Trail Blazers zap Thunder
OKLAHOMA CITY — While Damien Lillard tries to get pasta lingering injury, the Portland Trail Blazers are relying on each other to fashion a nice run of positive results.
CJ McCollum had 27 points and seven assists, and the Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 117106 on Tuesday night in the opener of a four-game trip.
Shabazz Napier added 21 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points and eight rebounds for Portland, which moved past Oklahoma City into second in the Northwest Division standings with its seventh win in its last nine games against the Thunder.
Portland has won four of five overall despite playing most of that stretch without Lillard, who sat out for the seventh time in the last nine games with a left calf strain.
Russell Westbrook had 22 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City, which is slumping a bit after playing well for most of December. The Thunder have dropped four of six, with three of those losses coming at home and another at Phoenix on Sunday.
HEAT 90, RAPTORS 89
Wayne Ellington made a go-ahead driving layup with less than a second remaining, and the Miami Heat stopped Toronto's 12-game home winning streak with a victory over the Raptors.
It was the only basket of the second half for Ellington, who finished with 15 points.
Goran Dragic had 24 points and 12 rebounds as Miami extended its season-best winning streak to five. Bam Adebayo had 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and Hassan Whiteside collected 13 points and 15 boards for the Heat, who had dropped their previous five visits to Toronto.
The Raptors were without point guard Kyle Lowry after the three-time All-Star bruised his tailbone during Monday's overtime win at Brooklyn.
MAVERICKS 114,
MAGIC 99
Dirk Nowitzki and rookie Dennis Smith Jr. each scored 20 points, and Mavericks stopped a three-game slide.
Wesley Matthews had 16 points for Dallas, which got its first win since December 31 against Oklahoma City. Harrison Barnes and Yogi Ferrell scored 15 points apiece, and J.J. Barea had 12 assists and eight points.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle earned his 708th career win, moving past John MacLeod for 17th in NBA history. Next up for Carlisle is Gene Shue, who has 784 wins.
Aaron Gordon scored 19 points for Orlando, which has lost five in a row. D.J. Augustin had 18 points, and Marreese Speights finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
LAKERS 99, KINGS 86
Julius Randle had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Lonzo Ball added 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings.
Brook Lopez scored 18 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 for the Lakers, who have won two straight following a nine-game losing streak.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points off the bench for the Kings, who have lost five of six. De'Aaron Fox had 15 points and Buddy Hield scored 13.
With Ball leading the charge, the Lakers were at their most effective when pushing the ball up the court.