George, Westbrook lead Thunder past Trail Blazers 123-114
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Paul George had 36 points and eight rebounds, Russell Westbrook had a triple-double of 29 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 123-114 on Tuesday night.
Steven Adams and Terrance Ferguson each added 14 points for Oklahoma City, which snapped a three-game losing streak to Portland at Chesapeake Energy Arena. After a stretch of losing five of six games, the Thunder have won three straight and moved back into third place in the fluid Western Conference standings.
Damian Lillard had 34 points and eight assists, and C.J. McCollum scored 31 for Portland, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Jusuf Nurkic had 22 points and 15 rebounds.
Except for McCollum, who went 7 of 12 from 3-point range, the Trail Blazers struggled from behind the arc, going 10 for 36. Oklahoma City hit 11 of 23 3-point attempts.
TORONTO (AP) — Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet each scored 19 points, Pascal Siakam had 18 and Toronto beat Sacramento.
Serge Ibaka had 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors extended their home winning streak to 10 games. Toronto's franchise record for consecutive home wins is 12.
C.J. Miles scored a season-high 15 points and Norm Powell added 11 as Toronto overcame the absence of Kawhi Leonard (rest) to win for the eighth time in nine games.
Leonard missed his third straight game for rest and will also skip Wednesday's game at Indiana. He is expected to return Friday at Houston.
Kings rookie Marvin Bagley scored a career-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds in his first career start. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 16 points and Brady Hield had 15 as Sacramento lost for the third time in four games.
TIMBERWOLVES 118, SUNS 91
PHOENIX (AP) — Karl-Anthony-Towns had 25 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists and Minnesota took an early lead and rolled past short-handed Phoenix.
Josh Okogie added a career-high 21 points for the Timberwolves, who beat the Suns for the second time in a row, following a 116-114 win in Minneapolis on Sunday.
In both games, Phoenix was without centers Deandre Ayton (left ankle sprain) and Richaun Holmes (right foot sprain).
Devin Booker scored 14 for Phoenix before he and Minnesota's Gorgui Deng were ejected with 5:24 left in the third quarter. Phoenix already trailed by 20 by then.
Josh Jackson had a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix, which lost its fifth straight. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 13 and Dragan Bender, who started at center, had 12 points and 10 boards.
Andrew Wiggins scored 17 and Jared Bayless 14 for Minnesota.
DALLAS (AP) — Dennis Smith Jr. had 17 points and eight rebounds in his return after a week away from the team amid trade talk, and Dallas beat Los Angeles.
Smith had two of his four assists on a layup and alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter for DeAndre Jordan, who had 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.
Rookie sensation Luka Doncic matched Smith with 17 points. Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 20 points.
Patrick Beverley scored 16 points while Avery Bradley and Lou Williams had 15 apiece for the Clippers, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.