Westbrook’s triple-double helps Thunder beat Nets
Russell Westbrook scored 31 points in his 25th triple-double of the season, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Brooklyn Nets 108-96 on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
Westbrook added 12 rebounds and 11 assists for the 130th tripledouble of his career.
Paul George scored 25 points and Jerami Grant added 15 for the Thunder, who shot 49 percent in the second half. Oklahoma City has won three of four as it battles to secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 25 points and former Buckeye D’angelo Russell added 14 points and seven assists for the Nets, who saw their four-game win streak snapped.
Caris Levert, from Pickerington Central, had eight points, six rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes off the bench for Brooklyn.
The Nets led 52-42 at halftime behind 11 points from Dinwiddie. Westbrook scored 17 points in the first half to keep the Thunder in the game, but Oklahoma City shot just 35.6 percent from the field before the break. WIZARDS 100, MAGIC 90: Bradley Beal scored 23 points, Thomas Bryant had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Washington made up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a win over Orlando. Jabari Parker added eight of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the 11th-place Wizards move within 1 ½ games of ninth-place Orlando and Charlotte.