Durant leads Thunder to victory over Jazz
Lakers rout Nuggets 122-103
OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec 1, (AP): Kevin Durant scored 25 points, Russell Westbrook made a two-pronged bid for his sixth career triple-double and the Oklahoma City Thunder finished off an impressive homestand by beating the Utah Jazz 106-94 on Friday night.
Oklahoma City won all three games by double digits and made a bid to win three in a row by at least 20 points for the first time in 25 years before a late charge by the Jazz.
Westbrook ended up with 23 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and seven steals.
Enes Kanter scored a career-high 18 points, with 14 coming in the fourth quarter as Utah pulled within five before Oklahoma City closed it out.
Westbrook came up with two of his steals — and one of his eight turnovers — during a wild, momentum-changing stretch midway through the fourth quarter.
After his two free throws stretched Oklahoma City’s lead to seven, Westbrook swiped the ball, only for Earl Watson to steal it back, and then for Westbrook to race back up the court to get it again.
He fired a pass ahead to Kendrick Perkins, who flipped it to Durant for a two-handed slam that got the sellout crowd roaring again and the Thunder back on the path to victory.
Cavaliers 113, Hawks 111 In Atlanta, Alonzo Gee scored on a putback with less than 1 second remaining, and the Cavaliers snapped a four-game losing streak.
Gee rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Dion Waiters and quickly followed up with the winning shot. The Hawks, out of timeouts, couldn’t manage a shot before time expired.
Jeremy Pargo led Cleveland with 22 points, including three straight baskets late in the game. Waiters scored 21 and Anderson Varejao had 20 points and 18 rebounds for Cleveland.
Josh Smith had 25 points for Atlanta, which had won six in a row.
Lakers 122, Nuggets 103 In Los Angeles, Antawn Jamison scored 33 points while leading an outstanding game by the Lakers’ reserves, and Dwight Howard had 28 points and 20 rebounds before hitting Los Angeles’ 17th 3-pointer in the final seconds of a victory over Denver.
Jodie Meeks scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers for the Lakers, who improved to 3-3 under Mike D’Antoni while playing splendidly at the furious tempo favored by their new coach.
The Lakers tied the club record for 3-pointers in a regulation game, getting five from Jamison in the first 30-point game by a Lakers reserve since 1998.
Howard capped it with just the second 3-pointer of his career with 9.8 seconds to play.
Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points for the Nuggets, who lost three times on their three-game trip. Kobe Bryant had 14 points and eight assists for the Lakers.
Celtics 96, Trail Blazers 78 In Boston, Jeff Green scored 19 points, Jason Terry added 17 and the Celtics cruised to a comfortable win without Rajon Rondo.
The star point guard served the first game of his two-game suspension for his role in a scuffle Wednesday night against the Brooklyn Nets. Courtney Lee started in Rondo’s place and finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Celtics never trailed. They carried a 56-33 advantage into the break and took their biggest lead on a 22-foot jumper by Kevin Garnett that made it 65-38 with 8:26 left in the third quarter. LaMarcus Aldridge had 23 points for Portland, which has lost four in a row.
Nets 98, Magic 86 In Orlando, Fla, Joe Johnson had 22 points and the Nets earned their fifth straight victory.
Gerald Wallace added 20 points, including five 3-pointers, as all five Brooklyn starters scored in double figures. The Nets beat the Magic for the third time this season and wrap up their three-game road trip in Miami on Saturday.
Glen Davis had 16 points for the Magic, who lost their third straight game.
Brooklyn center Brook Lopez missed his first game of the season with a mild right foot sprain. He is day to day.
Knicks 108, Wizards 87 In New York, Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith each scored 20 points, and the Knicks beat the Wizards for the 10th straight time.
Tyson Chandler and Ronnie Brewer each added 12 points for the Knicks, who improved to 6-0 at home and also beat the Wizards for the ninth straight time at Madison Square Garden. Both winning streaks are their longest active against one team.
Chandler finished with 10 rebounds but his 5-of-8 shooting represented a cold night after the NBA’s leading shooter had made 16 of 17 over his previous two games and came in shooting 71.8 percent for the season.
Jordan Crawford scored 17 points for the Wizards, who beat Portland 84-82 on Wednesday for their lone victory after a 0-12 start but were never in this game after the first 10 minutes.
76ers 104, Bobcats 98 In Charlotte, N.C, Evan Turner scored 25 points, Jason Richardson hit four 3-pointers down the stretch and the 76ers earned their third consecutive victory.
Jrue Holliday added 13 points and a career-high 15 assists for Philadelphia, which shot 51 percent from the field. Richardson had 14 of his 22 points in the final period, and Turner was 10 of 15 from the field for the game.
Philadelphia (10-6) had 54 points in the paint, most of those in the first half. Thaddeus Young had 15 points and Lavoy Allen contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Ben Gordon led Charlotte with 19 points, and rookie Jeffery Taylor matched a career-high with 16 points.
The Bobcats (7-8) have dropped three straight and four of five.
Grizzlies 90, Piston 78 In Memphis, Rudy Gay had 18 points, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley added 17 apiece, and the Grizzlies stretched their winning streak to four games.
Darrell Arthur added 11 points for Memphis, while Jerryd Bayless scored 10 points. Gasol added 11 rebounds.
Greg Monroe led the Pistons with 17 points and nine rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince finished with 15. Brandon Knight added 10 for Detroit, which lost its third straight and fell to 1-9 on the road.
Memphis played without guard Tony Allen, who has a right groin sprain.
Timberwolves 95, Bucks 85 In Minneapolis, Alexey Shved scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Kevin Love overcame a nasty stomach bug to collect 15 points and 14 rebounds in the Timberwolves’ victory.
Nikola Pekovic had 14 points and tied a career high with 16 rebounds and J.J. Barea added 15 points and five assists for the Wolves, who are getting star guard Ricky Rubio back
Denver Nuggets forward Corey Brewer (left), and Los Angeles Lakers guard Chris Duhon battle for a loose ball during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Nov 30, in Los Angeles. (AP) at practice this weekend for the first time since he tore an ACL last March.
Larry Sanders had a career-high 10 blocks to go with 10 points and 12 rebounds and Brandon Jennings had 18 points and six boards for the Bucks, who lost backup point guard Beno Udrih to a right leg injury in the fourth quarter.
Raptors 101, Suns 97 In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points to help the Raptors stop a six-game slide.
Kyle Lowry scored 15 points, and Jose Calderon had 13 points and nine assists for the Raptors, who ended Phoenix’s seven-game winning streak in Toronto.
Marcin Gortat, Shannon Brown and Jared Dudley scored 14 points apiece for Phoenix.
It was the second straight loss for the Suns, who were routed 117-77 at Detroit on Wednesday.
Pacers 97, Kings 92 In Sacramento, Calif, David West had 31 points and 11 rebounds to help Indiana edge Sacramento.
West was 13 for 20 from the field and 5 for 7 at the line in his season-best scoring performance. He is averaging 23 points over the last five games, four of them Indiana victories.
George Hill had 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Pacers, and reserve Sam Young scored 12.