Westbrook’s leads OKC past Cavaliers with 26th triple-double
(The Sports Xchange) - Russell Westbrook collected his 26th triple-double of the season to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 118-109 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Westbrook accounted for 29 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds. Victor Oladipo added 23 points and seven boards while Steven Adams had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder.
Kyrie Irving paced the Cavaliers with 28 points.
LeBron James scored 18 points to go along with seven assists, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Isaiah Thomas bombed in 34 points and the Boston Celtics scored 43 fourthquarter points to record a 120-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Thomas scored 32 of his points after the first quarter to lead seven Celtics in double-figure scoring. Marcus Smart had 18 points and Jaylen Brown 14 for Boston.
Damian Lillard scored 28 points and Al-Farouq Aminu added a season-high 26 for the Trail Blazers.
James Harden had 30 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while the Houston Rockets dominated the second half for a victory over the Charlotte Hornets despite playing an eight-man rotation due to injuries.
Harden finished 8-of-21 from the field with four three-pointers. Patrick Beverley added 17 points for Houston, and Montrezl Harrell scored 15.
The Hornets lost for the eighth time in nine games. They were plagued by a season-worst 22 turnovers that the Rockets converted into 27 points.
Nicolas Batum led Charlotte with 15 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Rookie Dario Saric scored a careerhigh 24 points, and T.J. McConnell hit the winning layup with 5.8 seconds remaining as Philadelphia beat Orlando.
Evan Fournier led the Magic with 24 points and eight assists, and he pulled down nine rebounds.
Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 11 rebounds. McConnell finished with eight points and eight assists, while Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points for the Sixers.
Dirk Nowitzki’s jumper with 2.8 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime after his side had rallied from 21 points down in the second half.
Dallas’ Harrison Barnes scored a teamhigh 31, including eight in overtime, and Nowitzki had 20 points.
Seth Curry had 16 points, including a personal 5-0 spurt that tied the game 9696 with 59.2 seconds left.
Utah’s Gordon Hayward had a seasonhigh 36-points and had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but missed a three-point try from the corner.