Yogi Ferrell stole the ball from Russell Westbrook and scored a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the first half, capping a flurry that helped the Sacramento Kings build a double-digit lead en route to a 131-120 victory over the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
Ferrell’s hoop capped a personal five-point burst in the final 10.3 seconds of the second period and a 15-4 Sacramento run to finish the half. The surge gave the Kings a lead they never relinquished on their way to snapping a season-opening, two-game losing streak.
Westbrook, making his season debut following offseason knee surgery, had 32 points for the Thunder (0-3). Oklahoma City was playing its home opener following road losses against Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers. Sacramento’s Iman Shumpert finished with a team-high 26 points while De’Aaron Fox contributed 22 points and 10 assists. Paul George had 29 points for the Thunder, who got 10 points and 14 boards from Steven Adams.
Nuggets 100, Warriors 98
Gary Harris scored 28 points, Juancho Hernangomez blocked Damian Jones’ last-second layup, and host Denver beat Golden State to improve to a Western Conference-best 3-0.
Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, which won despite missing 18 free throws and shooting 6-for-32 from the 3-point arc.
Stephen Curry scored 30 points and Kevin Durant had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who rallied from 13 down but couldn’t force overtime. The defending NBAchampions had won their previous two game this season.
Clippers 115, Rockets 112
Tobias Harris scored 23 points and Danilo Gallinari added 20 to help host Los Angeles defeat Houston.
Montrezl Harrell recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Clippers won their second straight game since losing their season opener. Lou Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points apiece for Los Angeles, which made all 26 of its free-throw attempts. James Harden had 31 points and 14 assists but missed a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Rockets lost for the second time in three games. Rockets played without point guard Chris Paul, who served the first of a two-game suspension for his role in Saturday’s scrap with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hawks 133, Cavaliers 111
Rookie Trae Young scored a career-high 35 points to help Atlanta prevail at Cleveland for its first win of the season. The win also marked the first victory in three attempts for first-year Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce. Atlanta, which had lost 15 of its past 19 games against Cleveland, broke a three-game losing streak to the Cavs. Cleveland fell to 0-3 on the season.
Young was 13-for-23 from the field, hitting 6 of 14 3-point attempts, and had 11 assists. Kent Bazemore added 23 points for the Hawks. Jordan Clarkson paced Cleveland with 19 points while Kevin Love contributed 16 points and 17 rebounds. —Field Level Media
