Portland pulled away in the second half to beat Dallas 94-75 on Thursday, as the Trail Blazers extended their lead in the NBA Northwest Division.
The Blazers widened their advantage over Oklahoma City, who lost a close contest against Chicago in the day’s other game.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Portland Trail Blazers.
It was Portland’s fifth straight win, but it was costly: Starting guard Wesley Matthews had to be helped off the court with a left foot injury early in the third quarter.
Matthews did not return and the extent of the injury was uncertain.
Nicolas Batum added 15 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for Portland.
The Trail Blazers had four players scoring double figures, despite coming off back-to-back games.
Monta Ellis and Amare Stoudemire each had 12 points for the Mavericks, who saw the return of veteran center Tyson Chandler after a three-game absence.
BULLS 108, THUNDER 105
In Chicago, Illinois, E’Twaun Moore sank a go-ahead three-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining as the Bulls rallied to beat Oklahoma City 108-105, ending Russell Westbrook’s triple-double streak at four games.
Westbrook had 43 points on 14-of-32 shooting and added seven assists and eight rebounds. On Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, he had career highs with 49 points and 16 rebounds and added 10 assists in an overtime win over Philadelphia.
Westbrook scored 19 points in the third quarter to help the Thunder take a 79-72 lead into the fourth. The Bulls pulled within one on Nikola Mirotic’s two free throws with 2 minutes, 16 seconds remaining. Westbrook then split two with 1:07 to play, and Enes Kanter rebounded the miss and scored to give Oklahoma City a 103-99 lead.
Mirotic made a three-pointer, and Westbrook hit a jumper with 37.1 seconds left. Mirotic made two free throws with 28.9 to go, pulling Chicago within one. Westbrook then had an air-ball with the shot-clock expiring, and Moore followed with his three-pointer.
Mirotic finished with 26 points, Pau Gasol had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Mike Dunleavy also had 21 points, and Moore added 19. Joakim Noah had 12 rebounds, putting him over 5,000 for his career.
Serge Ibaka had 25 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City.
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