Westbrook’s 51 points not enough for Thunder
HOUSTON — James Harden scored 35 points and the Houston Rockets overcame 51 points from Russell Westbrook in the highest-scoring triple-double in playoff history, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 115-111 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Westbrook set a franchise playoff scoring record and added 13 assists and 10 rebounds. It was the sixth career playoff triple-double for Westbrook, who had an NBA-record 42 in the regular season.
But he shot just 4-for-18 in the fourth quarter as the Rockets clawed back from a double-digit deficit to surge ahead before holding on.
Game 3 is Friday night in Oklahoma City.
The game was tied before Houston scored 10 straight points with 3-pointers from Harden, Patrick Beverley and Eric Gordon to make it 114-104 with 1:22 remaining. Westbrook had four straight points to start a 7-1 run after that, but the Thunder wouldn’t get any closer.
This was a much different game than the series opener, when Houston routed the Thunder 118-87. On Wednesday night, Houston trailed by as many as 15 and didn’t take a lead until the fourth quarter.
The Rockets benefited from a balanced scoring attack, with Lou Williams adding 21, Gordon scoring 22 off the bench and Game 1 star Beverley chipping in 15.
The Rockets used a big run early in the fourth quarter to go on top for the first time in the game with about 8 minutes remaining. Harden’s 3 about three minutes later made it 104-100.
Andre Roberson added a tip-in layup for the Thunder before two free throws by Westbrook tied it at 104-all with about 3 minutes left. Then the Rockets pulled away.
WIZARDS 109, HAWKS 101: In Washington, in a rough-and-tumble, foul-filled game, Bradley Beal took over in the fourth quarter with 16 of his 31 points, including a key late 3-pointer, helping Washington beat Atlanta for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
John Wall earned chants of “M-V-P!” while finishing with 32 points and nine assists, including the dish to Beal for his shot from beyond the arc with 38 seconds remaining that sealed the win for the hosts.
“He’s a franchise guy, with me, also on this team. We need him to be the scorer for us,” Wall said of Beal. “We don’t care if he shoots the ball 30 times.”
Washington, which trailed 78-74 entering the final period, won despite only a combined seven points from starting forwards Markieff Morris and Otto Porter Jr., who were in foul trouble early.
The series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Saturday.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Dennis Schroder scored 23 points. But Dwight Howard had only seven rebounds, half his Game 1 total, and six points.
Millsap scored 14 points in the third quarter, including six during a 13-0 run by the Hawks that took them from a deficit to a 74-67 edge with a little more than 3½ minutes left in that period. But Beal and Wall were too much in the fourth,
with some help from backup point guard Brandon Jennings, who accounted for eight consecutive Wizards points during one stretch — making three baskets and assisting on another.
After Washington won the series opener over the weekend, Millsap bemoaned about how things went, saying: “The difference in the game is we were playing basketball and they were playing MMA.”
That became a talking point during the off days, and perhaps affected the way Game 2 was called. It was hardly akin to a mixed martial arts bout, but the officials sure seemed determined to use their whistles upon seeing anything resembling a foul. WARRIORS 110, TRAIL BLAZERS
81: In Oakland, Calif., Stephen Curry scored 19 points on an off night and JaVale McGee sparked Golden State off the bench with 15 points as the short-handed Warriors beat Portland in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series without injured leading scorer Kevin Durant.
McGee made all seven of his field goal attempts and delivered several more of his signature alley-oop dunks as Durant watched with a strained left calf he hurt in the playoff opener Sunday.
Draymond Green had another fantastic all-around game, getting 12 rebounds, 10 assists, six points and three more blocked shots after swatting five in Sunday’s win.
Curry went 6-for-18 and also had six assists and six rebounds. Klay Thompson was 6-for-17 with 16 points.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled to be played in Portland on Saturday.