Thunder embarrass Cavs, Rockets topple Warriors

LOS ANGELES: Paul George scored 36 points, Carmelo Anthony added a seasonhigh 29 points with 10 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook recorded a season-best 20 assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder throttled the Cleveland Cavaliers 148-124 on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Thunder led wire-to-wire in extending their winning streak to four games. Paul teamed with Steven Adams (25 points, 10 rebounds) to score the first 20 points for Oklahoma City, and when Westbrook added two free throws at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter, the Thunder lead 22-12.

Isaiah Thomas tallied 24 points for the Cavaliers, who’ve lost nine of 12 games. LeBron James finished with 18 points, leaving him seven shy of becoming the seventh player in league history with 30,000 career points. James added seven assists and finished minus-33 over 38 minutes.

Cleveland was a defensive sieve from the opening tip, allowing Adams easy access to the rim on deep post-ups and offensive rebounds while also surrendering open perimeter looks to George. The Thunder posted a season-high 43 points in the first quarter, shooting 63 percent (17for-27), including 5-of-9 on 3s, as George and Adams combined for 23 points on 9of-11 shooting.

ROCKETS 116, WARRIORS 108 Chris Paul paired 33 points with 11 rebounds and James Harden delivered a key 3-pointer down the stretch as Houston snapped Golden State’s 14-game road winning streak with a 116-108 victory at Toyota Center.Harden finished with 22 points plus eight assists, and he drilled a 3 over Stephen Curry with 70 seconds remaining to push the lead to six points and fend off the Warriors once and for all. Golden State had erased a 17-point deficit and led by as many as four points earlier in the fourth quarter before Paul, P.J. Tucker (12 points), and Harden responded with late treys. Clint Capela added 18 points and Luc Mbah a Moute 14 for Houston, which claimed the season series over the Warriors. Kevin Durant paced Golden State with 26 points and seven rebounds while Draymond Green added 21 points, seven boards and six assists. Curry and his backcourt partner Klay Thompson combined to shoot 9 for 31 and totaled 27 points.

HEAT 106, HORNETS 105 Kelly Olynyk made the second of a twoshot free-throw opportunity with 0.2 seconds remaining as Miami put together a strong final two minutes to overcome Charlotte at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC. The Heat trailed 101-91 with less than four minutes to play. It was 105100 before James Johnson’s dunk with 34 seconds to go. Just seconds later, Josh Richardson’s steal led to Johnson’s tying 3pointer. Kemba Walker missed twice for the Hornets, and then Dwight Howard was charged with fouling Olynyk, who missed the first attempt before sinking the winner.

JAZZ 125, CLIPPERS 113 Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points and Joe Ingles matched a pair of career highs, scoring 21 points while making five 3pointers, to lead Utah to a victory over Los Angeles in Utah.Six different players scored in double figures to help Utah win for just the sixth time in its last 22 games. The Jazz led from wire-to-wire. Lou Williams scored 31 points, collected 10 steals and dished out seven assists. Blake Griffin chipped in 25 points and eight rebounds while Wesley Johnson added 17 points and eight boards off the bench.

PELICANS 111, GRIZZLIES 104 DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis played their first game since being named starters in the NBA All-Star Game, but teammate Jrue Holiday commanded equal billing as New Orleans beat Memphis in the Smoothie King Center. Holiday scored a team-high 27 points as the Pelicans got their first victory over the Grizzlies after two losses earlier in the season. Cousins had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Darius Miller came off the bench to score 12.

TIMBERWOLVES 115,

RAPTORS 109 Andrew Wiggins and Karl AnthonyTowns hit clutch 3-pointers down the stretch as Minnesota withstood a 40-point night by point guard Kyle Lowry and beat Toronto at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Wiggins, who scored a season-high 29 points, gave Minnesota the lead at 107-106 by knocking down a 3pointer from the left wing with 2:05 remaining. A Towns 3-pointer shortly after made it 110-106 and gave the Timberwolves all the room they needed. Lowry recorded his most productive night of the season and posted his fourth career game with 40 points. He made 14 of 25 shots and hit six 3-pointers.

TRAIL BLAZERS 117,

MAVERICKS 108 Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined for 57 points to lead Portland past Dallas at Moda Center. Lillard scored 31 points and doled out nine assists and McCollum added 26 points as the Trail Blazers (25-21) won their third straight game and sixth in a row at home. Wesley Matthews led Dallas (15-31) with 23 points while Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Smith Jr. each chipped in 21.—Reuters