Oklahoma City » If they had to play a game missing two starters and a third regular this late in the season, the Jazz probably would have preferred it come against any team but the one nipping at their heels in the Western Conference standings.

The Jazz were victimized first by circumstance, then by soft defense Sunday in losing 119-111 to Oklahoma City, with the Thunder shooting 60.3 percent and closing within a half-game of No. 4 Utah in a potential first-round playoff preview.

Kevin Durant finished with 35 points for the Thunder while Russell Westbrook controlled the second half in scoring 21 of his 30 points. Durant made 10 of 17 shots for the night while Westbrook went 12-for-16 and added 11 assists.

The Jazz (41-24) never led at Ford Center while playing without the injured Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur and Ronnie Price.

"It's tough, but that can't be an excuse because we've got a lot of talent on our team, too," said Wesley Matthews, who hit six three-pointers in finishing with a season-high 29 points.

The Jazz hadn't allowed a team to shoot better than 57.5 percent this season, but gave up 106.5 points on average in going 2-2 on their trip, beating Chicago and Detroit before losing to Milwaukee and Oklahoma City.

"Our defense hasn't been where we want it to be this whole trip, and it just continued tonight," said Deron Williams, who fouled out with 27 points and 14 assists.

Even at just two games, it's the first losing streak for the Jazz in more than two months, since they dropped three consecutive games from Dec. 31 to Jan. 4. The Jazz return home to host Washington tonight, with the Wizards riding a seven-game skid.

Perhaps most costly, the Jazz now are 0-3 against the Thunder, who claimed the season series and potential playoff tiebreaker should the teams finish with identical records. Oklahoma City still must play 13 of its final 17 games against .500 teams or better.

The Thunder already have won 18 more games at 41-24 than they did in all of 2008-09, when they finished 23-59. Their victory over the Jazz was their 17th in the last 20 games.

Without Kirilenko (calf), Okur (back) and Price (wrist), the Jazz started C.J. Miles and Paul Millsap and were left with only nine players in uniform. Kyrylo Fesenko played 15 minutes off the bench and Sundiata Gaines served as backup point guard.

Miles went 3-for-12 with eight points, though he did hit two fourth-quarter three-pointers and turned a strip of Durant into a dunk in the third quarter. Fesenko missed 6 of 8 free throws and had four points and three rebounds.

The Thunder scored eight straight points in the second quarter, capped by Durant's spinning, fading 10-footer to take a 43-31 lead with 5:41 left in the half. The Jazz spent the rest of the game trying to close the gap, but couldn't break through.

Westbrook had 11 points and four assists in the third quarter -- the Thunder made 14 of 17 shots -- and looked like a second-year star as he drove for layups, dished to Nick Collison inside, set up Nenad Krstic for jumpers and pulled up for three jumpers of his own.

"He was involved in a lot of pick-and-rolls and we just really couldn't contain him off those pick-and-rolls," Williams said, "and he shot the ball so well today from that midrange, which makes him much more deadly."

"He played well," Williams added. "He controlled the team well. He scored when he needed to. He got people involved when he needed to. You can just see him maturing as a player."

The Jazz closed within six twice in the fourth quarter before Westbrook answered by twice getting to the foul line and then driving for a layup. Carlos Boozer came up short on a dunk and punched the air to draw his third technical foul in two games.

Durant converted the technical free throw, then found Jeff Green for a dunk off a drive as part of a three-point play. The NBA's second-leading scorer, Durant then connected on a three-pointer as Oklahoma City stretched its lead to 109-95 and held on from there.

"We shot [50.6] percent," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "I don't have a problem with shooting 50 percent. But I have a problem when the other team shoots 60 and we don't have any stops in there."

rsiler@sltrib.com