Thunder roar back to stun Rockets
RUSSELL Westbrook matched the NBA record with a ninth st ra ight triple-double and Paul George scored 15 of his 45 points in t he fourt h quarter on Saturday as the Oklahoma Cit y Thunder roared back from a 26-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 117-112.
Westbrook had 21 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds.
His nint h straight triple-double – reaching double figures in three key statistica l categories – matched t he record set by Wilt Chamberlain i n 1968.
Westbrook connected on just eight of 21 shots from t he field. But his effort was enough to help the Thunder to t he win despite a 42-point performance f rom Rockets star James Harden.
“My game is not predicated on me making shots,” Westbrook said.
“I do other things to i mpact the game, I do it ever y single night.”
Harden produced 30 points for the 29th straight game – t wo shy of Chamberlain for the second-longest strea k i n leag ue histor y but still a long way away from Chamberlain’s record stretch of 65 straight 30-point games.
Harden made 11 of 28 shots from t he field and 14 of 15 free t hrows, but t he strea k took a backseat as t he game evolved into a fourth-quarter dogfight.
The final period featured seven lead changes. Westbrook’s lay up put Oklahoma Cit y ahead 113-112 with 26.9 seconds lef t to play.
Harden then missed a three-point attempt and George corra lled the rebound and was fouled.
He made two free-t hrows before Houston turned over the ball and the Thunder held on for the win.
The Rockets had appeared headed for a romp when they took a 70-48 lead into half time.
But t hey made just si x of t heir 18 shots in t he t hird period, including just one t hree-pointer.
“We had our chances but we didn’t finish up,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.
“We came out flat the second half for whatever reason.”
There was a big comeback in Boston as well as the new-look Los Angeles Clippers erased a 28-point second-quarter deficit to stun Celtics 123-112.
Clippers rally
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Montrezl Harrell forced t wo turnovers and Patrick Beverley hit t wo three-pointers in the final t wo minutes as the Clippers completed the biggest regular-season comeback in club histor y.
Boston players lef t t he court to boos from their home fans.
To make matters even worse, Celtics star guard Kyrie Ir v ing departed less t han t hree minutes before halftime with what the Celtics said was a sprained right k nee.
The Celtics were up by 20 at the time.
Ir v ing didn’t return, and t he Clippers, play ing wit h four new players acquired at t he trade deadline, overcame a 20-point deficit for a v ictor y for t he t hird time i n t heir last five games.
Eight Los Angeles players scored in double figures, led by 21 f rom Harrell.
Rookie Landr y Shamet, newly arrived from Philadelphia, scored 14 of his 17 points in t he second half.
The Clippers had sliced the deficit to five points heading into the final quarter and back-to-back t hreepointers f rom Shamet knotted t he score at 100-100 wit h 6:42 to play.
Danilo Gallinari’s step-back jump shot put the Clippers up 102-100 and they wouldn’t trail again.
“Tonight was amazing,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers.
“Because we didn’t have any thing. At half-time I told t he guys ever ybody’s play ing uptight. Stop tr y ing to impress each other and get out of each ot hers’ way.”
Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis returned to Chicago – the team that traded them this week – and scored 30 points bet ween them to help the Wizards to a 134-125 v ictor y over the Bulls.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 31 points as the Wizards won for the second time since acquiring Parker and Portis and a draft pick from the Bulls in exchange for Otto Porter Jr.
Parker scored 20 points off t he bench and Portis chipped in 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Wizards reser ves outscored t heir Bulls counterparts 64-38.