Oklahoma City Thunder Westbrook one shy of 100 triple-doubles

Paul George and Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points apiece to help the Oklahoma City Thunder register a 106-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

Russell Westbrook added 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his 99th career triple-double. Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107) are the only members of the century club.

Corey Brewer contributed 16 points for the Thunder, who shot 45.2 per cent from the field and were 16-of-36 from 3-point range.

Bogdan Bogdanovic recorded 19 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who dropped to 1-17 all-time in Oklahoma City.

Bogdan Bogdanovic recorded 19 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who dropped to 1-17 all-time in Oklahoma City.

Justin Jackson and Garrett Temple scored 15 points apiece, De’Aaron Fox had 11 points and 10 assists and Zach Randolph scored 10 points.

The Kings shot 40.9 per cent from the field and were 12 of 33 from long range.

Sacramento scored 39 points in the third quarter after scoring 40 the entire first half.

Still, the Thunder led the entire period until the end when Temple hit a jumper with 5.4 seconds left to give the Kings a 79-78 lead.

Alex Abrines knocked down a 3-pointer with 7:26 remaining in the final stanza to give Oklahoma City a 91-85 lead. He buried another one with 4:40 left to stretch the Thunder lead to 96-87.

Fox scored on a layup to bring the Kings within 98-92 with 3:46 to play. Westbrook responded with a jumper and then fed Jerami Grant for a dunk to make it a 10-point advantage with 2:48 remaining.

Temple’s 3-pointer pulled Sacramento within 104-99 with 1:01 left and Bogdanovic added two free throws to make it a one-possession game with 23.7 seconds left.

But Brewer made two free throws with 17.2 seconds to go as the Thunder closed it out.

Points were hard to come by in the first half as Oklahoma City took a 46-40 lead into the break.

The Thunder were better at making 3-point shots (9 of 19) than 2-pointers (7 of 23) while shooting 38.1 per cent. The Kings shot a porous 29.2 per cent.

Oklahoma City scored 17 points in the first six-and-a-half minutes before tallying 29 the rest of the half.

Bodganovic converted a four-point play to tie it at 37 with 1:32 left before Oklahoma City closed the half with a 9-3 burst.

Trail Blazers 115, 

Heat 99

Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic led the way as the Portland Trailblazers beat the Miami Heat at Moda Centre for their 10th consecutive win.

Lillard collected 32 points and 10 assists while Nurkic contributed 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Trail Blazers’ win streak reached double digits. Portland has won 16 of its past 17 games at home.

Goran Dragic scored 23 points and Justise Winslow had 15 points and 13 boards for the Heat, who had won in four of their previous five and six of their previous eight outings.

Rockets 109, Spurs 93

James Harden returned from a brief injury hiatus and scored a game-high 28 points as Houston beat shorthanded San Antonio 109-93 at Toyota Centre.

Although he missed 9 of 11 3-pointers, Harden compensated by shooting 14-for-14 at the free-throw line. He sat out the Rockets’ 23-point victory in Dallas on Sunday with a sore left knee.

The Rockets completed a gruelling stretch of five games in seven days with a 4-1 record, their lone loss coming at Toronto last Friday. Houston moved two games ahead of the Golden State Warriors in the pursuit of home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.

Bucks 121, Grizzlies 103

Khris Middleton’s 24 points led seven players in double figures as Milwaukee handed Memphis its 18th consecutive loss at FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Giannis Antetokounmpo added 20 points, six rebounds and four assists despite playing just 27 minutes because of foul trouble. Brandon Jennings came off the bench to score 16 points, Eric Bledsoe chipped in 14 and Tony Snell managed 12 points. John Henson netted 11 and rookie Sterling Brown hit for 10 points.

Marc Gasol tallied 17 points to lead six Memphis players in double digits. Jarell Martin, reserve Ben McLemore and Dillon Brooks added 16 each. JaMychal Green scored 11 points and backup Deyonta Davis tallied 10.