Russell Westbrook set career highs with 49 points and 16 rebounds, and added 10 assists for his fourth consecutive triple-double, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-118 in overtime on Wednesday night.
Westbrook became the first player since Michael Jordan in 1989 to have four consecutive triple-doubles, according to STATS, and the first since Jordan that year to have back-to-back triple-doubles with at least 40 points. Jordan had seven straight triple-doubles and 10 in an 11-game span in 1989 for Chicago.
It was the most points by any player with a triple-double since Larry Bird also had 49 in 1992.
Westbrook wore a mask and a headband after fracturing a bone in his right cheek on Friday last week against Portland. He had surgery on Saturday and missed a game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Isaiah Canaan had career highs of 31 points and eight three-pointers, while Jason Richardson added 29 points for the 76ers.
PELICANS 88, PISTONS 85
In New Orleans, Anthony Davis had 39 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks in his first game back from a right shoulder sprain as New Orleans won for the sixth time in seven games.
Davis hit two mid-range jumpers in the last 1 minute, 14 seconds, the second with 18 seconds left, to hold off Detroit in a frenetic game that was close through the second half.
In only his third season, Davis has a Pelicans career-record 437 blocks. His seventh of the game gave him the record, surpassing David West’s mark of 435.
Tyreke Evans had 21 points and nine assists for New Orleans.
GRIZZLIES 102, ROCKETS 100
In Houston, Texas, Marc Gasol made a jumper with 0.1 seconds left to lift Memphis past Houston.
With the game tied, Gasol blocked James Harden’s layup with 6.4 seconds left to give the Grizzlies the ball back for his winner. Gasol finished with 21 points.
Courtney Lee made a pair of free throws with about a minute remaining to give Memphis a 100-98 lead.
Terrence Jones tied it with a hook shot seconds later, and Gasol missed on the other end to set up the final sequence.
The win extended the Grizzlies lead over second-place Houston in the Southwest Division and tied the season series at 2-2.
Jones had 21 points and Harden scored 18 in his return after a one-game suspension for kicking LeBron James on Sunday.
CAVALIERS 120, RAPTORS 112
In Toronto, LeBron James scored 29 points and matched a season high with 14 assists, while Kevin Love had 22 points and 10 rebounds as Cleveland held on to beat Toronto.
Kyrie Irving scored 26 points, J.R. Smith had 15 and James Jones 14 to help the Cavaliers win their second straight.
They improved to 9-8 in the second game of back-to-backs.
Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Lou Williams scored 21 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, while DeMar DeRozan had 25 points for the Raptors.
They lost for the sixth time in seven games.
James finished four rebounds shy of a triple-double.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Warriors 102, Bucks 93
‧ Heat 100, Lakers 94
‧ Celtics 85, Jazz 84
‧ Spurs 112, Kings 85
‧ Suns 105, Magic 100
‧ Hornets 115, Nets 91
‧ Pacers 105, Knicks 82
‧ Nuggets 100, Timberwolves 85
‧ Trail Blazers 98, Clipper 93 OT
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
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