury and is out day to day. … Despite the compressed 48-game NHL schedule, San Jose had played only one game — at St. Louis on Tuesday — since facing the Blackhawks in Chicago a week ago. … San Jose C Scott Gomez and D Justin Braun were healthy scratches. … Former Blackhawks player and current broadcaster Eddie Olczyk, a Chicago-area native, was honored in a pregame ceremony for being inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

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