NBA roundup: Russell Westbrook’s triple-double leads Thunder past Hawks 102-99
Russell Westbrook extended his streak of triple-doubles to six games, leading the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 102-99 victory over the skidding Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
Westbrook scored 32 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out 12 assists, giving him the NBA’s longest streak of triple-doubles since Michael Jordan had seven in a row in 1989.
Westbrook’s run has sparked a six-game winning streak by the Thunder. He has reached double figures in all three categories in half of the Thunder’s 22 games.
By contrast, Jordan had 15 triple-doubles for the entire 1988-89 season.
Despite a poor start shooting, Westbrook already had 15 points and 11 rebounds when he picked up his 10th assist with 6:20 left in the third quarter.
Atlanta rallied down the stretch, but Westbrook closed it out for the Thunder. He finished with 27 second-half points to send the Hawks to their seventh straight loss and 10th defeat in the last 11 games.
It’s the longest losing streak for the Hawks since they dropped eight in a row in February 2014.
Golden State 142, Indiana 106: Klay Thompson had an NBA season-high and career-best 60 points for the highest-scoring performance by a Golden State player in more than 42 years, and the Warriors whipped the Pacers in Oakland, California.
Thompson raised his arms to encourage more of those steady “KLAY! KLAY! KLAY!” chants then let it fly again and again. He had 60 through three and called it a night, sitting down with 1:22 left in the period as fans jumped to their feet for an extended standing ovation.
He scored 40 by halftime in just 18-plus minutes.
Thompson joined Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry and Joe Fulks as the only Warriors to score 60 points. Barry was the last to do so, going off for 64 on March 26, 1974, against Portland.
Cleveland 116, Toronto 112: LeBron James scored 34 points and the Cavaliers overcame an injury to J.R. Smith to snap their three-game losing streak with a victory over the Raptors in Toronto.
Smith injured his left knee in the first quarter after landing on a jump shot and hobbled to the dressing room in considerable pain. He did not return, and the Cavaliers said X-rays taken at the arena were negative and that the guard would return to Cleveland on Tuesday for further examination.
DeMar DeRozan had 31 points and Kyle Lowry added 24 for Toronto, which had its six-game winning streak snapped.
The win was the Cavaliers’ third straight this season against the Raptors, the team they beat in last season’s Eastern Conference finals. It also prevented Toronto from leapfrogging Cleveland into first place in the conference.
Kevin Love had 28 points and 14 rebounds. Kyrie Irving added 24 points, his career-high 10th straight game with at least 20.
Houston 107, Boston 106: James Harden scored 37 points and Al Horford missed a shot just before the buzzer, allowing the Rockets to hold off the Celtics in Houston.
The game was tied before Harden scored five straight points to make it 107-102 with less than a minute remaining. Avery Bradley made a jump shot and Harden received a flagrant 1 foul for elbowing Marcus Smart in the face. Smart made both free throws before Isaiah Thomas missed a layup.
But Houston knocked the ball out of bounds with 5.2 seconds left, giving Boston one last chance. Horford drove into the lane, but his shot rolled off the rim and Harden grabbed it to secure the victory.
Horford had 21 points and Thomas added 20 for the Celtics.
It was the ninth 30-point game this season for Harden, who also had eight assists and seven rebounds.
San Antonio 97, Milwaukee 96: LaMarcus Aldridge was credited for the go-ahead basket with 21.2 seconds left after Giannis Antetokounmpo was whistled for goaltending, completing the Spurs’ rally from 15 points down against the Bucks in Milwaukee.
The Bucks had one last shot to retake the lead, but Mirza Teletovic missed an open 3-pointer from the right corner with 3.9 seconds left. Aldridge secured the rebound and the Spurs ran out the clock.
San Antonio extended its season-opening road winning streak to 12 games.
Aldridge had 18 points. Kawhi Leonard finished with 22 points and nine boards.
