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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Since setting the bar, the Lakers’ record never has been seriously threatened. The Houston Rockets, who won 22 straight in 2007-08, were the only team to even reach 20 straight since the Lakers’ magical run.

But now, the defending champion Heat led by James, a three-time Most Valuable Player, are making a charge. Miami extended its winning streak to 20 Wednesday night, rallying in the fourth quarter to beat the Philadelphia 76ers.

“It is certainly a possibility that the Heat could break our 33-game winning streak,” Sharman, a Hall of Fame coach, told Fox Sports Florida. “The record has held for 41 years, and all of us that participated in it are very proud to have been part of that season. However, [Heat president] Pat Riley has put together an amazing team, and I have to admit this one makes me a little nervous.”

Riley, a reserve guard on that Lakers team, built the Heat into a powerhouse in the summer of 2010 when he brought the trio of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh together.

Hall of Fame guard Gail Goodrich, the leading scorer for the 1971-72 Lakers — his backup was Riley — also believes the Heat could make a run at the record.

“I’d say this is the most serious challenge we’ve had to our streak,” Goodrich told Fox Sports Florida. “I think they’ll make a very, very, very serious run at our record, They might even break it. They’re head and shoulders over the rest of the NBA. Who’s going to beat them? There’s not as much parity in the league now.”

Goodrich and Sharman both admitted that the record is something they would like to keep.

“Sure, I’d like to keep the record,” Goodrich said. “But I’m not going to root against the Heat.”

“If they break the record, I would be happy for Pat Riley,” Sharman said. “But, naturally, part of me wants to hold on to that record a little bit longer.”

The Heat, the fifth team in league history to win at least 20 straight, will try to extend their streak Friday at the Milwaukee Bucks, who beat them earlier this season. Here’s some irony: It was the Bucks who snapped the Lakers’ record run with a 120-104 victory on Jan. 9, 1972.

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nthony returned to the floor Monday night for the New York Knicks after missing the previous three games with soreness in his right knee. He struggled in a 92-63 loss at Golden State, missing 11 of 15 shots in 34 minutes and finishing with 14 points.

Anthony told reporters in Oakland, Calif., after the game that his knee affected his play.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be 100 percent, to be honest with you, but I will play,” he said.

Anthony has been dealing with stiffness in the back of his right knee for several weeks due to a buildup of fluid. An MRI taken in February revealed no structural damage. The Knicks’ medical staff had hoped that rest would help the fluid dissipate.

Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer, sat out for six days after aggravating the injury on March 4 against Cleveland but still feels discomfort. He told reporters on Monday that he hasn’t received a definitive diagnosis.

“Nobody can really give me an exact answer on it,” said Anthony, who returns to Denver on Wednesday for the first time since the Nuggets traded him to the Knicks in 2012. “There’s no pain, no ligament damage or anything like that. There’s just some fluid in the back of the knee that’s preventing me from hyperextending my knee sometimes.”

Anthony’s isn’t the only health issue that the Knicks (38-23) are trying to get a handle on. The team announced that power forward Amar’e Stoudemire underwent right knee surgery to remove debris on Monday and is is expected to miss approximately six weeks.

Stoudemire’s absence makes Anthony’s health all the more important for the Knicks. New York is tied with Indiana for second place in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have four games remaining on their current, season-high five-game road trip.

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Malkin has symptoms that include a severe headache and mild disorientation, the newspaper reported, citing multiple sources.

Malkin was injured in the third period of Friday’s game against the Panthers after getting nudged by Florida’s Erik Gudbranson. Malkin’s back hit the boards at full speed and his head snapped back upon impact.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma ruled Malkin out for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay. Bylsma declined to elaborate on the nature of what is being called an “upper body” injury but added that Malkin is not hospitalized.

Pittsburgh’s second-leading scorer, Malkin has registered 14 goals and 25 points in 22 games this season. The Russian center collected 50 goals and 109 points last season en route to winning the Hart Trophy.

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The team announced the decision following a morning practice.

Hayward was unavailable Monday as well when the Jazz suffered their most lopsided home loss in franchise history, 125-80 to the Houston Rockets.

Hayward is the team’s third-leading scorer. He has averaged 13.5 points this season and 14.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists in January.

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The Kings’ high-scoring center still is unlikely to play in the defending Stanley Cup champions’ banner-raising season opener against Chicago on Saturday, but might not miss much more time.

“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect,” Kopitar said. “It felt good, and we’ll see day by day how I progress.”

Kings coach Darryl Sutter was encouraged by Kopitar’s post-practice return to the ice just nine days after getting hurt in a collision on the boards while playing for Mora IK in Sweden. Kopitar skated with coaching consultant Bernie Nicholls, shooting a few pucks with no obvious limitations.

“I didn’t go all-out right off the hop,” Kopitar said. “Just curious to explore the turns and stuff, and I didn’t have any problems. I thought it would be a little worse than it was. … I’m very optimistic. It’s in my nature.”

Kopitar has been the Kings’ leading scorer in each of the past five seasons, with a career-high 51 assists among his 76 points last year. The seventh-year pro was the NHL’s top playoff scorer last summer with 20 points, tied with linemate Dustin Brown.

Kopitar played alongside his brother, Gasper, at Mora IK, and Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan also joined the team later in the NHL lockout. Although the injury probably will deprive Kopitar of the chance to celebrate the Kings’ championship on the ice this weekend, he’s still glad he played during the labor stoppage.

“No regrets whatsoever,” Kopitar said. “I’ve been hit plenty of times when it looked way worse, and nothing happened.”

The Kings improbably managed to keep together their entire roster from last season’s Cup run until Sunday, when they traded little-used enforcer Kevin Westgarth to Carolina for Anthony Stewart, who skated with his new teammates Monday. But Los Angeles likely will be missing at least two key components when the first Stanley Cup banner goes in the Staples Center rafters.

“One of the reasons that we won the championship last year is … the lineup that we were able to use from the middle of January on was pretty much intact,” Sutter said.

Veteran defenseman Willie Mitchell had knee surgery in the offseason and still isn’t back to full strength, forcing the Kings to dig into their defensive depth. The Kings aren’t sure when Mitchell will be ready to return.

But Jonathan Quick, the Kings’ Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie, appears to be in top shape after offseason surgery to repair a disk problem in his back. The injury caused pain for Quick whenever he wasn’t on the ice during Los Angeles’ championship run last season, but the timing of his offseason surgery allowed him to work with the Kings’ medical staff during rehabilitation this fall.

“They didn’t push me if I was in any pain, and the trainers and doctors did a great job,” said Quick, a Vezina Trophy finalist last year. “I’m back to 100 percent.”

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