(The Sports Xchange)
Thunder 121, Pelicans 110
Russell Westbrook scored a team-high 42 points, including 11 consecutive in the final five minutes, and reserve guard Alex Abrines scored 18 points to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night at the Smoothie King Center.
Westbrook, the NBA’s leading scorer, added 10 rebounds and seven assists and fell short of his 51 triple-double of the season. The Thunder, who had lost three of four games coming in, also got 14 points and 14 rebounds from center Enes Kanter.
Cavaliers 113, Bucks 102
Kyrie Irving scored 31 points and passed for a career-high 13 assists, and LeBron James had 29 points and nine rebounds to lead Cleveland to its second win over Milwaukee in 24 hours.
Rockets 125, Suns 111
James Harden had 27 points and 14 assists and made five of Houston’s 18 3-pointers to help the Rockets recover from their first December loss.
Eric Gordon had 24 points and made 7 of 13 3-pointers. Forward Ryan Anderson had 15 points and three 3-pointers for the Rockets.
Mavericks 96, Trail Blazers 95
Damian Lillard’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer and Dallas escaped with a victory over Portland.
Lillard scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half as the Trail Blazers rallied from a 24-point halftime deficit. Allen Crabbe came off the bench for 14 points for Portland, which lost its fourth straight game and eighth in the last nine contests.
Grizzlies 98, Pistons 86
Marc Gasol tied his career high with 38 points and Memphis snapped a three-game losing streak.
The veteran center made 14 of 17 shots from the field and 8 of 11 free throws. He added five rebounds and four assists. Gasol had a 38-point game against New Orleans last year.
Timberwolves 92, Hawks 84
Karl-Anthony Towns, taking advantage of the absence of Dwight Howard, had 17 points and 17 rebounds as Minnesota defeated Atlanta for its first consecutive victories this season.
Andrew Wiggins scored 19 points and Zach LaVine had 17 points for Minnesota as the Timberwolves followed a home victory on Monday against Phoenix.
Kings 94, Jazz 93
DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and eight rebounds and hit several key free throws in the final minute to rally Sacramento over Utah.
Ty Lawson added 19 points off the bench to lead Sacramento to its fourth win in six games. The Kings shot 18 of 36 (50 percent) from the field after halftime to fuel the comeback. Cousins had scored 55 points Tuesday in the Kings’ home win over Portland.
Wizards 107, Bulls 97
John Wall scored 23 points and Bradley Beal had 21, and Washington beat Chicago at the United Center.
The Wizards won for the sixth time in eight games and overcame an early 13-point deficit. Marcin Gortat also scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds for Washington, which also got 10 points off the bench from Marcus Thornton.