LaMarcus Aldridge poured in a career-high 56 points, and Derrick White had a huge bucket, a blocked shot and a steal late in the second overtime as the San Antonio Spurs outlasted the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder 154-147 on Thursday.
Even with Aldridge’s performance and a record showing by the Spurs from beyond the arc (hitting their first 14 3-point attempts), Oklahoma City never wavered. The Thunder tied the game at 130 on a layup by Jerami Grant off a Russell Westbrook assist with 5.6 seconds to play in regulation.
Aldridge finished 16 of 16 from the free-throw line, and the Spurs made their final 23 foul shots to end up 26 of 29. Aldridge made 20 of 33 field-goal attempts. White added 23 points for San Antonio.
Westbrook had his 13th triple-double of the season, with 24 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 24 assists, also a season high in the NBA. Paul George led the Thunder with 30 points, while Grant finished with a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out midway through the second overtime.
Nuggets 121, Clippers 100
Nikola Jokic finished with his second consecutive triple-double — 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists — and Jamal Murray scored 23 points as host Denver beat Los Angeles.
Mason Plumlee had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Malik Beasley scored 15 points for Denver, which has won seven of its past eight games. On Tuesday, Jokic put up 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as the Nuggets won at Miami.
Tobias Harris had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers. Lou Williams scored 19 points, and Danilo Gallinari had 18 against his former team.
Heat 115, Celtics 99
Dwyane Wade scored a team-high 19 points off the bench as host Miami ended Boston’s winning streak at four.
Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 22 points for Boston, which also had its streak of least 30 assists end at five games. Miami had a season-high 33 assists — 13 more than Boston.
The Heat had six double-figure scorers, including Josh Richardson with 18 points. Justise Winslow added 13 and a game-high and career-high 11 assists. The Celtics got 18 points from Marcus Smart and 17 points each from Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum.
Kings 112, Pistons 102
Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox and Iman Shumpert hit 3-pointers in a 13-2, game-opening flurry, and host Sacramento never trailed while handing Detroit its fourth straight loss.
Hield led seven Kings in double figures with a game-high 18 points. Sacramento took advantage of Pistons standout Blake Griffin having the night off to rest with an emotional meeting with his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, set for Saturday afternoon.
Stanley Johnson had a team-high 16 points for the Pistons, who were playing the second half of a back-to-back after losing 113-100 in Los Angeles to the Lakers on Wednesday night.
—Field Level Media