Thunder beat Kings; weakened Cavs lose to Clippers
OKLAHOMA CITY: Russell Westbrook had 28 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to help the Oklahoma City Thunder roll past the Sacramento Kings 110-94 on Saturday.
The Thunder won their fifth straight — the longest current streak in the NBA — and moved into a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference, pending the result of the Los Angeles Clippers’ game against Cleveland later Saturday.
Westbrook had a triple-double in each of the first four games of the streak to raise his season total to 34. He needs seven more in Oklahoma City’s final 13 games to tie Oscar Robertson for the NBA single-season record, set during the 1961-62 season.
Georgios Papagiannis had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento, which had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Clippers 108, Cavaliers 78: Blake Griffin scored 23 points as Los Angeles capitalized on the Cavaliers’ decision to rest their top three players with an easy victory over Cleveland.
LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving sat out for the Cavaliers and the Clippers snapped their three-game losing streak by feasting on the defending champions’ supporting cast.
J.J. Redick added 16 points for the Clippers, who rested Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan for the entire fourth quarter while their reserves turned a comfortable win into a blowout.
Grizzlies 104, Spurs 96: Mike Conley had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Zach Randolph added 18 points as Memphis extended its winning streak to four by beating San Antonio.
The Grizzlies held an 89-86 lead with 5:45 left then went on a 9-1 rally to match their biggest advantage of the game at 98-87 on a three-point play by Marc Gasol with 2:30 left.
Not long afterward, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sent his reserves in.
Rockets 109, Nuggets 105: James Harden scored 40 points and finished with a tripledouble as Houston snapped Denver’s fourgame winning streak.
Harden, who shook off a hard fall in the third quarter, had 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He scored 40 points for the second consecutive night.
With his team trailing 107-105, Nuggets guard Will Barton missed a 3-pointer and a layup in the final 30 seconds. Denver also missed five free throws late in the game, two by Barton.
Nene, who played the first decade of his 14-year NBA career in Denver, had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets.
Warriors 117, Bucks 92: Stephen Curry scored 28 points with six 3-pointers as Golden State overcame a sluggish start to beat Milwaukee.
Draymond Green added eight points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, Klay Thompson scored 21 and Matt Barnes made back-to-back 3s to spark a big run in the second quarter and help the Warriors complete a season sweep of the Bucks.
Bulls 95, Jazz 86: Jimmy Butler scored 23 points and Bobby Portis added a career-high 22 in Chicago’s victory over Utah.
In their second game without Dwyane Wade, who will miss the remainder of the season with a broken elbow, the Bulls leaned on their second team. Denzel Valentine, who had his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Trail Blazers 113, Hawks 97: Damian Lillard scored 27 points as Portland took control with a dominant opening quarter to beat Atlanta.
C.J. McCollum had 22 points and Allen Crabbe added 16 for Portland, which raced out to a 17-3 lead and never trailed.
The Trail Blazers, who have won seven of nine, began the night 2½ games behind Denver for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.
The Hawks have lost three straight, including the last two at home.
Atlanta held out four-time All-Star forward Paul Millsap after he experienced tightness in his left knee during pregame warmups. Ersan Ilyasova, who started for Millsap, had 23 points. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22.