Westbrook fuels Thunder to victory
Los Angeles — Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook scored 36 points to lead the Thunder to a 102-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, extending its NBA winning streak to five games.
Kevin Durant added 21 for the Western Conference leaders, who shot 46 percent, ending their streak of hitting 50 percent or better in their four previous games.
Andrew Bynum had 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost back-to-back games at home and are 0-2 against the Thunder this season, including a 15-point road loss last month.
Oklahoma City pulled away to open the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run that stretched its lead to 88-70. Westbrook and Durant scored four points each in the spurt that had Laker fans booing.
Heat 106, Mavs 85
In Miami, the hosts extended their home winning streak to 15 games with a win over Dallas in a reprise of last season’s NBA finals.
LeBron James and Chris Bosh each finished with 19 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, which has won both games against the Mavericks this year to get a small measure of revenge for losing the title series.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 for Dallas, but was held to 1-for-9 shooting in the second half. The Mavericks were outrebounded 44-29 and were held to only two fast-break points.
Miami outscored Dallas 26-13 in the fourth quarter to cap the win.
Pacers 93,
Wizards 89
In Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 25 points to lead Indiana past Washington.
David West had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who bounced back from a 16-point loss at New Jersey on Wednesday.
Jordan Crawford scored 20 points and Nene had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Washington, which has lost five straight.
The Pacers had a 7-2 run late in the fourth quarter to break clear after the game was tied with 4:52 remaining.
Trail Blazers 99, Hornets 93
In Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 12 rebounds as Portland pulled away from undermanned New Orleans.
Wesley Matthews added 18 points for the Trail Blazers, who are 4-4 since the dismissal of head coach Nate McMillan.
Marco Belinelli had 27 points for the Hornets, who sit in last place in the Western Conference.
Aldridge’s fadeaway jumper put Portland back in front, and Raymond Felton and Nicolas Batum hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 97-90 with 58.9 seconds left.
The Blazers have won four straight against the Hornets. /ap
