OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds to help the Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 111-107 in NBA Tuesday night.
Westbrook has 15 triple-doubles this season and 34 in his career. It’s the most triple-doubles by a player in a season since 1988-89, when Magic Johnson had 17 and Michael Jordan had 15.
It was also Westbrook’s sixth triple-double in March. According to STATS, it’s the most by a player in a calendar month since Jordan had seven in April 1989. It was his third in a row and fourth in his past five games.
Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Dion Waiters added 17 to help the Thunder win their fifth straight.
James Harden had 24 points, a career-high 16 assists and seven rebounds for the Rockets. Dwight Howard had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Patrick Beverley added 16 points.
Hornets 105, Nets 100: Nicolas Batum scored 23 points and Jeremy Lin added 21 as the Charlotte Hornets blew a 17-point lead before holding on for a 105-100 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Batum and Lin combined for 20 points in the fourth quarter when the Hornets withstood a comeback attempt by the Nets. The two made 15 of 28 shots from the field and 5 of 6 in the fourth quarter, helping the Hornets win for the 11th time in 13 games.
Rookie Frank Kaminsky added 14 points in his first career start and Kemba Walker also had 14. Walker didn’t score until the last possession of the first half and went 4 of 14 from the floor.
Brook Lopez helped the Nets mount a comeback bid by scoring 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter.
Lakers 107, Grizzlies 100: Tony Allen said the Los Angeles Lakers played with more of an edge, and the result was a surprising victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jordan Clarkson scored 22 points, Kobe Bryant added 20 points, and the Lakers ended a four-game skid by defeating the Grizzlies 107-100.
“We needed it more than they did, obviously, (but) they were more aggressive tonight,” said Allen, a Memphis guard who scored a game-high 27 points and hit all 12 of his field-goal attempts.
Lakers forward Brandon Bass contributed 18 points, eight of those in the final quarter, and converted some clutch baskets in the last three minutes of the game, including a reverse dunk that gave Los Angeles a 105-98 edge with 1:02 remaining.
That was too much for the Grizzlies, who missed an opportunity to pick up a half-game in the Western Conference race for the No. 4 spot with the idle Los Angeles Clippers.
Memphis (41-31) trails the Clippers, who meet the Golden State Warriors Wednesday, by 3 1/2 games.
Julius Randle had 13 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for Los Angeles, which snapped a nine-game losing streak to Memphis. Lou Williams also scored 13 for the Lakers (15-55).
“We covered some mistakes,” said Bryant, who made seven of 18 shots from the floor, hit two of five 3-pointers and committed four turnovers in 30 minutes.
“I felt like we played hard. Certain stretches in the game we made the right defensive play.”
Heat 113, Pelicans 99: Reserve center Hassan Whiteside scored a team-high 24 points and Dwayne Wade and Goran Dragic added 23 each to power the Miami Heat to a 113-99 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center.
In addition to his 10-of-11 shooting for the game, Hassan had 14 rebounds and three blocks to improve the Heat’s record to 41-29.
The Heat shot 50 percent from the field after having shot 54.8 percent in a 122-101 victory over Cleveland on Saturday. Amar’e Stoudemire also had 16 points for the Heat.
The short-handed Pelicans (26-44) were led by Jrue Holiday with 24 points and Luke Babbitt with 23. — Agencies
