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NBA roundup: Thunder's Westbrook falls short of record again

[April 08, 2017] The Sports Xchange

PHOENIX -- The Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook fell short of setting an NBA record for triple-doubles in a season for the second straight game in Friday's 120-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Westbrook missed his first 12 shots from the field and finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. He remains tied with Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson with 41 triple-doubles. Robertson accomplished the feat for the Cincinnati Royals during the 1961-62 season.

Westbrook assured himself of becoming only the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, joining Robertson, with his sixth assist when he fed Victor Oladipo for a layup with 10:36 left in the third period.

The Thunder is now locked into the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Hawks 114, Cavaliers 100

CLEVELAND -- Atlanta didn't play any of its usual starters against LeBron James and Cleveland, but still managed a win.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 points and Mike Dunleavy added 20 off the bench for the Hawks, who with the win moved to 1.0 games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for fifth in the East.

James scored 27 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists for the Cavs, whose lead over the Boston Celtics for first in the Eastern Conference is 1.0 games with three to play.

Raptors 96, Heat 94

TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points and Toronto held off Miami after erasing a double-digit deficit to tie the game late.

Kyle Lowry had 12 points and Serge Ibaka added 11 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late in the game for the Raptors.

The Heat, who are out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, dropped one game behind both the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers, who occupy the final two playoff berths.

Grizzlies 101, Knicks 88

MEMPHIS -- Mike Conley scored 31 points and with the win over New York, Memphis secured the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies, who will play San Antonio in the first round, also got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Marc Gasol. Courtney Lee scored 16 to lead the Knicks and Maurice Ndour, one of three rookies in the starting lineup, finished with a career-high 15.

The Knicks played without their two leading scorers -- Carmelo Anthony (22.5) and Kristaps Porzingis (18.1)

Spurs 102, Mavericks 89

DALLAS -- Little-used rookie Bryn Forbes scored 27 points off the bench as the stripped-down version of San Antonio rallied past Dallas.

Coach Gregg Popovich elected to leave most of his big guns home as Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol were given the night off. Manu Ginobili and Danny Green were officially nursing injuries and Tony Parker dressed but didn't set foot on the floor.

Forbes became the first Spurs rookie to score 20 points in a half since Tim Duncan accomplished the feat in 1998. His 22 points at the break kept San Antonio within striking distance.

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Pistons 114, Rockets 109

HOUSTON -- Stanley Johnson drilled a 3-pointer with 32.4 seconds remaining and Detroit erased a 12-point, second-half deficit to top Houston.

The Pistons mostly played reserves down the stretch yet maintained their slim playoffs hopes with their comeback. Johnson finished with 13 points off the bench, one of three Detroit reserves to score in double figures.

Boban Marjanovic scored a career-high 27 points and added 12 rebounds while Tobias Harris added 17 points for Detroit.

Jazz 120, Timberwolves 113

SALT LAKE CITY -- Gordon Hayward scored a career-high 39 points on 14 of 22 shooting from the field and Joe Johnson added 22 points off the bench to lead Utah over Minnesota.

Rudy Gobert added 16 points and Derrick Favors chipped in 13 points for the Jazz. Utah won its eighth straight home game and moved a full game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference standings.

Karl-Anthony Towns totaled 32 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves. Ricky Rubio added 26 points and Andrew Wiggins chipped in 25.

Nuggets 122, Pelicans 106

DENVER -- Jamal Murray scored 22 of his career-high 30 points in the second half, Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Denver kept its playoff hopes alive by beating New Orleans.

Anthony Davis had 25 points and Jordan Crawford 20 for the Pelicans, who played without DeMarcus Cousins.

Gary Harris had 20 points and a career-high nine assists for the Nuggets, who moved within one game of Portland for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Lakers 98, Kings 94

LOS ANGELES -- D'Angelo Russell scored the decisive basket with 41 seconds remaining as Los Angeles beat Sacramento to win its third straight game.

Julius Randle scored 25 points and Brandon Ingram added 11 points as the Lakers shot 44.2 from the field (38-for-86).

The Kings had a two-game winning streak snapped, shooting from the field 50.7 percent from the field (38-for-75). Skal Labissiere led the Kings with 19 points and Buddy Hield added 17 points.

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