Oklahoma City set aside some bad news off the court to beat NBA Eastern Conference leaders Atlanta 123-115 on Friday, with Russell Westbrook scoring 17 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and notching yet another triple-double to steer the Thunder to an important victory.
The Thunder earlier in the day conceded that reigning league MVP Kevin Durant would probably miss the rest of the season with a foot injury, yet the team came out with an impressive performance that lifted Oklahoma City two games clear of New Orleans in the fight for the last playoff-yielding spot in the West.
Oklahoma’s Westbrook recorded his seventh triple-double since the All-Star break, his ninth of the season and the 17th of his career. He had 10 rebounds and 14 assists while making all 17 of his free throws.
Dion Waiters matched a season high with 26 points for the Thunder, who face an uphill task to make the playoffs without Durant.
Pero Antic scored a career-high 22 points for the Hawks, whose lead atop the mediocre East was trimmed to nine games.
NETS 129, BUCKS 127, 3 OT
Brook Lopez scored 32 points and had a season-high 18 rebounds, helping Brooklyn to a victory over Milwaukee in the second triple-overtime meeting between the teams this season.
Lopez threw down a powerful dunk on a three-point play to open the scoring in the third OT as the Nets finally held on to hand the Bucks their fifth straight loss.
Milwaukee had pulled out a 122-118 triple-overtime win on Nov. 19 last year in former Nets coach Jason Kidd’s first trip back to Brooklyn. The Bucks (34-35) led this game by 14 points in the second half before falling for the 10th time in 12 games, falling below .500 for the first time since December last year.
Zaza Pachulia had 22 points, 21 rebounds — 18 offensive — and seven assists for Milwaukee.
HEAT 108, NUGGETS 91
Dwyane Wade scored 22 points, while Goran Dragic added 18 as Miami clamped down in the fourth quarter to beat Denver.
Luol Deng scored 15, Hassan Whiteside added 14 and Mario Chalmers 10 for Miami, who won their third straight game — their longest such streak since starting 3-0.
The Heat have won a season-best four straight at home.
Kenneth Faried scored 20 for Denver, who got 16 apiece from Jusef Nurkic and Randy Foye.
The Nuggets missed 13 of their first 14 shots from the field in the fourth quarter — plus their first six tries from the foul line in that quarter.
WARRIORS 112, PELICANS 96
Stephen Curry overcame a subpar shooting performance to score 16 points with 11 assists, while Harrison Barnes added 22 points as Golden State topped New Orleans.
Curry missed 12 of his first 13 shots from the floor and was zero for seven from three-point range before making back-to-back shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter. He finished four for 17 for the Warriors, who improved to 55-13, the second-most wins in team history — and four shy of the franchise record.
Alexis Ajinca scored 15 points with eight rebounds for banged-up New Orleans, who played without four of their top six players, including leading scorer Anthony Davis.
BULLS 108, RAPTORS 92
Nikola Mirotic matched a career high with 29 points to propel the Chicago Bulls to a victory over Toronto, who were without All-Star guard Kyle Lowry.
Joakim Noah had 10 rebounds, equaled a career high with 14 assists and scored eight points to come within one basket of a triple-double, while Mike Dunleavy had 21 points for Chicago.
The Bulls pulled a half-game ahead of the Raptors for third place in the Eastern Conference. They also took a 3-0 lead in the season series, assuring them the edge in any potential playoff tiebreaker.
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 27.
In other results, it was:
‧ 76ers 97, Knicks 81
‧ Magic 111, Trail Blazers 104
‧ Spurs 101, Celtics 89
‧ Grizzlies 112, Mavericks 101
‧ Kings 101, Hornets 91
‧ Clippers 113, Wizards 99
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS