OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City and New Orleans came into their matchup Thursday with heavy hearts. The death of Ingrid Williams, wife of Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams affected both franchises. Monty Williams was the Pelicans head coach before being fired last season and had been like a second mother to most of the current players.

However, Pelicans center Anthony Davis refused to use the tragedy as an excuse after the Thunder rolled to a 121-95 victory over New Orleans at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

"It was tough, but you have to still go out there and compete," Davis said. "That's what we tried to do tonight."

Thunder guard Russell Westbrook was one rebound shy of his ninth triple double of the season as he collected 23 points, 10 assists and nine boards. Forward Kevin Durant scored 23 points on 10 of 17 shooting from the field to go along with six assists. Forward Serge Ibaka added 18 points as the Thunder improved to 40-14.

Oklahoma City heads into the All-star break as one of three teams in the Western Conference with at least 40 wins. According to Elias Sports, that is the first time in NBA history for that to happen in any conference.

"I think we are great, man," Westbrook said. "Forty wins, I like where we are. Looking to come back in the second half of the season and turn it up a notch."

Davis scored 23 points to lead the Pelicans, but was limited to three rebounds and no blocked shots. Guard Jrue Holiday came off the bench to post 23 points and six assists as the Pelicans fell to 20-33.

"I thought we were hanging in," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "This is a real talented team. I just thought we had too many break downs defensively."

The first time the Pelicans and Thunder faced-off earlier in the season, Davis was injured and Oklahoma City was able to take advantage of the all-star's absence.

Davis was back in the lineup this time and made his presence felt from the opening tip. Not only was he able to score, but he opened up lanes for his teammates to get off shots.

It was the Thunder bench who helped open up a double-digit lead in the second quarter, guard Anthony Morrow and forward Kyle Singler each knocked down perimeter shots when the Pelicans collapsed on Westbrook, who was attacking the basket.

Oklahoma City took a 62-53 advantage into halftime.

Even though Davis had a strong game scoring, the Thunder were able to contain him on the backboards. As a team, the Pelicans were outrebounded 50-31.

Oklahoma City led 95-74 entering the fourth quarter, and rested its starters in the final period.

"Defensively, I thought we turned our defense up in the second half, Westbrook said. "Did a great job of playing together."

While the Thunder rode into the All-star break on top of their game, Davis said his team needs to do some hard soul searching during the time off.

"We just have to decide what type of team we want to be," Davis said. "What can we bring to the table besides scoring. Make sure that we trust in each other and are playing for each other. Whether you can make the playoffs or not, you want to establish a culture for the upcoming years."

NOTES: The death of Ingrid Williams, the wife of Oklahoma City assistant coach Monty Williams, hit the Thunder pretty hard. "I thought about what I was going to say, but I just love Coach Monty so much, man," Thunder F Kevin Durant said. "I feel for him, man. And it's somebody we all love, I just don't understand." ... New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry talks about the importance of coaches wives in the NBA. "There are so many situations where you wives are mothers for kids away from home," Gentry said. "Especially in this league. They get younger and younger. You have to understand that when Anthony (Davis) was there, he was 19 years old." ... Thunder G Russell Westbrook's 530 assists heading into Thursday was 323 more than the next closes teammate. "I think the one thing with Russ is, he is an unselfish point guard who's got an explosive ability to score," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "I really believe, just being around Russell, he gets a lot of joy from passing the ball, helping his teammates, getting those guys shots."