OKLAHOMA CITY _ Russell Westbrook almost spoiled Serge Ibaka's homecoming Sunday night.
Westbrook nearly ruined the Orlando Magic's most impassioned performance of the season, too.
But Ibaka sank a jumper from 9 feet with four-tenths of a second to go to lead the Magic to a 119-117 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the arena Ibaka called home for seven years.
Ibaka scored a career-high 31 points to go along with nine rebounds and four blocks.
Westbrook, meanwhile, finished with his third triple-double of the season, amassing 41 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists.
Westbrook almost single-handedly helped the Thunder complete a comeback from as many as 21 points down in the second quarter.
The Magic trailed 90-86 early in the fourth quarter, but the Magic went on a 10-0 run on a pair of jumpers by Aaron Gordon and a pair of jumpers by D.J. Augustin.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan called a timeout and inserted Westbrook back into the game with 7:49 to go.
Just one minute and 26 seconds _ that's all it took for the Westbrook-led Thunder to regain control.
Oklahoma City took a 100-98 lead on a fast break layup by Andre Roberson with 6:23 left.
Westbrook had some help from Joffrey Lauvergne, who sank three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
The Magic pulled within 115-114 when Elfrid Payton sank a 3-pointer with 59.1 seconds remaining. But on the Thunder's next trip down the court, Westbrook launched a shot from the top of the arc as he drew a foul on Ibaka. Westbrook sank two of his three free throws to extend OKC's lead to 117-114.
Evan Fournier responded by making a 3-pointer to tie the score.
Ibaka was playing at Chesapeake Energy Arena for the first time since Thunder traded him to the Magic for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the rights to 11th pick Domantas Sabonis.
Ibaka received a loud, sustained ovation from the announced crowd of 18,203 people when the public-address announcer introduced him as a starter.
The Thunder drafted Ibaka 24th overall in 2008 as an unknown from the Republic of the Congo and Spain's top professional league. He developed into an elite defender, helping the Thunder reach the 2012 NBA Finals.
Ibaka tormented his former team. He and the Magic dominated the game's early going.
Ibaka put his stamp on the game when he blocked two Stephen Adams dunk attempts just a few seconds apart midway through the first quarter. After a Magic teammate recovered the rebound following the second block, Ibaka raised both arms skyward as he ran upcourt.
He had reason to celebrate. After an awful start to his Magic tenure, he looked like he had turned back the clock to the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, when he earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors.
He also added an offensive spark. An Ibaka 3-pointer extended Orlando's early lead to 23-9.
Ibaka finished the first quarter with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks _ and the Magic held a 27-13 advantage.
Oklahoma City's 13 points were lowest single-quarter total by any Orlando opponent so far this season.
Thunder players struggled with their shooting throughout most of the first half, beginning the game 9 for 38 from the field.
Orlando led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter, but Westbrook sparked Oklahoma City out of its funk. The Magic relaxed their defense on the speedy, powerful point guard, and he drove to the rim for a few easy layups and scored on a tip-in.
The Thunder cut the Magic's lead to 48-42 on a layup by Oladipo off Westbrook's sixth assist of the night.
The Magic (4-6) needed a win over the Thunder (6-4) desperately.
Orlando entered Sunday on a three-game losing streak and with its offense looking terrible. The Magic began the day last in the NBA in field-goal percentage, having made an anemic 40.6 percent of their shot attempts.
But the Magic sank 53.5 percent of their tries against the Thunder.
And Ibaka made 13 of his 19 attempts.
He made his homecoming a happy one.
