Thunder star Westbrook hurts ankle in victory
The Oklahoma Thunder won their fifth straight game by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 122-116 on Monday night, but they lost star point guard Russell Westbrook with a sprained left ankle. But it could have been much worse.
After coming down hard on the side of his foot, Westbrook pounded the ground in frustration before limping off the court. The Thunder led 8477 when he left the game with 4:25 left in the third quarter.
“Russ has a pretty high pain tolerance, so I knew was something that was serious,” said the Thunder’s Paul George. “I’m glad it wasn’t his knee. I thought I saw him holding his knee. I’ll say it’s unfortunate, but I think we can all say this. As bad as it was, we’re happy that it wasn’t the knee and it was just an ankle sprain.”
There was limited information on Westbrook’s status after the game.
“We’ll see,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Generally, with those things, we’ll see how he does in the morning. But it’s a sprained ankle. Hopefully, he’ll be OK.”
Oklahoma City went on a run without its star to close the third quarter and led 100-86 at the end of the period. Dennis Schroder made two free throws with 20.5 seconds left and George made a pair with 11.8 seconds to play to clinch the win for the Thunder.
ROCKETS 98, PACERS 94 >> James Harden made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 34.8 seconds left and then closed out Houston’s victory at Indiana by making four straight free throws.
The reigning MVP scored 28 points as the Rockets won their third straight since starting 1-5. And the victories have been coming in large part because of an improving defense. It’s the fourth time in six games the usually high-scoring Rockets failed to hit the 100-point mark.
Victor Oladipo scored 28 points and made two 3s in the final minute to cut the deficit to 94-93 but it wasn’t enough as Indiana’s three-game winning streak ended.
MAGIC 102, CAVALIERS 100 >> Evan Fournier hit a long jumper at the final horn, and Orlando came back from a five-point deficit in the last 24 seconds to keep Cleveland winless on the road hours after Larry Drew was signed to coach the Cavs for at least the rest of this season.
The Cavs relented to Drew’s requests by restructuring his contract and signing him to be their coach for the remainder of this season — and perhaps beyond. Drew was tapped to replace Tyronn Lue, who was fired on Oct. 28 following a 0-6 start. Drew wanted a pay raise to finish out the season and got one.
Drew’s new deal includes a team option for the 2019-20 season. If the Cavs choose not to retain him, Drew will receive a buyout payment.
“So now there’s clarity,” Drew said. “There’s just no gray area, and because there’s no gray area and me and my staff can just roll our sleeves up put all into helping this team be successful.”
The Magic’s buzzerbeating win dropped the Cavs to 1-3 under Drew. They are 1-9 overall and 0-5 on the road.
BULLS 116, KNICKS 115 >> Zach LaVine scored a career-high 41 points, including the game-winning free throw with 0.2 seconds left, as Chicago beat New York in double overtime. LaVine scored all eight of Chicago’s points in the second overtime.
NUGGETS 115, CELTICS 107 >> Jamal Murray scored a career-high 48 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter, and Denver overcame a sluggish start. At 9-1, the Nuggets are off to their best start since 197677. They are 6-0 at home.