Oklahoma City claimed sole ownership of the NBA’s Northwest Division with a 105-97 win over rival Portland on Tuesday, as Kevin Durant continued his extraordinary scoring run with a 46-point personal haul.
Durant scored 11 of his 46 points in the final 3 minutes 23 seconds to steer the Thunder to a victory that not only gave them top spot in the division, but moved them within half a game of San Antonio for the Western Conference lead.
He has scored at least 30 points for eight consecutive games, the longest such streak of his career. He made 17 of 25 field goals, including 6 of 7 three-pointers.
Photo: Mark D. Smith / USA TODAY
Reggie Jackson added 15 points for Oklahoma City, who had lost both their previous games against Portland this season.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 16 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
Miami’s LeBron James scored 11 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to guide the Heat to a 93-86 win over Boston.
Chris Bosh added 16 for Miami, who scored the last nine points of the game to pull off an unconvincing win.
Brandon Bass scored 15 points for the Celtics, who out-rebounded Miami 46-33, but shot only 39 percent.
Rajon Rondo, who is still regaining his touch after knee surgery, missed all eight of his shots, plus a pair of free throws with the Celtics down four with 44.4 seconds remaining.
Minnesota’s Kevin Love scored 19 points, collected 13 rebounds and had eight assists to lead the Timberwolves past Utah 112-97.
Ricky Rubio has returned to his spontaneous, free-flowing style and had 11 points and 13 assists for the Wolves, who snapped a seven-game losing streak in Utah.
Gordon Hayward returned from a five-game absence to lead the Jazz with 27 points, but he was the only starter in double figures.
Sacramento’s Rudy Gay tied a career high with 41 points to power the Kings to a 114-97 win over New Orleans.
Brooklyn’s Andray Blatche came off the bench and had a team-high 18 points as the Nets beat Orlando 101-90 for their eighth win in nine games.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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