NEW ORLEANS -- NBA scoring leader Russell Westbrook was looking for a little help from some friends, and he got everything he wanted and more in Oklahoma City's 121-110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday night at the Smoothie King Center.

Westbrook torched the Pelicans with 42 points, including 11 consecutive in the final five minutes, and he grabbed 10 rebounds and had seven assists to flirt with the 51st triple-double of his career.

But it was when Westbrook took a breather early in the fourth period that the Thunder's reserves blew open the game, scoring 11 straight points in the middle of a 16-2 run to turn an 89-87 lead into a 105-89 advantage.

The catalyst in the decisive spurt was reserve guard Alex Abrines, a 23-year-old from Spain playing his first season in the NBA. Abrines scored 12 of his career-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, including nine straight in which he sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a conventional 3-point play.

Abrines finished with five 3-pointers on 5-of-11 shooting from long range.

"Yes, it was one of those days where you feel like the rim is bigger and you can score on almost every shot," Abrines said. "Once you get one or two, (you feel like) the rest is like coming."

The Thunder (17-12), who had lost three of four games coming in, also got 14 points and 14 rebounds from center Enes Kanter.

"I thought we did a better job of playing inside-out," said OKC coach Billy Donovan. "I think we had really good ball movement. I thought Enes Kanter did a terrific job of understanding when to go one-on-one from the low post and when to pass it out. ... Alex shot the ball really well from behind the line. We were really balanced between inside and out."

The Pelicans (10-21) were led by Anthony Davis, who scored 34 points and had 15 rebounds, and by Jrue Holiday with a season-high 23 points.

Westbrook said the OKC bench was the key to the victory, and he was especially pleased with Abrines, who has shown his perimeter range in practice but has not shown as much during live competition.

"He can shoot the hell out of the ball, man," Westbrook said. "If he misses, it's up to him, but he works out every day and works on his game, and that's the best part about him. This is his first year and he's going to learn the ups and downs throughout the whole season, but tonight he did a great job making shots."

New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said the Thunder's big push by their reserves in the fourth quarter turned around a game that was theirs for the taking.

"The one kid (Abrines) came in and really changed the game," Gentry said. "He made shots. We had to then go down and double the post, and on the double team, I thought they did a good job of getting the ball out. We could have survived (Westbrook's) 42 points."

With Kanter and Westbrook crashing the boards, the Thunder outrebounded New Orleans 49-34. OKC held a 13-7 edge in offensive rebounds.

The Pelicans opened the third quarter with a small lineup and got three consecutive layups by Davis, Holiday and Terrence Jones to take a 64-63 lead. But Westbrook scored 12 points in the quarter as Oklahoma City took an 87-84 lead into the fourth quarter.

Westbrook drew a blocking foul on Davis with 4:58 left in the quarter -- Davis' fourth foul -- and that opened up the middle for the Thunder. OKC scored 58 points in the paint.

"It's tough when you play great defense for 22 seconds and then they get an offensive rebound, and that usually comes down to a three, a layup or a dunk," Davis said. "They just caught the ball deep. It doesn't matter who it is. It can be a guy who doesn't have any post moves. If they catch it one foot off the block, then it's easy to score."

NOTES: While Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he was pleased the NBA acknowledged that game officials incorrectly failed to call a foul as Russell Westbrook hoisted a 3-point attempt in a 110-108 loss to Atlanta on Monday night, he hopes officials will not hold the guard's physical strength and quickness against him. "As much as he is in the lane and as physically gifted and as strong as he is, when he gets fouled, they should call it," Donovan said. "It shouldn't be just because he's bigger. ... There's times he's in there, and just because he's stronger and bounces off people and can get in there, (a foul) needs to be called." ... Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said his team's five-game home stand, which opened Wednesday, is critical for a club mired 10 games below .500. "We talked about the importance of the next 10 days or so," Gentry said. "Probably the most important stretch we'll have all season."