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The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to their sixth straight win on Tuesday after an incredible night of shooting earned them a 117-111 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The red-hot Thunder made a season-high 60 percent of field goals, Kevin Durant leading the way with 32 points while Russell Westbrook added 25 and nine assists.
Oklahoma City (15-4), the defending Western Conference champions, made 30 of 34 free throws and 7 of 14 three-pointers. Brooklyn were chasing for much of the game and pulled within 104-102 with about four minutes left, only for Durant to respond with six straight points for Oklahoma City. Thabo Sefolosha padded the lead back to six in the final minute with a rebound put-back.
“I saw (Westbrook) shoot, and basically the ball bounced on the rim and came toward me,” Sefolosha told reporters. “So I just had to step in and get the rebound.” The Thunder have the league’s leading offence and have now scored 100 points in 10 straight games.
“I think we are meshing great,” Westbrook said. “We are doing a great job of passing the basketball, playing off each other, and making each other better.”
Deron Williams carried the home team with 33 points, and Andray Blatche got 19 and 11 rebounds in place of injured centre Brook Lopez, but the Nets (11-6) could not match Oklahoma City’s accuracy. Brooklyn finished with 43 percent shooting from the field.
The Nets, who were also without top rebounder Reggie Evans because of flu, have now lost two straight following a five-game win streak. They fell behind in the third quarter where the Thunder went on a 12-2 run and led by as many as 16. Gerald Wallace knocked down four three-pointers in the final four minutes of the third, to bring his team back within striking distance, but they could not close the gap. The last-place Washington Wizards haven’t had much to cheer about early in the season, but there was reason to celebrate on Tuesday night.
Jordan Crawford scored a season-high 22 points, including two big free throws with 6.9 seconds left, and the Wizards overcame a triple-double by LeBron James to stun the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat 105-101 for just their second win of the season.
James collected 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, Dwyane Wade netted 24 while Chris Bosh finished with 20 and 12 boards as the Heat (12-4), had its six-game winning streak halted.
“We know that every team is going to come playing their very best. They’re going to make shots that they normally don’t make,” James said. “They are up for it and we just have to meet them. “This isn’t a lesson for us; it’s just a loss, that’s all it is” he continued. “We’ve seen and been through everything so we don’t need a loss to teach us a lesson to do better.”
After trailing by as much as 12, the Heat knotted the game 88-88 on Bosh’s reverse layup with 6 minutes 50 seconds left. But the Wizards showed their resilience and refused to fold. Crawford drained a 15-footer to put Washington ahead, 99-95 with a little more than 2 ½ minutes remaining. The closing minutes of a tight game usually belong to James, but the reigning league most valuable player couldn’t deliver in this one.
With 18 seconds left, James missed a potential go-ahead three-point attempt and Crawford’s free throw made it 102-99.
James made a layup to pull Miami to 102-101, but Crawford added two from the stripe, making it 104-101, with 6.9 seconds remaining. With a shot to square the contest, James bounced a wide-open three-point try off the rim from the right corner. Nene grabbed the rebound and sank a free throw to seal the improbable victory in front of more than 17,000 cheering fans at the sold-out Verizon Center. “
Toney Douglas scored a season-best 22 points, while fellow-reserve Greg Smith had 17 of his career-high 21 in the second half and the Rockets stormed from 17 down to surprise the visiting Lakers for their sixth straight home win. James Harden finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Houston (9-8), which outscored its guests 34-22 in the final quarter to win for the fifth time in six games.
League top gun Kobe Bryant led the struggling Lakers (8-10) with 39 points but missed the potential game-winning three in the final seconds.
Dwight Howard had 16 with 12 rebounds but Spanish forward Pau Gasol sat out the contest with tendinitis in both knees.
Zach Randolph scored six of his season-high 38 points in overtime and grabbed 22 rebounds, as the league-best Grizzlies (13-3), roared from 16 down to send the visiting Suns to their fourth straight loss.
Paul George tossed in 34 points, and the visiting Pacers won for the fifth time in the last seven games by holding the Bulls to a season-low output.