OKC wins fourth straight
Paul scores 32 to help Rockets snap four-game losing streak
WASHINGTON — Continuing its turnaround from a terrible season start, the Oklahoma City Thunder picked up its fourth consecutive victory by beating the struggling, booedat-home Washington Wizards 134-111 behind Russell Westbrook’s 23 points and 12 assists Friday night.
From 0-4 to 4-4, the Thunder is clicking, led by Westbrook, who missed the first two games after a procedure on his right knee and sat out the final quarter of the rout at Washington.
And even though OKC was the team playing on the second night of a backto-back, it looked a lot fresher and more active than Washington, which was coming off a two-day break and finally got to see new center Dwight Howard return from a sore backside to make his debut. Howard had 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, three rebounds and four fouls in 23 minutes.
The Wizards have lost four games in a row to drop to 1-7, and spectators let the players hear their displeasure in the second quarter,
Bradley Beal scored 27 points, and John Wall had 19 points and nine assists, but Washington’s pair of AllStar guards also combined for 12 turnovers.
ROCKETS 119, NETS 111: In New York, Chris Paul had 32 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, Carmelo Anthony added a season-high 28 points and Houston snapped a four-game losing streak.
Clint Capela finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Eric Gordon had 21 points. The Rockets stumbled to a 1-5 start a season after winning 65 games and falling a win short of the NBA Finals.
They snapped out of their slump thanks to one of the best games as a Rocket for Paul, who had season bests in points and assists in the final game before his workload should ease today with the expected return of James Harden. The league MVP missed his third straight game with a strained left hamstring and coach Mike D’Antoni said he would probably return for the second half of a back-to-back in Chicago.
PACERS 107, BULLS 105: In Chicago, Victor Oladipo had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Darren Collison made a tie-breaking jumper with 17.8 seconds left to help Indiana beat Chicago.
Myles Turner added 18 points and Indiana ran its road winning streak to five games. Turner also blocked six shots, including Antonio Blakeney’s desperation jumper as the final seconds ticked off Blakeney led the Bulls with 22 points.
KNICKS 118, MAVERICKS 106: In Dallas, Allonzo Trier scored 19 of his career-high 23 points during a secondhalf surge as New York handed Dallas its sixth straight loss.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had 18 points and six rebounds to help the Knicks win for the second time in three games after a five-game skid that followed a victory in their opener.
Dennis Smith Jr. scored 23 points, and 19-year-old rookie Luka Doncic had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Mavericks.
CLIPPERS 120, MAGIC 95: In Orlando, Fla., Lou Williams was perfect on five 3-point attempts and scored 28 points to lead Los Angeles past Orlando.
Tobias Harris added 21 points to help the Clippers beat the Magic for the 10th straight time. Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 22 points and 11 rebounds. WARRIORS 116, TIMBERWOLVES 99: In Oakland, Calif., Kevin Durant scored 33 points and Stephen Curry added 28 to help Golden State pull away from Minnesota for a win.
The Warriors opened the fourth quarter with a 25-6 scoring run and outscored the Timberwolves 33-12 in the final quarter.
GRIZZLIES 110, JAZZ 100: In Salt Lake City, Mike Conley scored a seasonhigh 28 points to lead Memphis over short-handed Utah.
Conley and Marc Gasol, who had 17 points, orchestrated a motion offense with deft passing that kept the Jazz guessing and out of position as the Grizzlies shot 51 percent to win their third straight game. Gasol added 10 rebounds and seven assists, often initiating from the high post.
Utah played without star guard Donovan Mitchell, the team’s leading scorer. He sat out with a right hamstring strain.
RAPTORS 107, SUNS 98: In Phoenix, Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points and Toronto used a 14-2 fourth-quarter run to finally put away pesky Phoenix.
Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and Serge Ibaka 14 for the Raptors, who improved to 8-1, the best nine-game start in franchise history. Kyle Lowry had 11 points and 12 assists.
Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, had 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Suns, losers of seven in a row since winning their season opener.