Westbrook hits 58 in vain as Blazers thwart Thunder
Russell Westbrook exploded for the highest-scoring game of his career with 58 points, but it was not enough to stop the Oklahoma City Thunder from falling to a pulsating defeat against Portland on Tuesday. The Trail Blazers squeezed home with a 126-121 victory in a thrilling battle at the Chesapeake Energy Arena that Westbrook appeared to be attempting to win single-handedly.
Ultimately, however, his virtuoso display came up short against the multi-faceted Blazers, who finished with seven players in double figures. Allen Crabbe led the scoring for the visitors with 23 points while Damian Lillard finished with 22 points. C.J. McCollum scored 21 points.
Westbrook meanwhile made 21 of 39 shots but could not add to his remarkable season tally of triple doubles. Tellingly, Westbrook was the only Thunder starting player to make an assist. Only two other Thunder players made double figures-Victor Oladipo with 16 points and Enes Kanter with 11 points-as Oklahoma City slid to its fourthstraight defeat. Blazers power forward Meyers Leonard said Portland had suspected they would be able to exploit Oklahoma City’s reliance on Westbrook.
“Russ is incredible, no doubt about it,” he said. “Extremely talented, able to make plays for others. Able to score the ball obviously, rebound, defend, everything.” “But with that being said, it sometimes becomes a oneman show,” he added. “Now he is capable of that. But I think it’s to our credit, top to bottom we had a lot of guys contribute. We were sharing the ball, we believed in what we were doing, we believed in each other. This was a very big win for us.”
DALLAS 122, LA LAKERS 111
Dirk Nowitzki scored the 20 points he needed for 30,000 in his career in barely more than a quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks celebrated with their second straight easy home win over the Los Angeles Lakers, a 122-111 victory Tuesday night. The 7-foot German became the sixth NBA player and the first international one to reach the milestone, joining four Hall of Famers and a future one in Kobe Bryant. Nowitzki is one of three to score all 30,000-plus with one team. The others are Karl Malone (Utah) and Bryant (Lakers). The 38-year-old Nowitzki matched the best first quarter in his 19 seasons by scoring 18 points, and reached the hallowed mark on a 15-foot fadeaway jumper from the baseline over Larry Nance Jr. with 10:58 remaining in the second quarter. Nowitzki scored all of his 25 points - one shy of his season high - in the first half to send the Mavericks to a 31-point lead in the third quarter. This was the Lakers’ first visit to Dallas since setting a franchise record with a 49-point loss, a 122-73 blowout on Jan. 22. Dallas extended a franchise record with its 14th straight win over the Lakers, who got a triple-double from Julius Randle with 13 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists in their eighth straight loss.
WIZARDS 131, SUNS 127
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 29 points, setting a franchise record for free throws made by going 16 of 16, and Washington opened a five-game western trip with a victory over pesky Phoenix. Bradley Beal had 27 points and John Wall added 25 points and 14 assists in a victory that ended the Suns’ three-game winning streak, their longest since November 2015.
Eric Bledsoe scored 30 points for the Suns, who erased a 22-point, first-half deficit, were tied at 110 with 5:16 to play and challenged the Wizards in the final two minutes before Wall finally clinched it with two free throws with 6.5 seconds to play. Devin Booker scored 25 for the Suns, nine in the final 21 seconds. —Agencies