KINGS RUIN RETURN OF WESTBROOK
Iman Shumpert scored 26 points and the Kings beat the Thunder 131120 on Sunday night to spoil Russell Westbrook’s season debut.
Westbrook missed the preseason and the first two regularseason games after having a procedure to deal with inflammation in his right knee. He had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes after averaging a tripledouble the past two seasons,
De’Aaron Fox scored 22 points and Buddy Hield added 17 for the Kings. They shot 54.9 percent to earn their first win.
Paul George scored 29 points and Steven Adams added 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder.
Sacramento led 6856 at halftime behind 54.5 percent shooting. Westbrook had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists at the break.
The Kings pushed their lead to 17 in the third quarter, but the Thunder rallied. A driving dunk by rookie Hamidou Diallo cut Sacramento’s lead to 10 and helped bring the crowd back into the game. Oklahoma City closed the quarter strong, but Sacramento still led 9790 entering the fourth.
The Thunder cut the deficit to five in the fourth quarter, but Sacramento held on. Hield hit a 3pointer with just over 2 minutes remaining to slow Oklahoma City’s momentum.
Hawks 133, Cavaliers 111.
CLEVELAND» Trae Young had 35 points with 11 assists — the best line for a firstyear player since Steph Curry in 2010 — and Kent Bazemore scored 23 as the Hawks rolled to an easy win over Cavaliers, who lost their home opener and fell to 03 as they readjust to life without LeBron James.
The No. 5 overall pick in this year’s draft, Young shook off a slow start and showed why the Hawks believe he’s a future superstar. Young is the first rookie to reach at least 35 points and 10 assists since Curry in 2010.
Young made six of Atlanta’s 22 3pointers while overshadowing Cleveland rookie guard Collin Sexton. Young missed four of his first five shots but finished 13of23 from the field. .
Clippers 115, Rockets 112.
The Clippers utilized a balanced scoring attack to overcome the 31point performance by James Harden.