Thunder win 5th straight, lose Westbrook to injury

(SUPPLIED PHOTO)

OKLAHOMA CITY—It could have turned out so much worse for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder won their fifth straight game by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 122-116 on Monday night, but they lost star point guard Russell Westbrook with a sprained left ankle.

After coming down hard on the side of his foot, Westbrook pounded the ground in frustration before limping off the court. The Thunder led 84-77 when he left the game with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

There was limited information on Westbrook’s status after the game.

“We’ll see,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Generally, with those things, we’ll see how he does in the morning. But it’s a sprained ankle. Hopefully, he’ll be OK.”

Oklahoma City went on a run without its star to close the third quarter and led 100-86 at the end of the period.

The Pelicans closed the gap to a point in the final minute of the fourth quarter. Oklahoma City’s Dennis Schroder made two free throws with 20.5 seconds left and Paul George made a pair with 11.8 seconds to play to clinch the win for the Thunder.

“When he went out, I thought our guys competed and played extremely hard,” Donovan said.

Schroder scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Thunder hold on.

“When the fourth quarter started and we started to battle back, it’s too high of a mountain to climb — especially against a team that good, even without Westbrook,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “They got a capable guy. Schroder, I thought, played great. He’s been