Jabari Parker had 23 points, picking up the slack for much of the fourth quarter for the Bucks with Antetokounmpo on the bench with five fouls. Antetokounmpo finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Portland 112, Chicago 110: Damian Lillard had 30 points and seven assists, CJ McCollum scored 24 and the Trail Blazers beat the Bulls in Chicago for thier third consecutive victory.
Allen Crabbe added 17 points for the Trail Blazers, who opened a five-game trip with their fourth win in five games. Maurice Harkless had 11 and Evan Turner finished with 10, providing a nice boost in the fourth quarter.
Dwyane Wade scored 34 points for the Bulls, and Jimmy Butler finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Chicago played without point guard Rajon Rondo, suspended one game for conduct detrimental to the team. There was no public indication from the Bulls on what triggered Rondo’s suspension. He is expected to return Tuesday night in Detroit.
Memphis 110, New Orleans 108 (2OT): Marc Gasol had 28 points, including a tying 3-pointer with 7 seconds left in regulation, to go with 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Grizzlies outlasted the Pelicans in double overtime in New Orleans.
Gasol blocked two shots, including one by Terrence Jones that could have given the Pelicans the lead in the final seconds of the first overtime. And the Spaniard’s 17-foot jumper with 1:16 left in the second OT wound up being the winning basket.
Troy Daniels hit seven 3s and finished with 29 points for Memphis, including a tying 3 with 15 seconds left in the first overtime.
Anthony Davis had 28 points and 17 rebounds for New Orleans. Langston Galloway hit six 3s and scored a season-high 26 points, but missed a corner 3 that could have won it as the second extra period ended.
Tony Allen had 19 points, 14 rebounds and three steals for the Grizzlies, who have won three straight despite having a handful of regulars injured.
Denver 106, Philadelphia 98: Danilo Gallinari scored 24 points and Will Barton had 22, including a big 3-pointer late, to lead the Nuggets over the 76ers in Philadelphia.
Jamal Murray added 22 points for the Nuggets, who won for the second time in seven games.
Ersan Ilyasova, Sergio Rodriguez and Dario Saric all had 17 points for the 76ers, who culminated a four-game homestand with their seventh straight defeat.
Washington 118, Brooklyn 113: John Wall scored 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, as the Wizards rallied to beat the Nets in Brooklyn.
Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. had 18 points apiece and Markieff Morris added 16 for the Wizards.
Brook Lopez scored 25 and Sean Kilpatrick had 21 for the Nets.
Beal’s 3-pointer gave the Wizards a 107-106 lead with 3:27 left, and Wall scored five consecutive points to up the advantage to 112-106.
Brooklyn pulled to 116-113 with 39 seconds left and had a chance to tie. But then Beal stole the ball from Joe Harris, the Nets’ 22nd and final turnover of the game.
The Wizards trailed by 16 in the first half and 66-51 at halftime before scoring the first 13 points of the third quarter.
Charlotte 109, Dallas 101: Kemba Walker scored 19 points, Nicolas Batum had 14 points and 15 rebounds, and the Hornets came back to defeat the Mavericks in Dallas.
The Hornets took advantage of a knee injury to Mavericks center Andrew Bogut late in the first quarter to dominate the paint and the boards in rallying from an 11-point, third-quarter deficit.
Marco Belinelli scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, including the team’s first two 3-pointers after the Hornets missed their first 14 from long range. Six Hornets scored in double figures.
Harrison Barnes scored 29 points for Dallas, and Deron Williams had his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 assists.
Utah 107, L.A. Lakers 101: Gordon Hayward scored 23 points and the Jazz overcame the absence of ill coach Quin Snyder for their sixth victory in seven games, 107-101 over the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Lou Williams had 38 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who rallied in the fourth quarter and nearly stole a victory despite finishing their eighth loss in 11 games without five injured regulars.
Rodney Hood scored 16 points and hit two difficult shots in the waning minutes to keep the Jazz on track to win their only road game in a nine-game stretch.
Veteran assistant Igor Kokoskov ran the Jazz for Snyder, who fell ill earlier in the day and decided he couldn’t coach shortly before game time.