Thompson shoots 60 as Dubs rout Pacers

KLAY Thompson scored a career-high 60 points in a phenomenal individual display as Golden State steamrolled the Indiana Pacers 142-106 on Monday.

Thompson tormented Indiana with a mesmerising performance which saw him rack up 40 points in the first two quarters alone.

A further 20 points in the third quarter gave Thompson the highest individual game tally of his career and the highest of any player in the NBA this season as the Warriors improved to 18-3.

Thompson sat out the entire fourth quarter so was denied the opportunity to improve his tally, which included eight three-pointers.

Kevin Durant added 20 points for the Dubs, with Stephen Curry getting 13, but the night belonged to Thompson, who had the Oakland crowd on its feet as baskets rained in from all angles.

“It was fun. I was inn a great rhythm, took all good shots for the mostst part. Still missed a few ew wide open threes I wish I’d got, but it was a funn night, to say the least,” Thompsonhompson said on court afterwards. rds.

Westbrook marches s on

Thompson’s virtuosoo display was the highlight of another er busy round of NBA games which h saw Russell Westbrook maintain his extraordinary run of form withh a sixth straight triple double.

Westbrook moved to within one game of equalling Michael l Jordan’s seven consecutive triples inn 1989 when he secured his 10th assist midway through the third quarter of Oklahoma City’s 102-99 win over the Atlanta tlanta Hawks. Westbrook eventually finished w with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assistsass as the Thunder improved to 14-8. The 28-year-old is now three awayaw f rom matching t he legenda r y W Wilt Cha mberla i n’s a l l-t i me record of n i ne c on s e c ut i v e t r iplei ple - doub double s which was set in 1968. Westbrook has compiledcomp 11 triple-doubles so far this season – the samesa number as the rest of the NBA combined. Westbrook, whow is averaging trip l e d o u b l e numbersnumb f o r t h e season of 31 points, 10.9 rebounds and 11.3 assists, made 10 of 22 from the floor and 9 of 14 from the foul line.

In Toronto, LeBron James scored 34 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped their three-game losing streak with a hard-fought 116-112 win over the Raptors, a repeat of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals showdown.

James led the scoring for the Cavs, who also saw Kevin Love pour on 28 points with 14 rebounds as the Raptors’ six-game winning streak came to an end. Cleveland had looked to be easing to victory after opening up a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter.

But a determined Raptors fightback saw them move to within four with t wo seconds lef t, sending t he game down to the wire before the Cavs dug deep for a win that boosted them to 14-5.