OKLAHOMA CITY -- Coming off a flat performance on Christmas Day against the Chicago Bulls, the Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to run over the shorthanded Denver Nuggets, who were already playing the second night of a back-to-back.

Instead, the Thunder trailed 61-53 at the half and were down by as many as 11 in the second quarter. Defensively, they were sloppy. They were getting routinely beat on the defensive glass. They lacked intensity, they lacked an edge, and they were flirting with the kind of loss that causes fans to drink kerosene as they spit their fiery takes on Twitter.

As expected, things changed early in the third quarter, and the Thunder rode the momentum to a 69-51 second half, and a 122-112 win. What was the difference?

"I was aggressive, for one," Kevin Durant said. "Trying [to] score, make plays. And I think when I'm aggressive, that's sets the tone for us. So I was a little more aggressive, had a little more juice and it helped us out."

Durant scored 12 of his 26 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the third, clearly intensifying his scoring mindset. With the Nuggets throwing defenders at him such as Kostas Papanikolaou and Will Barton, Durant went to work.

Durant has been intent this season on not only buying into Billy Donovan's reformed vision for the Thunder, but also leading by example. By the minute, Durant is taking the fewest shots in his career. He is averaging just 17.4 attempts a game, which discounting last season when he was on a play-timing restriction, is the lowest since his rookie season.

Durant has had games where he has taken only two shots in a half, or nine total for a game. He has bought in to the idea of a five-man unit playing in a free-flowing manner, and is intent on being a key orchestrator of it.

"This is a rhythm game, this is a confidence game," he said. "When everybody touches the ball, we play together, not worry about who gets the assist or who scores the points, then everybody feels good. Our offense is going to dictate who scores, who gets the ball, but if we play together, everybody touching it, everybody involved, [those] shots feel a little better leaving your hand."

But he's still the most ruthlessly efficient scorer in the world, and with his absurd near-seven-foot frame, Durant can get a shot basically any time, anywhere. On Sunday, Durant attempted 21, 13 coming in the second half. He wasn't overly assertive, still reading and reacting smartly as he dished out eight of his 10 assists in the third and fourth quarters.

Combine that with the runaway downhill sled that is Russell Westbrook, and the Thunder tend to completely suffocate opponents with relentless offense. In the past, which includes the recent past, like Friday's deflating loss to the Bulls, it's a predictable, two-headed scoring machine that either doesn't get contribution from secondary sources or doesn't encourage it enough. Old habits die hard, especially when it has been your identity for seven seasons running.

But against the Nuggets, Durant and Westbrook combined for 22 of the team's 27 assists, becoming the first teammates since John Stockton and Karl Malone in 1996 to register at least 25 points and 10 assists in a regulation game. Or there's this: Prior to this season, Durant and Westbrook had never had games in which they both had at least 20 and 10 assists; they've now done it twice in the past month.

After being told the Thunder are 8-1 when they have 25 or more assists, Durant raised an eyebrow. "I guess that's the formula," he said. "We gotta start looking at that."

It's that, but it's also the cohesive marriage of scoring with it. The Thunder can't, and shouldn't, become a team that routinely relies on Durant to set the inclusive tone for the team. That's like asking Clayton Kershaw to not strike out everyone so his defense can practice their fielding.

Durant's and Westbrook's fastballs are their scoring, but mixing it as a distributor unlocks a lot of the potential this Thunder team appears to have. It makes Enes Kanter (21 points on 7-of-8 shooting) better. It makes Serge Ibaka (19 on 9-of-13) better. It even makes each other better.

And most importantly, it makes the Thunder a lot better.