National Basketball Association Game Capsules

Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork.com) – The Thunder’s starters enjoyed the fourth quarter from the bench as the reserves mopped up Sunday’s 131-108 rout of the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers. Kevin Durant scored 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting, while Russell Westbrook finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who soundly bounced back from Friday’s heartbreaking loss to the Pelicans. Reggie Jackson added 15 points and six assists off the bench, and Mitch McGary was a surprising spark with 19 points and 10 boards in his third career game. The Clippers not only saw their losing streak reach a season-high four games, but they found out before the game that All-Star forward Blake Griffin will need surgery Monday to remove a staph infection in his right elbow. Jamal Crawford netted 21 points, Chris Paul donated 18 points and 13 assists, and Spencer Hawes scored all 17 of his points in the first half of LA’s third straight double-digit loss.

Final Score: Cleveland 120, LA Lakers 105

Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) – Kevin Love had arguably his best game in a Cavaliers uniform on Sunday, scoring a season-high 32 points as Cleveland got back in the win column with a 120-105 drubbing of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavs had their 12-game winning streak snapped by the Pacers on Friday but were locked in from start-to-finish in this one, as they shot 55 percent from the field and connected on 18 3-pointers in the rout. Love, who scored just five points in two of his previous three games, shot 7-of-8 from the perimeter and pulled down 10 rebounds to match double-doubles recorded by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. James totaled 22 points, 10 boards and eight assists, while Irving scored 28 points and handed out 10 assists in Cleveland’s ninth straight home win. Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers with a career-high 20 points but it was not nearly enough to salvage a winless four-game road trip. LA shots 41 percent from the floor and gave up 22 fastbreak points.

Final Score: Indiana 103, Charlotte 102

Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – George Hill’s layup with 4.9 seconds left helped the Indiana Pacers complete a remarkable comeback for a 103-102 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night. Hill had the ball in his hands in the closing seconds and some miscommunication between Cody Zeller and Brian Roberts led to the winning basket. Zeller did a fine job of picking up the screen from the top of the key as Hill drove the baseline, but he did not finish the play to leave Hill an open look. Hill was left alone near the left block because Zeller held up to look for his man and Roberts appeared to trail the play, thinking Zeller would pick up Hill. The play ended with Hill converting the open floater, and Roberts missed a desperation heave from just inside midcourt as time expired. Indiana erased a 21-point deficit in the third quarter to get a third straight win.

Final Score: Minnesota 112, Detroit 101

Auburn Hills, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Nikola Pekovic scored 29 points to lead six Timberwolves in double figures to help Minnesota hold off the Detroit Pistons 112-101 on Sunday. Kevin Martin netted 24 points, Andrew Wiggins tallied 18, eight rebounds and five assists and Thaddeus Young added 16 points for the Timberwolves, who have won three in a row for the first time this season. Mo Williams and Zach LaVine scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the win. Detroit lost to Minnesota for a 10th straight time despite getting 20 points and eight assists from D.J. Augustin. Andre Drummond totaled 17 points with 14 rebounds, while Greg Monroe, Kentavious Caldwell- Pope and Anthony Tolliver each scored 15.

Final Score: Memphis 94, Atlanta 88

Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Mike Conley scored 21 points and the Memphis Grizzlies scored eight of the final 10 points to down the Atlanta Hawks 94-88 in a playoff-like atmosphere at FedExForum. The Grizzlies’ late push over the final three minutes helped them rebound from Friday’s surprising loss to the Timberwolves. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph each posted double-doubles and combined for 27 points and 25 rebounds for Memphis, which shot 19-of-21 from the foul line and won the rebounding battle 55-37. A week chock full of tests for the Hawks ended the same way it began — with a road loss. They had their 19-game winning streak snapped in Monday’s setback to the Pelicans and bounced back with home wins over the Wizards and the Western Conference- leading Warriors.

Final Score: Chicago 98, Orlando 97

Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Pau Gasol had 25 points and 15 rebounds and scored the go-ahead basket on a putback dunk, capping a 7-0 run to end the game as the Chicago Bulls rallied to beat the Orlando Magic 98-97 on Sunday. Chicago trailed by six with 2:15 remaining after Victor Oladipo’s reverse layup ended a 9-0 Magic burst to make it 97-91. But Orlando never scored again and Jimmy Butler started Chicago’s finishing run with a pair of free throws after Orlando’s Tobias Harris was whistled for a clear path foul. Derrick Rose followed with a 3-pointer and Gasol dunked off Rose’s baseline miss with 9.4 seconds left to give the Bulls the lead. The Magic had two chances to win before the buzzer, but Nikola Vucevic missed a jumper and Harris’ putback attempt went off the back of the rim as time expired.

Final Score: Portland 109, Houston 98

Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points, Damian Lillard contributed 23 and the Portland Trail Blazers grabbed a 109-98 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard each netted 12 points for the Blazers, who bounced back from an overtime loss at Dallas on Saturday to win for the third time in their last four outings. James Harden, who scored 44 points in Houston’s 110-95 win over Portland on Dec. 22, poured in a season high-tying 45 points on Sunday. Josh Smith added 16 points as the Rockets had their two-game winning streak snapped.

Final Score: Toronto 87, San Antonio 82

Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – James Johnson scored a season-high 20 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute to play, to lift the Toronto Raptors to an 87-82 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Trailing 82-79 with 1:49 to play, the Raptors scored the last eight points of the game to end their seven-game losing streak to the Spurs. DeMar DeRozan added 18 points for the Raptors and Jonas Valanciunas delivered eight points and 16 rebounds. San Antonio started its nine-game road trip with a loss and coach Gregg Popovich was denied his 1,000th career win. Tim Duncan had 12 points and 12 boards and Marco Belinelli netted 12 as well in the loss.

Final Score: Sacramento 85, Phoenix 83

Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – DeMarcus Cousins rattled in a jumper as time expired to give the Sacramento Kings an 85-83 win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night. Markieff Morris missed a jumper from in close with the game tied in the closing seconds, then it was all up to Cousins from there. Coming out of a timeout, Cousins picked up the ball at the top of the key, pump faked and forced up a contested jumper that hit off the rim a few times before finally going down for the win. Cousins finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds to help the Kings snap a three-game losing streak. Ben McLemore added 13 points and Ramon Sessions had 10 in the win. Isaiah Thomas paced the Suns with 26 points and Goran Dragic chipped in with 13. The Suns have lost four of their last five.

Categorized in: NBA