Bruce Jenkins: Rockets, Thunder make statements.
LeBron James couldn’t get to 30,000 career points and he and his Cleveland teammates couldn’t stop Paul George, Russell Westbrook or Carmelo Anthony as the Oklahoma City Thunder thumped the host Cavaliers 148-124 on Saturday for their fourth straight win.
Oklahoma City tied the record for the most points scored against Cleveland in a regulation game. Philadelphia scored 148 in 1972.
George scored 36 points, Westbrook had 23 and 20 assists and Anthony scored 29 as the Thunder embarrassed the Eastern Conference champions, whose defensive issues aren’t improving. Cleveland has lost 10 of 14.
James finished with 18 points and is seven shy of becoming the seventh player in NBA history to reach the 30,000-point plateau. His next chance is Tuesday when the Cavs visit San Antonio.
James entered the fourth within reach of 30,000. But after he missed two shots, James was replaced with 6:37 remaining and the Cavs trailing 128-101.
Oklahoma City center Steven Adams scored 25 points on 12-of-13 shooting and the Thunder’s starters combined for 121 points.
Cavaliers center Kevin Love only played three minutes because he was sick.
The Thunder had their way with Cleveland in the first half. They scored 76 — the most given up in any half by the Cavs this season — and took the air out of the Quicken Loans Arena crowd. In the second half, the Thunder extended their lead to 24 when Anthony drained a three-pointer from the top of the key. Traill Blazers 117, Mavericks 108: Damian Lillard hit his first nine shots, including seven three-pointers, en route to 31 points, and host Portland beat Dallas. CJ McCollum added 26 points for the Blazers, who made 18 three-pointers. Wesley Matthews led the Mavericks with 23 points. Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Smith Jr. scored 21 points each.
Jazz 125, Clippers 113: Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points and helped host Utah win over Los Angeles. The Jazz set season bests for points in the first quarter (39) and first half (76). They never trailed while ending the Clippers’ six-game winning streak. Joe Ingles finished with a career-high 21 points. Mitchell had his 21st game of 20-plus points, most among rookies. Lou Williams paced the Clippers with 31 points, 10 steals and seven assists.
Timberwolves 115, Raptors 109: Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had all 22 of his points in the second half as host Minnesota rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit to beat Toronto. Playing without leading scorer Jimmy Butler, the Wolves snapped a twogame skid. Kyle Lowry led Toronto with a season-high 40 points on 14-for-25 shooting, including 6 of 10 from behind the arc. Pelicans 111, Grizzlies 104: Jrue Holiday scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and host New Orleans beat Memphis. Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Darius Miller added 12 points in a reserve role for New Orleans, which never trailed but very nearly blew a 21-point lead.
76ers 116, Bucks 94: Joel Embiid had 29 points and nine rebounds and host Philadelphia pulled away from undermanned Milwaukee for its seventh win in eight games. Ben Simmons added 16 points and nine assists, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot added 16 points in a rare start. Khris Middleton had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for the Bucks who were without top scorer Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was resting a sore right knee.
Heat 106, Hornets 105: Kelly Olynyk, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, hit a free throw with 0.2 of a second left to help visiting Miami erase a five-point deficit in the final 34 seconds and stun Charlotte. Wayne Ellington hit six three-pointers en route to 26 points and Joe Johnson added 22 points for the Heat. Nic Batum scored 26 points and Kemba Walker had 22 for the Hornets.
Bulls 113, Hawks 97: Robin Lopez scored 20 points, Lauri Markkanen added 19 and visiting Chicago easily beat Atlanta. The Bulls, coming off a seven-point home loss to the Warriors three days earlier, have won four of five and never trailed against the Hawks. Dennis Schroder scored 18 points and Dewayne Dedmon had 11 for Atlanta.