Russell Westbrook had 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from 20 points down to beat the Phoenix Suns 109-97 on Sunday and strengthen their hold on the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
D.J. Augustin scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter for the Thunder, who ended a four-game road skid.
Steven Adams had 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Dion Waiters scored 18 points.
Oklahoma City pulled away with a dominant final period and stayed 2.5 games ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
Markieff Morris scored 24 points for the Suns, who dropped four games behind Oklahoma City.
In other games, the Brooklyn Nets topped the Los Angeles Lakers 107-99 to move half a game ahead of the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Houston Rockets defeated the Washington Wizards 99-91 to move past the Memphis Grizzlies into the second spot in the West, while the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Celtics 119-106 for their seventh consecutive win.
In New York, Brook Lopez had 30 points and 11 rebounds to help the Nets get their third straight victory.
Joe Johnson added 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Nets, who won for the fifth time in six games to give themselves a chance at a third straight post-season berth after an underwhelming first half of the season.
Houston’s James Harden had 24 points and Corey Brewer scored 15 as the Rockets won their fourth in a row.
Rockets center Dwight Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes in his third game back from a right-knee injury.
The Wizards are fifth in the Eastern Conference and could have guaranteed themselves a place in the post-season with a victory.
The Clippers were led by J.J. Redick, who scored 27 points, and Chris Paul, who had 21 points and 10 assists.
The Clippers jumped out to a 68-47 halftime lead and pushed the advantage to 35 points midway through the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Memphis lost their third straight game, falling to the San Antonio Spurs 103-89.
Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and 10 rebounds as the Spurs won for the 13th time in 16 games to remain sixth in the Western Conference.
Zach Randolph had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
LeBron James scored 20 points and Kyrie Irving added 17 as the Cleveland Cavaliers hung on to beat the lowly Philadelphia 76ers 87-86.
The Cavaliers earned their 16th straight home win, despite being held scoreless in the final 4 minutes, 4 seconds.
In New Orleans, Anthony Davis had 28 points and nine rebounds to power the Pelicans to a 110-88 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
C.J. Miles made a key three-pointer with a minute left and finished with 28 points as the Indiana Pacers beat the Dallas Mavericks 104-99, while Dwyane Wade scored 40 points a day after having fluid removed from his balky left knee as the Miami Heat topped the Detroit Pistons 109-102.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was