Westbrook lifts Thunder to 109-100 win over Bulls
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shoots between Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol (16) and forward Nikola Mirotic (44) in the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, March 15, 2015. Oklahoma City won 109-100. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook had 36 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Chicago Bulls 109-100 on Sunday.
Enes Kanter added 18 points and 18 rebounds and fellow center Steven Adams had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder.
Westbrook’s final assist came on the game-turning play. With the Thunder up 99-95 in the final minute, he held the ball until near the end of the shot clock, then passed to Anthony Morrow, who hit a 3-pointer. Nikola Mirotic scored 27 points and Pau Gasol added 20 for Chicago.
Oklahoma City won for the 16th time in its last 18 home games.
Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving scored 33 points and J.R. Smith had 25 as the Cavaliers rolled past the Orlando Magic 123-108.
LeBron James finished with 21 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds to help the Cavaliers win their fourth straight and sixth in seven games.
Victor Oladipo led the Magic with 25 points. Orlando has lost four straight.
In Los Angeles, Dennis Schroder had 24 points and 10 assists, and Al Horford scored 21 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Lakers 91-86.
Atlanta’s Kyle Korver left with a broken nose after taking an offensive foul from Ed Davis with 8:59 left in the first half. The injury ended a streak of 51 consecutive games with a 3-pointer by Korver, who missed both of his shots from behind the arc.
Reserves Carlos Boozer and Ryan Kelly each scored 13 points for the Lakers.
The Houston Rockets edged the Los Angeles Clippers 100-98 after James Harden scored 34 points, and Terrence Jones added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Trevor Ariza had 19 points and nine rebounds, helping Houston move within two games of idle Memphis for the Southwest Division lead.
Chris Paul scored 23 points for the Clippers, but missed a 5-foot fadeaway jumper at the buzzer.
In other games, Will Barton scored 25 points, including the game-leveling 3-pointer late in the first overtime, as the undermanned Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 118-112 for their fourth straight victory, the Portland Trail Blazers downed the Toronto Raptors 113-97, the Phoenix Suns defeated the New York Knicks 102-89 and the San Antonio Spurs were 123-97 winners over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
