Thunders topple fiery Rockets

Houston, April 8: Russell Westbrook and Paul George each scored 24 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a timely fourth- quarter run to pull away for a 108- 102 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

The Thunder were down one with about seven minutes left before scoring the next 11 points.

Oklahoma City are vying with several teams for the final playoff spots in the loaded Western Conference. The victory gave the Thunder a 2- 1 win in the season series and snaps the Rockets’ 20game home winning streak.

James Harden had 26 points for Houston, and Chris Paul added 17.

Meanwhile at Los Angeles, Will Barton scored 31 points, Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and Denver earned its fifth consecutive victory over Clippers. The final scores read 134- 115.

Denver ( 45- 35) pulled into a tie with Minnesota for eighth in the Western Conference with two games to play. The Nuggets visit the Timberwolves for their season finale on Wednesday night.

Lou Williams scored 24 points for the Clippers ( 4238), who were eliminated from playoff contention. DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 17 rebounds.

PELICANS 126, WARRIORS 120

At Oakland, Anthony Davis had 34 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, and New Orleans snapped a 10- game losing streak to Golden State.

The Pelicans beat the Warriors for the first time since April 7, 2015, in New Orleans, and at Oracle Arena for the first time since April 24, 2012.

Golden State star Kevin Durant scored 19 of his 41 points in the third quarter. Durant also finished with 10 rebounds and five assists.

Quinn Cook, who has been an admirable fill- in for the injured Stephen Curry after his promotion from the G League, added 21 points in the Warriors’ final regular- season home game.

Nikola Mirotic had 28 points for the Pelicans, and Rajon Rondo dished out 17 assists.

SPURS 116, TRAIL BLAZERS 105

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 28 points to help San Antonio stop a twogame losing streak.

The Spurs ( 46- 34) are tied with Oklahoma City and New Orleans for fifth in the Western Conference.

— AP