Russell Westbrook had his sixth triple-double in eight games and scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to help the Oklahoma City Thunder pull away for a 113-99 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Westbrook checked out with 2 minutes, 13 seconds remaining, seemingly a rebound short of the feat, but a scoring change gave him his 10th rebound to go with 12 assists. He has eight triple-doubles this season and 16 in his career.
Enes Kanter had 23 points and 15 rebounds, while Dion Waiters and Mitch McGary added 12 points apiece for the Thunder. Gorgui Dieng had 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Justin Hamilton had 17 points and 10 boards for the Timberwolves. They have lost seven of eight.
NUGGETS 114, WARRIORS 103
Kenneth Faried had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Randy Foye hit three crucial three-pointers as Denver rallied to beat short-handed Golden State as the Warriors rested several of their top players, including Stephen Curry.
The Nuggets pulled off an impressive double this week — beating Atlanta, the Eastern Conference leader, on Wednesday and now the Warriors, who are on top in the Western Conference. Denver also improved to 5-2 since interim coach Melvin Hunt took over for Brian Shaw.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr gave Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut the night off because the team was to play yesterday at home. In addition, center Marreese Speights served a one-game suspension for pleading no contest to reckless driving.
Justin Holiday led the makeshift Golden State lineup with a career-high 23 points.
RAPTORS 102, HEAT 92
Kyle Lowry scored 19 points as Toronto beat Miami for the first time in more than five years, ending a 16-game skid against the Heat.
DeMar DeRozan added 18 points, while Lou Williams had 14, Amir Johnson 13 and Greivis Vasquez 12 for the Raptors.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for the Heat, while Goran Dragic had 18.
In losing to the Raptors, the Heat failed to match their longest winning streak over any opponent — Miami won 17 straight against Milwaukee in 1993-97.
HORNETS 101, BULLS 91
Gerald Henderson scored 20 points and Mo Williams added 18 as Charlotte used a big second-half turnaround to beat Chicago, overcoming a 19-point, first-half deficit.
Kemba Walker had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in his second game back from a knee injury, while Bismack Biyombo added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets.
Aaron Brooks led Chicago with 24 points.
In other results, it was:
‧ Hawks 96, Suns 87
‧ Mavericks 129, Clippers 99
‧ Trail Blazers 118, Pistons 99
‧ 76ers 114, Kings 107
‧ Celtics 95, Magic 88
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
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