Westbrook's triple-double streak at 10, Thunder beat Blazers
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Russell Westbrook set an NBA record with his 10th straight triple-double, Paul George scored 47 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-111 on Monday night.
Westbrook broke a tie with Wilt Chamberlain, who had nine straight triple-doubles in 1968, by finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. He clinched the record on an assist to George for a 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was his 23rd triple-double of the season and the 127th of his career.
George had 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the third triple-double of his career. Rookie Deonte Burton had a career-high 18 points and Raymond Felton added a season-high 15 for the Thunder.
Damian Lillard scored 31 points and Jake Layman added 17 for Portland.
HOUSTON (AP) — James Harden scored 31 points for his 30th straight 30-point game despite dealing with a shoulder injury, leading Houston over Dallas.
Harden, who had eight rebounds and seven assists, seemed to be a bit slowed early by the strained left shoulder that he injured on Saturday against Oklahoma City, making just one of his first seven shots. But he warmed up after that and finished 9 of 23, capped by his sixth 3-pointer with less than a minute left to put him over 30 and keep the streak going. Fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" after he sunk the step back over Dorian Finney-Smith.
He's now just one game from tying Wilt Chamberlain for the second-longest streak of 30-point games in NBA history. Chamberlain also holds the top 30-point game streak with 65 in a row.
Luka Doncic had 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Mavericks, who lost for the first time this season to Houston after winning the first two meetings.
Chris Paul added 17 points with 11 assists, and Gerald Green scored 19 points with five 3-pointers to help Houston to its fourth win in five games.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Collin Sexton scored 20 points and Cleveland held off a late rally and sent New York to its franchise-record 17th straight loss.
Sexton hit two free throws with 17 seconds remaining to put Cleveland up by three. John Jenkins missed a 3-pointer from the right corner, but Dennis Smith Jr. grabbed the rebound and dribbled to the corner. He also missed a 3-pointer and Larry Nance tapped the rebound to midcourt as time ran out.
Nance and Jordan Clarkson each scored 15 points. Kevin Love had 14 points and nine rebounds in his second game since returning from foot surgery. The All-Star forward played 16 minutes, all in the first half. Love was 4 of 10 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and had nine rebounds.
Kadeem Allen scored a career-high 25 points for the Knicks. New York (10-46) has the worst record in the league, and has lost 25 of 26 and 30 of its last 32 games.
TORONTO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard banked home the tiebreaking basket with 4.2 seconds remaining and Toronto edged Brooklyn.
Leonard scored 30 points, Serge Ibaka had 18 points and12 rebounds and Pascal Siakam scored 17 for the Raptors, who have won eight straight home meetings with the Nets.
Raptors center Marc Gasol scored 16 points, 11 in the fourth quarter, in his home debut after being acquired in last Thursday's trade with Memphis.
D'Angelo Russell scored 28 points and had a career-high 15 assists for Brooklyn. Joe Harris scored 24 points and made a career-best seven 3-pointers, but the Nets lost for the fifth time in six games.
CHICAGO (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and had 17 rebounds, Eric Bledsoe added 19 points and Milwaukee outlasted pesky Chicago.
Malcolm Brogdon added 17 points and Khris Middleton had 16 to help league-leading Milwaukee win for the seventh time in eight games and improve to 13-2 over its last 15.
Antetokounmpo recorded his 39th double-double of the season in his return after sitting out his fourth game of the season Saturday, against Orlando in Milwaukee, due to right knee soreness The Bucks had their lowest scoring output of the season in that one as their six-game winning streak ended in a 103-83 loss to the Magic.
Zach LaVine finished with 27 points after scoring 17 in the first half, and Lauri Markkanen had 20 points and 17 rebounds to help Chicago stay close until the end.
DENVER (AP) — Denver snapped a three-game skid by beating Miami behind 23 points and 12 rebounds from Nikola Jokic and 20 points from Malik Beasley.
The Nuggets swept the season series from the Heat for the first time since 2008-09 and improved to 18-1 when holding opponents under 100 points.
This marked the first time they did that since a 105-99 win at New Orleans on Jan. 30.
Denver pulled away in the third quarter to avoid matching a season-worst four-game skid it had in November before recovering in a big way to soar into the upper echelon on the Western Conference.
DETROIT (AP) — Andre Drummond had 32 points and 17 rebounds, and Detroit extended its winning streak to four with a victory over Washington.
Blake Griffin had 20 of his 31 points in the first half for the Pistons, who haven't lost since blowing a 25-point lead in a home defeat against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 2. Detroit began Monday tied with Miami for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Wizards, who are without injured John Wall and Dwight Howard, traded Otto Porter Jr. away last week. Nevertheless, they came into the game on a two-game winning streak before falling short against Detroit.
Bradley Beal had 32 points and 10 assists for the Wizards.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Myles Turner scored 16 points and Thaddeus Young added 11 points and eight rebounds to help Indiana hold on to beat Charlotte.
The Pacers have won six straight — all without two-time All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, who will miss the rest of the season with an injured right knee.
Kemba Walker scored 26 of his 34 points in the second half when the Hornets stormed back from a 16-point halftime deficit. Jeremy Lamb added 21, but it wasn't enough to prevent Charlotte from losing for the third time in four games.
TIMBERWOLVES 130, CLIPPERS 120
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague gave a beleaguered backcourt a needed boost and lifted Minnesota over Los Angeles.
Rose scored 22 points and Teague added 19 for the Timberwolves, who played without the ill Andrew Wiggins. Rose and Teague both have missed significant time with injuries recently.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, while Dario Saric had 19 points.
Lou Williams scored a season-high 45 points off the bench for the Clippers, making a season-best 16 free throws while going perfect from the line.
